The Last Taste of Spain
Back in England and I am staying with my good friends in the small town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight. When you fly the low cost airline carriers, they tend to fly into airports barely in the cities they advertise. Milan and Barcelona are over an hour away on the highway by bus and flying into "London" usually turns out to be the Stanstead airport which is just under a hour north of London by express train. Great in the afternoon (when I landed) but a real hassle at night or in the early morning when the flights usually take off. The taxi ride often costs more than the price of the plane ticket. Most travellers usually elect to sleep overnight at the airport.
Having spent almost the last two months in the sun, beaches and semi-arid landscape, seeing the English green countryside was a nice change. Can you believe, I don't even mind the rain (for now). It's a real treat to have home cooking, clean laundry, and great company again, and not having to move around for a while. Traveling feels like work at times and it can get tiring as every place I go, I have to find a place to sleep, eat, shop for groceries, internet, etc. and oh yeah, sight see. By the time I know my way around, it is usually time to leave and I pack up and onto the next village, town, or city. Now, I'm enjoying just watching a DVD, cooking pasta sauce or Chinese food, or walking my friends' son to his kindergarten class.
Before I left Spain, I visited Cordoba and Granada. Cordoba is still one of my favorite cities in Spain and for me the best one in Andalucia.
Not overly touristy with plenty of good cheap accomdations in the old quarter, which is a pleasant maze of twisting lanes, plazas and old Jewish and Muslim architecture. The remains of the city wall and bridge can also be seen, as well as the fabulous Mezquita. The Mezquita is a great mosque built in 785 AD on an old church site and when the Spanish defeated the Moors, and entered the mosque, intending to destroy it but decided to make it into a church after seeing how beautiful it was. 
It's the second largest mosque outside of the Middle East. For me, it's one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. After you pass the main gate, the lined orange court yard and enter the church, there are rows and rows of multiple coloured stones arches and columns, and tiles of geometric Islamic designs which nicely compliment the Spanish Baroque artwork. You can admire both the great eastern and western art forms in one place. Try to come early in the morning before the bus tours come, and walk between the columns as the choir sings during an early church service. You can enter the church for free on some Monday mornings before 10 am and save yourself eight Euros.
Granada is a hilly city surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountain range, so you can really get those leg muscles to work. The old city is in the bottom of a small valley as the rest of the city is built along two hillsides. Granada was the last holdout for the Moors who finally surrendered in 1492. The Moors left behind the Alhambra, a fortress, palace, garden and patio complex built at the height of their power.
The exterior palace is simple and functional but the Muslim rulers focused the artwork in the inside. The Alhambra is best known for the highly decorated and carved stucco and wooden walls and interiors full of Islamic writings and designs and symetrically peaceful gardens and fountains. Don't forget to look up on the roof. The Alhambra is the most visited site in Spain and only a limited number of 6000 tickets are sold a day. Save yourself some headache and buy the tickets ahead of time and avoid lining up as I did for an hour or so for one of the 1000 tickets sold that day. You can spend a whole day there and despite the large number crowds, the palace is beautiful and the garden's peaceful. 
It's kind of ironic that back then, the Moors were hated but it is only because of them that the tourist come now to this city and spend money. Granada is probably the most Moor influenced city in Spain as you can sip in tea houses, hear Arabic in the streets and barter with Moroocan shop keepers over some glass lamps.
Granada is also one of the last cities in Spain where you get free tapas with every drink. You can get a little sandwich of pork, cheese and tomatoe in one bar, fried octopus or french fries and rice in another. It's great fun just wandering from bar to bar trying the different tapas in each one.
Time for a little snooze. Good night all.
Having spent almost the last two months in the sun, beaches and semi-arid landscape, seeing the English green countryside was a nice change. Can you believe, I don't even mind the rain (for now). It's a real treat to have home cooking, clean laundry, and great company again, and not having to move around for a while. Traveling feels like work at times and it can get tiring as every place I go, I have to find a place to sleep, eat, shop for groceries, internet, etc. and oh yeah, sight see. By the time I know my way around, it is usually time to leave and I pack up and onto the next village, town, or city. Now, I'm enjoying just watching a DVD, cooking pasta sauce or Chinese food, or walking my friends' son to his kindergarten class.
Before I left Spain, I visited Cordoba and Granada. Cordoba is still one of my favorite cities in Spain and for me the best one in Andalucia.
Not overly touristy with plenty of good cheap accomdations in the old quarter, which is a pleasant maze of twisting lanes, plazas and old Jewish and Muslim architecture. The remains of the city wall and bridge can also be seen, as well as the fabulous Mezquita. The Mezquita is a great mosque built in 785 AD on an old church site and when the Spanish defeated the Moors, and entered the mosque, intending to destroy it but decided to make it into a church after seeing how beautiful it was. 
It's the second largest mosque outside of the Middle East. For me, it's one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. After you pass the main gate, the lined orange court yard and enter the church, there are rows and rows of multiple coloured stones arches and columns, and tiles of geometric Islamic designs which nicely compliment the Spanish Baroque artwork. You can admire both the great eastern and western art forms in one place. Try to come early in the morning before the bus tours come, and walk between the columns as the choir sings during an early church service. You can enter the church for free on some Monday mornings before 10 am and save yourself eight Euros. 
Granada is a hilly city surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountain range, so you can really get those leg muscles to work. The old city is in the bottom of a small valley as the rest of the city is built along two hillsides. Granada was the last holdout for the Moors who finally surrendered in 1492. The Moors left behind the Alhambra, a fortress, palace, garden and patio complex built at the height of their power.
The exterior palace is simple and functional but the Muslim rulers focused the artwork in the inside. The Alhambra is best known for the highly decorated and carved stucco and wooden walls and interiors full of Islamic writings and designs and symetrically peaceful gardens and fountains. Don't forget to look up on the roof. The Alhambra is the most visited site in Spain and only a limited number of 6000 tickets are sold a day. Save yourself some headache and buy the tickets ahead of time and avoid lining up as I did for an hour or so for one of the 1000 tickets sold that day. You can spend a whole day there and despite the large number crowds, the palace is beautiful and the garden's peaceful. 
It's kind of ironic that back then, the Moors were hated but it is only because of them that the tourist come now to this city and spend money. Granada is probably the most Moor influenced city in Spain as you can sip in tea houses, hear Arabic in the streets and barter with Moroocan shop keepers over some glass lamps. Granada is also one of the last cities in Spain where you get free tapas with every drink. You can get a little sandwich of pork, cheese and tomatoe in one bar, fried octopus or french fries and rice in another. It's great fun just wandering from bar to bar trying the different tapas in each one.
Time for a little snooze. Good night all.
posted by Louis at 12:46 AM
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