Córdoba Parte Dos

Why We Went Back

Karen and I returned to Córdoba last weekend after visiting the weekend before. The first was only a day trip and we realized there was much to see so we went back and spent the night having almost two full days to look around.

The Mezquita (Spanish for Mosque)
The Mezquita, also known as the Cathedral of Córdoba was begun as a mosque in the 9th Century by the Muslims. To build the mosque they razed a Christian Visigothic church, San Vicente, which had been built atop a Roman pagan place of worship. When Córdoba was re-conquered by the Spanish in the 13th Century the mosque was turned into a Christian church. The structure has been added onto several times and is several times its original size.The bell tower shown here was built around the mosque minaret. Many sites are considered holy by more than one religion and a conqueror often would use part of an existing structure, expanding and redecorating it to their taste. I am not sure whether this was done for economy or to taunt the former owner, like keeping a hostage instead of executing a prisoner. I am certain that more than one historian has published a thesis on the topic, if not there's your idea.

The tower is at one corner of a walled courtyard that is paved with what looks like small river rocks. Many of the streets and sidewalks in Córdoba are also paved the same way.


They have used light and dark colored stones to create patterns.

The interior of the Mezquita shows the juxtaposition of the Muslim and Christian architectures and how parts of the original 9th Century construcion were just redecorated and reused. Note the Moorish arches with alternating red and white stones right next to the Gothic ceiling.

There would be 1014 arches supporting the ceiling except that twice over the centuries different bishops have removed some of the columns and built churches inside the mosque. It's down to about 850 left. King Carlos V, after authorizing the latest remodeling without seeing it, came to visit the site and remarked something like "We are tearing down something of historical importance to build something we can see everyday". He was correct. There are thousands of beautiful churches in Europe and the mosque was already redecorated and being used as a church.

The view above shows only a small fraction of the building. It is impossible to stand in any one place inside and see all of it, even in the center. It is immense and I would estimate that it covers the equivalent of several city blocks.

La Sinogoga
We also visited La Sinogoga, (the synagogue) the only one left in Córdoba and one of only three in Spain that pre-date 1492 when all the Jews were expelled from Spain. Karen poses beside a statue of Maimonides, a Rabbi, physician and philosopher born in Córdoba in 1135. Legend has it if one touches the statue one will be endowed with his knowledge. We didn't really believe that but both of us touched it anyway.

Another example of the juxtaposition of two religions is this photo taken inside the synagogue showing a cross added to the wall of the synagogue sometime after 1492 when the Jews were expelled from Spain and it served as a Christian church.

Streets, Houses and Flowers
Karen and I pose below on Calleja de Flores, a narrow, dead end alley lined with flower pots. The bell tower is in the background.

Below is a shot from the other end.

We liked this place so much we went back at night and took some more photos. It was so quiet and we were the only ones in the courtyard.

This is one of the many, many beautiful courtyards in Córdoba. The foyer led into an area with fountains and lots of flowering plants. The entrance to someone's home.

This is a window shade woven from fiber. Many of the houses had the bottom draped over the porch railing, blocking the sun but letting in the breeze. Couldn't really do that on this window since the bars go to the top. We were told that in the old days before air conditioning the people would wet the shades so that as the breeze blew through them and evaporated the water it cooled the house. Pretty clever! Perhaps something we should consider in Florida as we move toward green technologies to climatize our homes.

This house had even more plants and flowers than most. The green stuff at the top appears to be growing from pots on the roof. It was hanging down on the two sides of the house we could see.
We wouldn't mind going back to Córdoba again and actually we think we could enjoy living there.

There is so much more that we saw and I didn't include in this short blog. Nice people, castles, museums, breathtakingly picturesque streets and homes. A really great place to visit.

Evening Stroll in Sevilla

Touring the neighborhood
A couple of evenings ago we decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood to get some fresh air. We started out about five minutes before 10. The sun had just set but the sky was still light and some of the street lights were starting to come on. After only a couple minutes we walked past La Giralda, the tower on the Cathedral of Sevilla, stopping to take a photo of the fountain that is in the plaza. We are amazed every evening at how late it stays light here. Notice the bright sky behind the fountain at 10 PM.

Just around the corner from the fountain is a typical narrow street, crowded during the day with a stream of cars, trucks, motorcycles and scooters, it is quiet now since most of the locals are in restaurants eating dinner. I am pointing to the lobby of a four star hotel tucked into this narrow space.









Karen poses on the "sidewalk" of this narrow nearby street. Notice the chunk out of the wall on the right, probably from a truck. Further up the street past Karen where the street gets even narrower, there is a steel plate bolted to the wall to protect it from traffic. Many of the tight corners have multiple scrape marks since the locals insist on driving vehicles of all sizes on any street. Pedestrians often must turn sideways and back against the wall with vehicle mirrors brushing their clothing as they squeeze by. We have not seen a single traffic accident...yet.

This is Calle Alamanes and there are four restaurants with tables crowding the sidewalks during the afternoon and evening. We live just around the corner from the restaurants to the right. on our little street, Calle Conteros It is only one block long stretching between Alemanes and Francos.

This photo is looking away from our apartment up Francos. There is also a restaurant there and one behind the photographer. We are never without a choice of where to eat.



















Here is our little street. It is for foot and two-wheeled traffic only. Motorcycles and scooters park along the side every morning and come and go during the day and evening as the restaurant workers come and go. Our balcony is the one above with the sign "Alquilo Apartmento" or Apartment for Rent.

Men are from Warm Women are from Cold

Temperature Control
We are rarely experiencing the same sensations when under the same physical conditions. One is always hot, the other is always cold. In the car, in the house, in a store or walking down the street.

Karen and I have never agreed on what is cold or hot. We are currently in Sevilla, Spain where it is now over 100°F during the day and above 90 really late at night. We are both uncomfortable for the opposite reasons and struggling over control of the temperature.

I am going to state Bill's Interpretation of the Law of Thermodynamics, a universal truth believed by only about half the population (men): Women have never and shall never understand the concept of "thermostat" on an air conditioner or heater.

A man will experiment with a thermostat until he finds a comfort zone, usually (according to a woman) a few degrees above absolute zero in the summer. A woman will turn on an air conditioner until she is cold, then turn it off (or not) and open the windows and doors, suffocating any nearby man.

We are seeking compromise so that we are both comfortable but what is that? Depends. What is a comfortable temperature for a woman? Depends. What is fresh air? Depends. Is it possible to settle on a temperature even if one goes naked and the other wears a parka, hood, gloves and mukluks? Depends.

Even when I offer "OK, turn off the AC but leave the doors closed until it gets warmer then turn on the AC" (because it's 100 outside and in five minutes will be 99 inside) that doesn't work because then there's no "fresh" air. We are living in a tall building very near the center of a very large European city, across a narrow walkway from another tall building. It has not rained here in the month we have been here. Did I mention it is over 100°F outside, with little breeze? "Fresh" air is somewhere way above the roof...it doesn't come wafting in from the great outdoors and the several restaurants below. To be fresh it would have to be piped in from above and filtered, which is exactly what the AC happens to do, when it is on.

How about if I try to use the thermostat concept and say "Let's leave the doors closed and the AC on, you put on a sweater and we will crank up the temperature one degree at a time until you take off the sweater and are comfortable". Nope, go back to the fresh air thing above.

It's only June 14th and this is going to get very interesting. July is coming and it's going to be even hotter.

Flag Day and Army Birthday
June 14th? It's Flag Day in the US and the 234th birthday of the US Army. Happy Flag Day and Happy Birthday my Band of Brothers and Sisters! On 14 June 1775 the Continental Congress passed a resolution establishing the Army. It is today our country's oldest service.Click here to read the resolution.

Mucho Calor

Much Heat
This is the symbol on the Accuweather web site today for Sevilla.

The headline item on the TV news this morning is "el calor", the heat. They are showing a digital therometer with 43°C!

That's 109°F according to my calculations. Here is a link to a National Weather Service web page with a handy Celsius to Fahrenheit and vice versa converter: Temperature converter

According to the Accuweather web site it will only be 41° today with a "real feel" of 43. I feel better knowing it will only be 106°F today and only "feel" like 109! Fortunately, my job dosen't require me to work outside.

Thinking of my sister Chris in Tucson, AZ I checked the Accuweather forecast for there and it's predicted to be 94°F today with a real feel of only 93. I suppose it is because of the low humidity there that they are spared that real feel increase today though I believe it actually gets much hotter in Tucson than it does here. July is coming everywhere.

Karen and I went to the bull fights yesterday evening at 7:30. That's another story. We were very happy that we had paid a considerable premium for the privilege of sitting in the "sombra" seats since even in the shade we were perspiring, OK I was sweating, Karen was perspiring, a little. It was still very hot even when we left a little before 10:00 PM and still light though the sun had set.


We also went to the hotel near the Plaza de Toros where the toreros stay and dress before being driven to the plaza. About 45 minutes before the event they come into the lobby in their elaborate uniforms and strut about, exuding confidence, almost arrogance. They are the rock stars of Spain. Ole!


Tight pants and pink socks wouldn't make it in a lot of places in the US but they are the rage here.

A National Pastime in Spain

"Onces"

It's bigger than baseball, football and Mom's apple pie put together. It's called "Onces". Once (own-say) is the number eleven in Spanish so every work day at 11:00 everyone stops what they are doing and enjoys "Onces" which for the most part means going to the closest small restaurant, sitting outdoors and enjoying a cafe con leche, cafe solo, hot chocolate or some other beverage and a small snack, often a sweet.

It is also a time for socializing with friends, planning the evening or weekend and catching up on the latest gossip. It is a pleasant break from the humdrum of work, refreshes the mind and body and improves productivity. OK, I made up that last part but two out of three ain't bad. I often join Karen and the others at the Azabache, next door to the Archivo General de Indias where they are doing research on old documents.

A few minutes later, maybe 20 or so, it's all over and everyone goes back to whatever they were doing. One might think there is an afternoon equivalent called "Treses" or something but no, instead all the stores close about 2:00 and reopen for a couple hours around 5:00 or 6:00.






The archives here close for the day at 3:00 and don't reopen until 8:00 the next morning so for the archivists siesta begins at 3:00. Time to rest up for the big evening that begins about 10:00 PM.

Did I mention how hot it gets here in the afternoon?

Old Lessons Re-learned

Rough-dried Laundry

My mother called clothes hung outside to dry on the line "rough-dried". Now I remember why. They are stiff and a bit rough when compared to laundry dried in a dryer. That is where the advantage of a dryer ends...OK, I'll agree that a dryer has an advantage on a rainy day but laundry dried in the sun, naturally, smells so fresh and clean and is almost wrinkle free. The truly fresh, clean smell will never be duplicated in a laboratory and saturated onto a man-made "sheet" of loose, see through fabric. Neither will it be duplicated in a laboratory and added to a liquid that one adds to the washer as fabric "softener".

I knew not long after I learned to walk that going out in the yard with my mother, watching my pet duck sit on her feet each time she stopped to hang a sheet, towel, shirt or sock, that it was an enjoyable experience never to be matched by watching the dryer go round and round while it sucks electricity out of the wall.

Did I mention sleeping on freshly dried sheets and pillow cases?

"Sweet dreams are made of this"...to quote the 1983 song by the Eurythmics.

The washer is probably classed as apartment size and barely holds two double bed sheets and pillow cases. If we wait a week to do laundry we have six or seven loads, the equivalent of about two loads at home, one dark, one light.

It has taken being here in Sevilla where we have a small washer but no dryer for me to re-learn the advantages of sun-dried laundry. I am really tempted to put up a clothesline when I get home though I am fairly certain that the Homeowners' Association has a rule against that.

Conquistadors and Matadors

Conquistadors

For some reason unkown to me the Extremadura region of Spain is home to a great number of Conquistadors. Whether for fame, fortune, religious fervor or just adventure these men were not only willing, but eager to sail across the ocean, explore Nueva España, meet, greet, convert, enslave or slaughter indigenous peoples and exploit their gold, silver, emeralds and other precious properties. By today's standards they would be men willing to fly away in untested rockets, across uncharted skies, explore other unmapped planets like Mars for instance, and deal with the Martians but with a communication system with home base that takes a few months at best to get a reply.

One such man was Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of what is now known as Peru and the founder of the capital city of Lima. His likeness, mounted on a horse and in full battle gear dominates the Plaza Mayor in Trujillo.

His home, where he sat in the garden, shown at left, and dreamed of his conquests, is now a museum situated between the Iglesia Santa Maria and Alcazar.

Above is a list of 13 of the most famous Conquistadors who are native sons of the Extramadura region, not including the two mentioned here.

Below is a statue of Conquistador Francisco de Orellana wearing an eye patch over his left eye. There is probably an interesting story about how he lost that one. He was under the command of Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of Francisco and fought in Peru then explored the Amazon.

Matadors
Since we are in Spain we have to go to a bullfight, or so Karen thinks. I went once before in Barcelona in 1978 and it was enough for me. Karen has not been to a bull fight. I have been inviting her to watch videos on You Tube showing how it's not really a fight, something a Spaniard would readily argue, but a methodical process to publicly and rather torturously kill a bull.

Not easily swayed, we went together to buy tickets last week for this Sunday the 14th of June. We were able to convey to the vendor that we wanted to be in the shade (have I mentioned how hot it is getting here?) since the event begins at noon. Karen was talking to some of the other students who have been before who convinced her that the torreodors on the 14th are amateurs and she needs to go on the 11th, a holiday, because the competitors, both bulls and men will be primo and put on a better show. I submit that the bulls probably do their best at every event and do occasionally take their revenge, although futilely, on even the best of men. I suppose that keeps it interesting and supports the argument that the bulls do indeed have a fighting chance.

So yesterday I had to go back to the booth located on Calle Tetuan and convey in Spanish that "Quisiera cambiar esto (our ticket) para once de Junio. El dia esta diferente, pero todos otros es mismo". Almost unbelievably he simply replied "Mas caro" (more expensive). Wow, I can actually make myself understood so I replied "Intiendo, vale, vale! More than double is the real meaning of more expensive. American Express loves us.

I will wear my new straw hat and smoke a Cuban cigar, Sevillano style. Ole! Ole! Oh boy!

So this Thursday at noon we will sit in the shade on the third row and watch the pros. Watch for a report with photos on Friday morning.