Cordoba and Granada galore

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to rotate this picture, its the mezquita in Cordoba!

After the first week of classes, all the students from the UC program took an organized weekend trip to Andalucia, in the south of Spain. We visited Cordoba on Friday, and then went to Granada and the Alhambra on Saturday and Sunday. We took a bus from Madrid to Cordoba (roughly 4 hours) and our hotel in the city was literally 10 feet from the entrance to the city's gem, the mezquita. Before the mezquita I wandered with some friends, and somehow we managed to stray so far that we had to literally run back to the hotel to make it on time! The mezquita was originally a mosque built on the ruins of a Roman and then Visigoth basilica by the Moors who lived in the city from around 800 to around 1270 (The last Moor stronghold was in Granada until the Catholic Spanish Kings Ferdinand and Isabel reconquered it in 1492 to expel the Muslims and Jews). After the Moors left, the Catholics converted the mosque to a cathedral, but left the majority of the original columns and structure of the mosque. Inside the view is amazing: hundreds of columns with red and white brick arches span the huge interior. The arches originally had alternating brick and stone to allow for more flexibility in the event of an earthquake. From the entrance, with the dark lighting, its impossible to even see how far back the rows of columns go. Our tour guide showed us the different parts of the mosque/cathedral and explained which parts were added by which monarchs. In the more modern part of town I finally got a real pair of Spanish boots (and Euro trash sunglasses :) and ate some Andaluz specialties for dinner..some kind of battered fried pork stuffed with ham, of course. Later that night we went as a group to see a flamenco show! It was the first time I had seen flamenco live, and it was a great experience. There were 2 guitarists, 1 drummer and 2 singers and about eight dancers throughout the evening. For each dance they came out in different beautiful costumes.

The next day after breakfast a friend and I walked a few streets to the old Jewish quarter to see one of the only remaining old synagogues in Spain. It was a one room synagogue decorated in Moorish style. We then took the bus to Granada, and after some free time, took a walking tour through the city. We saw several of the famous town squares and the cathedral and chapel where the Catholic Monarchs Isabel and Ferdinand are buried (and Juana the Loca). We got the chance to do a little shopping before dinner, and walked through one of the city's old bazaars. After a massive feast for dinner in the hotel the group enjoyed good Spanish wine in the hotel and set out to explore Granada nightlife. I eventually split off with two girlfriends to find smaller local places, and were rewarded by the chance to speak Spanish all night with locals.

The next day we set out to the Alhambra, the massive Moor fortress and palace with amazing courtyards, fountains and gardens. The courtyards have pools and fountains fed by water run down by gravity from the mountains and are purposely quiet for a calming and cooling effect in the hot palace. The cupolas, walls and arches are all covered with amazingly elaborate Muslim ornamentation, but unfortunately the famous fountain of lion sculptures was still being restored so wasn't on display. Carlos V also had a renaissance style palace with a massive circular open courtyard in the middle next to the Moorish structure. The entire complex has beautiful gardens and an amazing view looking down at the city of Granada. The whole Alhambra is hard to put down in words...

After a quick lunch, our bus set off for the roughly 5 hour ride back to Madrid!