España Primera: Madrid, Seville, Córdoba

This term I was determined to make the most of the 12 day break I had between classes for "Reading Week" in February. As it's still the dead of winter, I wanted to travel somewhere that would be warmer and drier than London and also make the most of the time with a multi-city and possibly multi-country trip. I freely admit that in the oppressive cold-wet of London, I have been fantasizing about single-layered pants, not needing a wool coat, and adorning my neck with something other than a scarf for once (and I LOVE scarves). I am being absolutely serious when I say that I have been having dreams about wearing shorts and sandals since we froze our way around Paris in December. I played with many combinations of cities in southern Spain and France before settling on a three-city, 10-day itinerary.

Due to several factors (bad decisions, leaving late, traffic, etc), we traveled for three hours to the airport and still missed our checking in for our flight from Stansted to Seville by 5 minutes and had to re-route to Madrid for our first night. (Side note: I am never scheduling out of an airport other than Heathrow again. Because we were in a smaller airport, the next available flight to our destination was 3 days later!) This was, obviously, an unexpected and possibly unfortunate turn of events that (I think) we rallied from with exceptional speed. We knew almost before we arrived at the airport that we were going to have to adopt Plan B and by the time it became reality we had adapted to the idea. We arrived too late to make a connection to Seville on the same day, so we decided to book a late train instead and spend Monday in Madrid. We used a hotel credit we’d earned through Hotels.com and got a 5-Star room at the Hilton by the airport, then used a special Hotels.com offer to refund the first night in Seville even though it was nearly 8 pm when we made the change. Can I say how much I love hotels.com? I don't think there are words.

 5-Star Hotel room; bathroom with sliding doors that meet on the angle

bizarre infinity-style sink

 playing in the infinity sink because pictures

Our first day in Spain was smooth sailing. Madrid was all bonus for this trip since we hadn’t planned to be in the capital at all. The hotel offered a free shuttle to the city center and even offered to take us directly to the train station, where we were able to book our tickets and put our luggage in a locker for less than 4€. From there we were within walking distance of the Prado museum, Real Jardín Botanico de Madrid, Buen Retiro park, and many other must-see Madrid sites. Plus sangria. 

Our one day in Madrid was spent as a constant quest for WiFi. We ate, drank sangria, wandered through the (mostly barren) botanical garden, visited the Plaza del Sol in search of Harry Potter, and began our (re)acclimation to Spain. When we finally boarded the train that evening, we were relaxed and happy.

perhaps February is not "botanical garden season"

Venus fly traps! ("Atrapamoscas" in Spainish) - both of our first time seeing them in person

Check it out! Spanish HP and the Half-Blood Prince (5 out of 7 complete!)

Between my study abroad in 2005 and the trip I did with Torrey Pines high school students in 2007, I have travelled pretty extensively through this country. My tours, however, have stayed mostly north of the capital (which is basically dead center in a country that is roughly shaped like a circle). I wanted to visit the south on this trip, as well as introduce Joe to a country that has always felt like visiting distant relatives to me.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations for Seville, so our itinerary was light and nebulous. On Tuesday, we left our hotel with only the general idea that most of the historic sites lay to the South of our hotel. 

Nice Seville between the Plaza Nueva and the Catedral

The Catedral de Sevilla was originally built in 1184 as a Mosque by the Moorish conquerers of Spain. Within less than a hundred years, the building was reconsecrated as a Catholic cathedral. Only the bottom two-thirds of the bell tower and the orange tree courtyard were conserved from the original structure of the mosque, but even the rest of the Gothic cathedral, which was started in the fifteenth century, bear the architectural signatures of moorish history.

If you've been following this blog, you should know that when Joe and I
saw this we could only have one thought: Must. Climb. Now.

Since there are numerous cathedrals and religious houses to visit all over Europe and they all start to run together after a while, Joe and I only pay entrance fees for both of us about half the time. I can usually get in for half-price with my student ID, and Joe likes to wander on his own, so I went in solo this time. After about 10 minutes, though, I was surprised to hear a familiar whistle behind me because Joe had read enough in the gift shop to make him want to join me inside. We were both so glad he did!

This mirror was angled in a way that allowed visitors to get a magnified
view of the ceilings and interior of the main dome. It was such an interesting
feature I'm surprised more places don't do the same thing.

The cathedral featured the burial site of Christopher Columbus (though we saw other places that has the same claim to fame later) and several treasure rooms to house the bounty of the conquest of the New World. 

the view of the cathedral and Giralda bell tower from the Orange courtyard

On our way up! 

south-eastern view

We took our time walking from the Cathedral to Plaza de España, briefly stopping for helados and to duck out of the intermittent downpours that randomly began during lunch.

Plaza de España was constructed for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. In many ways, it feels like a traditional Plaza Mayor, but instead of shops, cafes, and restaurants, it houses only government buildings, so it was all but deserted when we got there after the rain had stopped. It was kind of eery and exciting to have this vast concourse to ourselves. The sight is spectacular, especially when the clouds part and let the sun illuminate the facade of the city hall through the central fountain. I had read that the fountain would be dry in February, so I was especially excited to find it flowing and active.

This is a 360º view that Joe was able to capture on his phone. You can see the fountain that was behind us on both sides of this shot and our shadows in the middle.

This plaza was used as the set for the central promenade in Naboo in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. 

Also, these happened. Apparently this just happens if you walk on a former Star Wars set (and you have an awesome graphic designer friend like Nickie deTolve).

"wtf am I supposed to do with this?"

On Wednesday, we took a local train to Córdoba to see La Mezquita, one of the 1,000 places to see before you die and a building I’ve wanted to visit since learning about it in my Spanish Art & Architecture class during my studies in Salamanca. Riding the train in Andalucia is pretty much like riding through the central valley in California - lots of farms and all the signs are in Spanish. We felt very much at home.

Like the cathedral in Seville, this religious center has been consecrated and re-consecrated along with the changing phases of Spanish history. Archaeological excavations have confirmed the remains of a Christian temple on this site in the sixth century, a few hundred years before the invasion of the Moors and the Islamic demolition of the church when construction began on a mosque in 785. This particular mosque came to be considered the most important in Western Islam during a time when Córdoba was the capital of the moorish territory Al-Andalus. It was over 450 years later that the territory would be re-claimed for Christianity and 300 more before the central cathedral was plopped down in the middle of a forest of columns. The dichotomy of Islamic and Christian functional spaces is striking, as are the competing moorish and western designs.

Joe trying to capture the light from one of the rose windows

a panoramic view of the scene above (that makes it seem as though the light is bending around a curve)

the "forest" section of the mosque - lots of columns and open area for prayers

this panoramic captures the sense of infinite columns the way none of the other shots could

Right in the middle of the mosque, a traditional Renaissance-style church was built into the structure. The differences between the two styles are striking to say the least. It almost has the effect of being in a dream, where you walk from one landscape to a diametrically different one without any mark between them.

Even though we probably spent more time traveling to Córdoba and back than actually inside the mosque, Joe and I both thought that this side-trip was completely worth it. It is obvious why this site is on the definitive list of places to see before you die - it's breathtaking and mesmerizing and overwhelming inside. Beautiful and haunting and historical all at once, a must see for anyone within 2 hrs of the city - that includes you, Madrid!

Both Tuesday and Wednesday after dinner Joe and I had our nightcap at Cafe Jazz Naima near our hotel. This spot was a surprising addition to our time in Seville and we'd recommend it to anyone who happens to be in the city overnight.

Part 2: Granada & Barcelona is on it's way!