¡Hola! España es muy bien
I'm back! Spain was absolutely wonderful. I have so much to tell that I'm actually going to resort to using the lj-cut, a rare occurance as my frequent readers will know.
Cordoba
We started out by wandering around the old Jewish Quarter in Cordoba. It's a series of maze like streets and buildings. These extremely narrow streets were originally designed for horses, not cars. That of course does not stop cars from driving on them today, meaning that pedestrians often find the need to hug the walls in order to avoid getting run over.
Located in the Jewish Quarter is the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, a palace used by the Christian Kings. It was used by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. It had some beautiful gardens with fountains, and lots of cool architecture. Also in the Jewish Quarter was the Mezquita Catedral, a mosque that the christians converted into a catherdral. It was a massive building of pillars and arches, and had an interesting mix of moorish architecture and christian decor.
We were wandering aimlessly among the streets of Cordoba one night when we randomly happened upon a Mercado Mediaval, which was like renn fair, except with a moorish flavor. Lots of crafts, food stands and people in anachronistic costumes.
Granada
We visited another large cathedral (it seems you can't qualify as being a city in Spain without having at least one large cathedral). This one was built long after the moors were gone. Also of note was the Albayzin, which is the Arab quarter with lots of quaint buildings. However the coolest part of Granada is the Alhambra. It is an extremely large moorish citadel and palace on a hill. Did I mention it is huge? On the way back from the alhambra, we saw a Japanese tourist getting mugged in broad daylight. By the time we got to him the muggers got away. He spoke no spanish and a little English, so we went with some other spaniards to la policia to help translate his statement.
Madrid
Leila has a friend who lives in Madrid, so we stopped there for two days. Her friend rooms with a bartender, so we spent much of that time going from bar to bar getting free drinks and tapas. We did stop at the Prado museum, which had exibits by Valezquez and El Greco. We also spent some time wandering through the main park, which was very large.
Seville
We arrived in Seville in time for Carnival, a festival that happens in Spain just before the beginning of Lent. So as a result there were various stages and performers scattered about the streets, singing and dancing. The last day we were there was Sunday, during which we sat in a Catholic service in the largest gothic cathedral in Europe. That night we saw a very good Flamenco show. Gotta love that musical, colorful dancing singing goodness.
And finally, I thought I'd share the
Top 9 Weird things I learned about Spain
1. Pork. The Spanish love pork. No wait, that's not strong enough. They are obsessed with pork products. In any given restaurant over half the menu will consist of some kind of pork product. Leila even found pork flavored potato chips.
2. You can hardly spit in Cordoba without hitting an Orange tree. All the streets are lined with them. And they're extremely sour too.
3. The wine is cheaper than the water.
4. The spanish are night owls. We went into a mall at 11:30, and the place was packed. Elderly couples strolled with their toddlers. It must be the siesta.
5. Americans may be fat, but the Spanish will all die of lung cancer and emphazyma.
6. British Airways provides complementary alcohol, but Iberia airlines charges $3.25 for a can of coca cola.
7. While the alternative rock movement seems to have missed spain, 80's synth pop seems to be really popular.
8. The spanish idea of a sandwich is a roll with meat in it. No lettuce, no tomato, no pickle, no mustard. Nothing but the meat and the bread, and if your lucky there might be cheese.
9. Traffic laws, as far as I can tell, are optional in spain. Cars blaze through red lights indescriminately. People drive on the sidewalks.
In cancer news, I'm not going to riverside tommorow. My options now seem to be between a study at USC or a study at Maryland. I need to get info on both studies before I can choose. I'll be making those calls tommorow.
Cordoba
We started out by wandering around the old Jewish Quarter in Cordoba. It's a series of maze like streets and buildings. These extremely narrow streets were originally designed for horses, not cars. That of course does not stop cars from driving on them today, meaning that pedestrians often find the need to hug the walls in order to avoid getting run over.
Located in the Jewish Quarter is the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, a palace used by the Christian Kings. It was used by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. It had some beautiful gardens with fountains, and lots of cool architecture. Also in the Jewish Quarter was the Mezquita Catedral, a mosque that the christians converted into a catherdral. It was a massive building of pillars and arches, and had an interesting mix of moorish architecture and christian decor.
We were wandering aimlessly among the streets of Cordoba one night when we randomly happened upon a Mercado Mediaval, which was like renn fair, except with a moorish flavor. Lots of crafts, food stands and people in anachronistic costumes.
Granada
We visited another large cathedral (it seems you can't qualify as being a city in Spain without having at least one large cathedral). This one was built long after the moors were gone. Also of note was the Albayzin, which is the Arab quarter with lots of quaint buildings. However the coolest part of Granada is the Alhambra. It is an extremely large moorish citadel and palace on a hill. Did I mention it is huge? On the way back from the alhambra, we saw a Japanese tourist getting mugged in broad daylight. By the time we got to him the muggers got away. He spoke no spanish and a little English, so we went with some other spaniards to la policia to help translate his statement.
Madrid
Leila has a friend who lives in Madrid, so we stopped there for two days. Her friend rooms with a bartender, so we spent much of that time going from bar to bar getting free drinks and tapas. We did stop at the Prado museum, which had exibits by Valezquez and El Greco. We also spent some time wandering through the main park, which was very large.
Seville
We arrived in Seville in time for Carnival, a festival that happens in Spain just before the beginning of Lent. So as a result there were various stages and performers scattered about the streets, singing and dancing. The last day we were there was Sunday, during which we sat in a Catholic service in the largest gothic cathedral in Europe. That night we saw a very good Flamenco show. Gotta love that musical, colorful dancing singing goodness.
And finally, I thought I'd share the
Top 9 Weird things I learned about Spain
1. Pork. The Spanish love pork. No wait, that's not strong enough. They are obsessed with pork products. In any given restaurant over half the menu will consist of some kind of pork product. Leila even found pork flavored potato chips.
2. You can hardly spit in Cordoba without hitting an Orange tree. All the streets are lined with them. And they're extremely sour too.
3. The wine is cheaper than the water.
4. The spanish are night owls. We went into a mall at 11:30, and the place was packed. Elderly couples strolled with their toddlers. It must be the siesta.
5. Americans may be fat, but the Spanish will all die of lung cancer and emphazyma.
6. British Airways provides complementary alcohol, but Iberia airlines charges $3.25 for a can of coca cola.
7. While the alternative rock movement seems to have missed spain, 80's synth pop seems to be really popular.
8. The spanish idea of a sandwich is a roll with meat in it. No lettuce, no tomato, no pickle, no mustard. Nothing but the meat and the bread, and if your lucky there might be cheese.
9. Traffic laws, as far as I can tell, are optional in spain. Cars blaze through red lights indescriminately. People drive on the sidewalks.
In cancer news, I'm not going to riverside tommorow. My options now seem to be between a study at USC or a study at Maryland. I need to get info on both studies before I can choose. I'll be making those calls tommorow.