Andalucia, Part I

We had a great trip to Andalucia! As Steve said in his post, we had to cut our trip a bit short because we found out that tickets to the Alhambra, the site I had most wanted to visit in Spain, were sold out. I'm glad we checked before we took the train to Granada, but I was certainly disappointed to find out. On the other hand, that gives us an excuse to get back to the south of Spain again, which was lovely!

We spent Tuesday in Cordoba, which is a small city in Andalucia. Cordoba is known for the fact that the city's Moors, Jews, and Christians lived there in harmony for so many years. Even now the city clearly reflects those different faiths. However, in addition, the city is extremely confusing!! The streets are narrow and windy, and even when we bought the biggest map on earth (truly, it was about 2 feet x 3 feet... we were embarassingly touristy, but it was too hot to roam around any longer!), we still kept getting lost. But, we did find our way to the Mezquita, which was incredibly amazing. It is an old Mosque that was eventually converted into a Catholic cathedral, and it truly was breathtaking.





The structure of the church is definitely Islamic: beautiful arches, bold colors, and geometric shapes. But because it is now Catholic, it also has the very ornate Christian styling among the Islamic motifs. It really is awesome!


From Cordoba, we took the train to Sevilla, which was also amazing. The city was very clean and beautiful, with lots of white-washed buildings and beautiful plazas. Also, the weather was amazing in Sevilla: mid-80s and sunny! The two places we most liked in Sevilla were the Catedral and the Alcazar. The Catedral is supposedly (according to Steve, though I haven't fact-checked) the third largest cathedral in the world. It was very beautiful inside, and the views from the tower were great.

The Alcazar was my favorite spot of the trip. It was built by Pedro the Cruel, a Spaniard, but with Moorish labor, so its styling is definitely Moorish. It is absolutely stunning. The place is huge, and I really love the tile and mosaics throughout the complex. The gardens were also gorgeous. After this visit though, I really can't wait to see what the Alhambra has to offer. The Alcazar seems pretty tough to beat!

We're back in Madrid now, with undetermined plans for the next few days... maybe day trips to Toledo or Segovia? In the meantime, we had an awesome dinner last night at Paulino de Quevedo. Casa Paco is a tough runner-up, but this dinner was my most favorite overall, I think. I started with a tomato and tuna salad, followed by crusted monkfish. Steve had chipirones to start, which were squid stuffed with tasty veggies, followed by some rare but delicious lomo de buey. Karee should have been around for dessert... I had three amazing cheeses, and I know she would have loved the very, very salty blue. I need to expand my Spanish food vocab though, since about 80% of the menu is beyond my reach. I could be adventurous and just order something random, but I am afraid of ending up with beef brains or something. Anyone with Spanish food knowledge should jump in here!

Amazing Food Find #3:
Pisto Manchego: it is like a Spanish version of ratatouille, with tomatos, zuchini, eggplant, onions, and other mysterious veggies. Yum! We tried it at a great tapas place in Sevilla, with jamon y tomato montaditos, chicken with an onion sauce, and spinach with chickpeas. A delicious lunch!

Kind of Gross Find #3:
In Sevilla, there are dozens of horse-drawn carriages, which is all well and good. But these horse-drivers don't use those bags that go on the back of horses, to catch the horse droppings. Lots of horse remnants on the street. Risky in flip-flops, but we managed to leave unscathed. But seriously. Ew.