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The Triumph of Death
Meet the Crusade against the living. It probably doesn't say anything good about my taste in paintings. I wonder what would happen if I ever took the time to analyze when I actually write these blogs. If I had to hazard a guess I would probably say they always come out when I'm busiest and my attention is desperately needed elsewhere. In short, it's a damn good thing I don't plan on being a nuclear safety technician someday, but also that if I'm starting this now something stressful must be down the road. In this case, I just accepted a second job, and I'm leaving for my first visit to my home in Washington D.C for the first time in a year, but worries for another time. In the mean time, and more interesting by far is my continued nostalgia trip and a rehashing of my time in Spain! For the record, this marked the first time I'd traveled with my parents and their financial assistance that might entail. I broke off with them after Toledo and made for Barcelona, but that's something we'll get to later. And now without further ado, let's go city by city and break this down:
Madrid Jeez. This might be harder to write than I thought. What do I
the Alhambra
Meet a lost glory from the Moors. I bet it would be pretty peaceful minus the tourists... talk about when I'm sober/leashed by parental presences? Hm. Well...um....alright fine the touristy stuff. Anyways, the time we had in each city was a little truncated, so it meant hitting all of the place's greatest hits and moving on. In Madrid's case that meant a stop off at the Prado museum. I'm not usually the biggest lover of art museums in the world, and while that doesn't mean I'm going to torch the place either, it wouldn't really be my first choice. However, the Prado's a bit special, it's not often the best paintings look like acid trips. I fished up pictures of Bosch's work, along with some of the others that struck me. Still, it's just a rather nice sample of a very big place. The Prado was one of those museums where most of the art was clearly old, valuable, and much of it could have held my attention for hours. Sadly, hours was pretty much all we had, so running from here to see Guernica in another museum sort of completed the day. I did get more time in Madrid later though, but that's a story for a later date...
Granada I wish I
Castle #152
It's worth noting just how many of these we passed on the drive around Spain. War used to be a constant part of life after all. had more to say about Granada here. The city's major claim was serving as the final stand for the Moors of Spain. The city's highest point is marked by the Alhambra, an ancient looming fortress, maintained by what must be the most aggressive and militant group of gardeners the world has ever seen. Still, the old walls kept a lot of their appeal over the centuries. And while only the very back of the Alhambra still feels like it could see off more than the average boy scout troop, there's something very relaxing about Moorish architecture. I think at this point I can lay claim to a bit of connoisseur status when it comes to long lost cultures; and it's still nice to see buildings mercifully bereft of a glowering Jesus Christ, reminding me of his graphic demise for my (continued and numerous) sins. In their place more abstract designs, flowers, and animals seemed to be the running themes. It's a little funny to think of all of this being built under the constant pressure of a looming Christian invasion. In my odder moments I love imagining men twirling brushes and writing lyrical poetry in between rather messy battles with
the Mesquite
Recycling at its finest. Meet one of the most glorious things I've ever seen. And funnily enough, I don't have a joke here. heavily armored Christians.
Cordoba As I said, these were very quick stops, so the entries will be judged accordingly. If Granada was like looking on a swan song for the Moors, then Cordoba was a glimpse at their glory days. As the old capital for the Moorish Caliphate before its dissolution, the city used to have quite a lot of money to throw around. Where a lot of it went is now known as the Mesquite Cathedral and Mosque. From the outside the building's rather nice to look on anyhow, but the interior is proof to how ingrained recycling is in the human race. Upon entering, row upon row of roman pillars, all different heights and styles greeted us. It's a little breathtaking to see a forest of stone stretching off in every direction honestly, and it takes a minute to notice just how hilariously different all of them are. Sometimes holes were punched in the floor to makes space for a larger pillar. Waste not I suppose. The Mesquite had been built and enlarged by the Caliphates over the years, placed atop some old Visigothic church the Moors had cheerfully forclosed when they moved in during
Another one
We actually wandered around this one, it's somewhat restored, and very impressive. the 700's. After a few enlargements though one of the more ambitious Castilian Monarchs finally succeeded in pushing the Moors out, and decided to prove once and for all that one size really does fit all faiths by building a smallish church inside the already nice building. Naturally this wasn't enough for a lot of his predecessors, so the Mesquite might be the only place in the world where a Cathedral has been dropped in the middle of a more traditional Mosque. It's a little jarring to walk through the dark and sober halls of the former Mosque and into the airy realm of a very active church, but it's a contrast that works rather well. In short, if you get a chance to go to Spain, this might be the one thing I'd hold up as most worth seeing (feel free to argue otherwise).
It's also worth noting that the Reconquista really did have a noticeable impact on the landscape, we visited just one of the maybe ten castles we passed on the road. Each grinding step on the road to wiping out the Moors was greeted with yet another line of these forts sprouting up like demented
Toledo Streets
Welcome to Toledo! Did you bring a car? Ha, sucker. and slightly religious toadstools every few miles. Still, does wonders for the landscape when farmland is occasionally dotted by looming doom fortresses. I wonder how much one costs...
Toledo I have to throw out a note here. This marked the first time I had been using a car with any consistency in close to ten months, and I was just starting to feel comfortable with this. It sort of made sense, nice wide open country, plenty to see if you left the beaten path etc. Then we came to Toledo, and discovered, miraculously, that medieval cities built into hilltops never really update their street networks. Toledo's old role as a Moorish stronghold and then later a place for the legendary El Cid to hang out and generally whack the heathen types meant the city had sort of grown up and sprawled out over time. What this meant in practical terms was a huge number of stores catering to the old tradition of making steel and weapons, and a scary familiarity was signs warning wary drivers a road was, say 1.8 meters wide. You know, somehow knowing the road wasn't as ride as I am tall doesn't reassure when
Swords, also Swords
Er, can I keep them? piloting a two ton car. The whole thing was seemingly designed to befuddle tourists. Still, it's hard to say it wasn't worth the trip, I kind of love sharp and pointy weapons, and Toledo's a veritable Mecca for that. Sword stores kind of dotted every street, and while it was a struggle to avoid screaming "I am not left handed" (except, er, I am) and grabbing the closest rapier, it was mostly just grand fun to wander in and out of stores selling blades of all shapes and sizes. The weather was pretty much perfect for the whole week, and while the trip wasn't lazy by any stretch, sometimes it felt more relaxing than most of my wanderings. Structure, and a lack of worries can do that to a man sometimes. There's more to come, but it'll have to wait a bit, stay tuned folks, and follow me on this last little adventure soon.
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