Goodbye Cordoba, Granada Beckons

Goodbye Cordoba, Granada Beckons

by Friend Jackie Halliday

Cordoba

We are on the train from Cordoba to Granada and have stopped to change the axles from local to international gauge. So, knowing that were are going to be here for sometime I thought I'd catch up on our stay in Cordoba, which we really loved.

An example of global communication occurred while we were on our way to the train station in Seville. Our Scottish driver, Pete, mentioned that the Scots were playing the English in the RWC at that very moment. Thinking that maybe one of our daughters was at the game I sent a text to find out. Sure enough she was. At that stage Scotland was winning so there was great excitement in the car, followed soon after by despondency when the tables turned.

Unusually for us, we were staying in the newer part of the Cordoba overlooking Avenue de Libertad, which goes nearly the length of the city. In the middle of this avenue is a very wide promenade/ park which is built over the top of the railway lines, similar to what they are doing in Victoria Park, Auckland. The trains come in one end of the city, stop at the station and carry on through, under the promenade. All evening, as the temperatures cool, this promenade is packed with people walking, jogging, cycling (on a separate section) drinking at cafes, or playing in the children's playground.
However it was only a 10 minute walk down Avenida Gran Capitan to the Old City and the Mezquita. The tourist season is largely over so the streets were mainly filled with local Cordobans. On Saturday night everyone was out in force and we were really impressed with how beautifuly dressed everyone was, from elderly women to children. The girls wear simple A line dresses which must be very cool in the heat. In Plaza del Tendilla, as we were having dinner, we watched a group of children dodging the water fountains, the ones that come straight up from the ground. They took over from a street performer who had been there all day, blowing huge bubbles from a bucket of detergent. It looked really funny. He sat down on a seat, took off his coat and hat, let hi hair down (literally) and was having a smoke while the children had a wonderful time. They were very orderly and all lined up to have a turn - all dressed in their best clothes. This was about 10.30pm!

I even had a shopping day looking for a birthday present for my daughter and more T shirts for the boys. Don't you love it when you search and search for something special, think you've found it, buy it, and then around the corner you find just what you were looking for, better quality and cheaper!

I had been desperate to go into Zara, a Spanish women's wear shop that has very trendy gear, good quality and a good price. Jenni put me on to  them way back in 1997 when she was overseas. On my own, with great anticipation, in I went. In 30 degress of heat - winter clothes everywhere! And of course, in the intervening 15 years,  the target market has got younger!

However, I am meant to be telling you about the sights such as the wonderful Mezquita, the former mosque, now with a cathedral in the middle of it.  Photos  of the internal arches are in all the guidebooks and posters but they don't really prepare you for the beauty when you see them en masse. 800 columns supporting the red and white striped arches were reclaimed by the architect from a earlier Roman and Visigoth buildings. If they were too long, they were sunk into the ground a bit, if they were too short an extra pillar or base was added. Each arch is not one, but two. The lower arch being  narrower in depth than the top ones.  This adds to the mass effect. It was quite dark insde but in its original days as a mosque there were many  doors that were left open to let in the light. I'm not sure how I feel about the cathdral that is in the middle. It survived as a christian church for 200 years after the reconquest by the Catholic King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabel in 1236. It was not until 1523 that Charles V, Ferdinand and Isabel's grandson, granted permission for a cathedral to be built in the middle. According to the guidebook he regretted this decision when he visited and saw what was being done. There are many different styles of beautiful arabic arches within the building, often surrounded by exquisite gold mosaics.
The other spectacular sight in Cordoba, which we weren't really expecting, were the gardens of the House of the Christian Monarchs, the Alcazar.  We looked through the remains of the castle, climbed the tower and viewed the ancient Roman baths. You can still see the fireplace where they had lit the fire to heat the water. Some of the original marble floor was still there. But the highlight was the gardens. A leaf had been taken out of the Arabic book with the inclusion of many ponds, fountains and water channels. One particular pond, lined with water spouts pointing inwards, was bordered with a mass of red geraniums. In the middle was a large statue of Isabel and Ferdinand.

On Plaza de San Nicholas we adopted a lovely little cafe. They had great tapas and the staff were friendly and very tolerant of our limited Spanish. It was popular with locals too. When choosing a cafe it is important to ensure it has umbrellas, especially if it is situated under trees!

We are passing acres and acres of olive trees, as far as the eye can see. I can't imagine how they harvest all the olives but obviously they do. No windmills, yet. Yes, there is a row coming down a ridge. Thankfully there are many natural parks where the environment is protected. We are climbing steeply into the mountains. The sky continues to be cloudless.

Granada

Just got back from dinner on our first night in Granada - a bit cooler here as it's in the mountains.  The Sierra Nevada is nearby. On our wanderings, as you do in a new city, we came across the cathedral and chapel where Isabel and Ferdinand are buried - you can walk down steps and see in the crypt below where their lead coffins are. They are quite small. A bit creepy really but fascinating. The cathedral was amazing. I didn't really want to go as I'm a bit over cathedrals at the moment but thought we had better. Well, architecturally it's amazing. Quite different to all the others. It's a round building with a dome. The architect has integrated cylindrical shapes with cubes and squares to amazing effect. The guide book shows you the models of how it was done. The stone is whiter, hence it's much lighter than, say, the one in Seville.  Again there were masses of gold and silver.

The highlight of any trip to Spain has to be the Alhambra.  It is the stuff of fairy tales. Our only experience to date was visiting the Alhambra bar and restaurant in Ponsonby for 20 years! Needless to say we were quite excited to be here at last. 8,000 people visit each day so their organisation has to work like clockwork. The main site is a walled city occupying a prominent hill overlooking modern Granada. It contains a fortress, the palace of Charles V and  the Nasrid palaces. The Generalife  gardens are outside the main walls and contain the summer palace of the sultan. Close enought that he could quickly whip back to the fortress if need be. We chose to do a guided tour and while the actual information given was good it was a bit like being herded like sheep as we had quite a large group. You were conscious all the time of keeping up. I missed the bit about the baths as I tarried too long in an earlier room.  The guide seemed a bit bored as well. Towards the end of the season I hate to think of how many thimes he must have done this! We could see people who were touring independently and had audioguides. With these you can sit and ponder as you listen. While the entry to the Nazrid palaces was timed, you were free to spend as much time in there as you wanted.

Anyway, it was beautiful. More tiles with arabic geometric patterns, intricate lace-like molded stucco patterns containing quotes and sayings on the walls surrounding horseshoe arches, and simulated stalactites on the ceiling. Four colours were used on the tiles, green for the vegetation, blue for the sky, red for power and gold I can't remember. There are three palaces with spaces such as The Hall of the Boat, The Courtyard of the Myrtles, The Hall of the Two Sisters, The Patio of the Lions. This latter patio was being renovated and the 12 marble lions, representing the 12 signs of the zodiac, had been moved to another room which we entered reverently, with no photos at all allowed. They are thought to be 1000 years old and brought from the east. Their grinning faces show that they must have been carved by someone who had never seen a lion. In the patio the they support a marble fountain. In situ they would look stunning. The Palace of the Lions was the focal point of the sultan's private dwellings. There are upstairs rooms for the women and windows with latticework so they could see out but couldn't be seen.

The Charles V palace, which abutts the Courtyard of the Myrtles, was  never completed. It is  two storeyed, square, but circular inside and open to the air. The acoustics are so perfect opera concerts are held  here in summer. We saw that there was an exhibition by M C Esscher  which we visited later. He spent a lot of time at the Alhambra and was inspired by the Arabic geometry on the tiles. He used these to develop his famous images where birds turn into fish and geese are set free from squares. He is also the person who drew the perpetual stairway and the hands drawing each other. We walked down from the Alhambra - a beautiful, cool walk through the trees.

The next day we caught the bus up to the Arab quarter, the Albayazin, with its famous view of the Alhambra and walked back down through the myriad of narrow streets. There were about four shops where guitar makers worked. We watched one from the doorway. And another where a man was making the wooden inlaid trinket boxes that you see in many souvenir shops. You could smell the spice market a block away. it made a colourful sight with all the different spices beautifully arrayed.

We're now on the move back up to the north. The fast train to Valencia was really fast - we made 301 kph at one stage and often travelled at 287 kph. The land is very parched. I understand that the rains will come soon - next month.

Geraniums

Spice Market

Stalactites