Seville is a really interesting city, a blend of Spanish and Moorish. The former royal residence:
The huge gothic cathedral:
Plaza de Espana:
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Seville, Spain
Seville is supposed to be the best spot in Spain to see flamenco, and we were lucky enough to find a local spot where the show was free. It looks like really hard work, both for the dancer and the guy who has to clap out the rhythm. They both looked like they were enjoying themselves though.
Seville is a really interesting city, a blend of Spanish and Moorish. The former royal residence:
The huge gothic cathedral:
Plaza de Espana:
Seville is a really interesting city, a blend of Spanish and Moorish. The former royal residence:
The huge gothic cathedral:
Plaza de Espana:
Granada, Spain
On January 2, 1492, the last Muslim sultan surrendered control of Granada to Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. The terms of the surrender treaty explicitly allowed the city's Muslim and Jewish inhabitants to continue unmolested in their faith and customs. By 1499, however, frustrated with the slow conversion efforts Granada's archbishop undertook a program of forced baptisms. In 1501 the Spanish Crown rescinded the surrender treaty, demanding that Granada's citizens must convert or emigrate. The majority converted to Christianity while secretly practising their own religion. In response the Spanish created the Inquisition, which targeted primarily converts who came under suspicion of continuing to adhere to their old religion. I thought this was a very interesting piece of history associated with this city.
The most visited monument in Spain, the Alhambra is a Moorish citadel and palace in Granada. Its actually huge, a mini city in itself.
The Alcazaba; or the fortress:
The Nasrid Palace:
The most visited monument in Spain, the Alhambra is a Moorish citadel and palace in Granada. Its actually huge, a mini city in itself.
The Alcazaba; or the fortress:
The Nasrid Palace:
Cordoba, Spain
Captured in 711 by the Muslims, Cordoba was the capital of Moorish Spain for 300 years. We stayed in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, and I couldn´t stop myself from taking endless photos of the steets, because they look like this:
The picteresque windiness of the streets is very scenic but makes them very hard to negotiate. The tourist maps seem to have given up the struggle for accuracy as every street is a squiggle instead of a straight line. We tried to find a 13th century Sinagogue, one of the oldest in the world and circled the same area 3-4 times before giving up in frustration. Apparently it was behind this statue of a famous Jewish scholar from Cordoba (he was Saladin´s doctor).
The Great Mosque of Córdoba (784 AD) is one of the most unusual and beautiful buildings I´ve seen. In 1236, Córdoba was recaptured from the Muslims and the mosque was converted into a Christian church, with a cathedral inserted into the middle. Please forgive the photo overload.
The picteresque windiness of the streets is very scenic but makes them very hard to negotiate. The tourist maps seem to have given up the struggle for accuracy as every street is a squiggle instead of a straight line. We tried to find a 13th century Sinagogue, one of the oldest in the world and circled the same area 3-4 times before giving up in frustration. Apparently it was behind this statue of a famous Jewish scholar from Cordoba (he was Saladin´s doctor).
The Great Mosque of Córdoba (784 AD) is one of the most unusual and beautiful buildings I´ve seen. In 1236, Córdoba was recaptured from the Muslims and the mosque was converted into a Christian church, with a cathedral inserted into the middle. Please forgive the photo overload.
Spain 1
Barcelona
*Sigh*... I wish I had photos. Apart from that, I found this to be an amazing city. For food, for shopping, for sights (Gaudi architecture!) I would say it´s unequalled within Spain. Every Spanish city we´ve been to is special in its own way, and and I liked them all. But for me, Barcelona encompasses everything that is great about Spain. Would come back anytime, with the greatest pleasure! And will not take my eyes off my bag ever again.
Valencia
A nice city to just stroll around. It seemed to be on an eternal siesta - every time we went out everything was quiet and closed, except for late at night. I don´t understand when the Spanish actually sleep, when most restaurants don´t open for dinner until 9pm. Sorry about the lack of photos but they are back at the hotel and I can´t be bothered going back to get them.
Madrid
All roads lead to Madrid, but for a capital city it didn´t actually have that many landmarks to see. The main sights were the Royal Palace which I think could use a more exciting paint job:
The obligatory Cathedral:
And the Prado Museum, which was the highlight and is worth seeing if only for the Goya collection.
Toledo
A day trip from Madrid, Toledo is the capital of Castile-La Mancha. In an obvious nod to their most famous if fictional citizen, you can buy a sword and a full suit of armour in souvenir shops (and good luck getting them through customs). I am talking ofcourse about Don Quixote, the man from La Mancha.
Toledo has a perfectly preserved medieval Old City, which was covered with snow on the day we were there. It´s been years since I last saw snow (not counting St Petersburg), and I was very excited. I wish I could find the exclamation mark on this french keyboard to denote my level of excitement.
Like many southern Spanish cities Toledo has an Old Jewish Quarter, a throwback to the time when Jews and Muslims lived peacefully side by side. But they also had this sign spray-painted on a fence. Not sure if that says anything about local attitudes.
Random tapas photo:
*Sigh*... I wish I had photos. Apart from that, I found this to be an amazing city. For food, for shopping, for sights (Gaudi architecture!) I would say it´s unequalled within Spain. Every Spanish city we´ve been to is special in its own way, and and I liked them all. But for me, Barcelona encompasses everything that is great about Spain. Would come back anytime, with the greatest pleasure! And will not take my eyes off my bag ever again.
Valencia
A nice city to just stroll around. It seemed to be on an eternal siesta - every time we went out everything was quiet and closed, except for late at night. I don´t understand when the Spanish actually sleep, when most restaurants don´t open for dinner until 9pm. Sorry about the lack of photos but they are back at the hotel and I can´t be bothered going back to get them.
Madrid
All roads lead to Madrid, but for a capital city it didn´t actually have that many landmarks to see. The main sights were the Royal Palace which I think could use a more exciting paint job:
The obligatory Cathedral:
And the Prado Museum, which was the highlight and is worth seeing if only for the Goya collection.
Toledo
A day trip from Madrid, Toledo is the capital of Castile-La Mancha. In an obvious nod to their most famous if fictional citizen, you can buy a sword and a full suit of armour in souvenir shops (and good luck getting them through customs). I am talking ofcourse about Don Quixote, the man from La Mancha.
Toledo has a perfectly preserved medieval Old City, which was covered with snow on the day we were there. It´s been years since I last saw snow (not counting St Petersburg), and I was very excited. I wish I could find the exclamation mark on this french keyboard to denote my level of excitement.
Like many southern Spanish cities Toledo has an Old Jewish Quarter, a throwback to the time when Jews and Muslims lived peacefully side by side. But they also had this sign spray-painted on a fence. Not sure if that says anything about local attitudes.
Random tapas photo:
Friday, December 11, 2009
A slight dip in mood
My love affair with Spain took a dip yesterday when my entire bag and its contents were stolen in Barcelona bus station. I am still amazed at the thieves´ aptitude and professionalism. I know exactly when it happened - someone came up and asked us something in Spanish (this is while we look like the quintessential tourists sitting there with out backpacks), and it was the only moment when Tim and I both looked away in the direction of the speaker. When I turned around, my bag was gone. I used to think that people who had their posessions stolen must have been careless in some way, but I now I know it is not so. It took a split second, and neither of us saw anything or anyone. It wasn´t busy, there were 2 other people apart from us in the waiting room, there was a video camera, security guards and the police station is 50 metres away. And none of it made any difference.
I lost my camera, my ipod, my wallet and lots of small personal posessions that I use every day. It´s only by some miracle chance that my passport wasn´t in the bag. So yesterday I had a fun day of filling out a police report and trying to cancel my cards from overseas. Plus dealing with a sense of disbelief and violation.
What REALLY hurts must of all is losing my photos - everything from St Petersburg to Barcelona... I trying hard not to think about it because it really upsets me when I do.
I lost my camera, my ipod, my wallet and lots of small personal posessions that I use every day. It´s only by some miracle chance that my passport wasn´t in the bag. So yesterday I had a fun day of filling out a police report and trying to cancel my cards from overseas. Plus dealing with a sense of disbelief and violation.
What REALLY hurts must of all is losing my photos - everything from St Petersburg to Barcelona... I trying hard not to think about it because it really upsets me when I do.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
קק Even though this is my fourth time in Israel I really haven't seen as much of the country as I would have liked. When I am here I usually only spend time with family, visit elderly relatives and get fattened up. But this time I was in travel mode, and I took some time to see more of the country. Israel is so small almost everything is reacheable as a day trip from Jerusalem – very convenient. And the gorgeous weather was a very welcome break from European winter.
Nazareth
Apparently these are the remain of the house the holy family lived in. I wonder how they go about identifying it after 2000 years?
River Jordan
John the Baptist baptised Jesus in this river. This is not the exact site, but you can still clease yourself of your sins by taking a dip. There is a conveniently located souvenir shop nearby where you can rent/buy a shroud.
Sea of Galillee
The site of Jesus' first ministry and where he recruited his first apostles. This church is meant to be built over the spot where he fed 5000 people by miraculously mutiplying fish and bread.
Masada
The fortress of Masada was the the last Jewish resistance holding out against the Romans. Despite its seemingly unassailable position on top of a isolated cliff, the Romans managed to take it; I am glad I had a guide here because the story of how they managed to do it is absolutely fascinating. Once they knew they faced certain defeat, the rebels chose mass suicide rather than surrender.
Dead Sea
The lowest, saltiest place on Earth, meant to have good mudbaths. Need I say more?
Jerusalem
I never get bored of coming to Jerusalem's Old City. It's amazing how much history can be encapsulated by such a small space, and how significant it is to the world's major religions. It also says so much about the relationship between Jews, Muslims and Christians even today - a city divided into 4 distinct quarters so that God forbid a Jew wouldn't have to live next to a Muslim.
Nazareth
Apparently these are the remain of the house the holy family lived in. I wonder how they go about identifying it after 2000 years?
River Jordan
John the Baptist baptised Jesus in this river. This is not the exact site, but you can still clease yourself of your sins by taking a dip. There is a conveniently located souvenir shop nearby where you can rent/buy a shroud.
Sea of Galillee
The site of Jesus' first ministry and where he recruited his first apostles. This church is meant to be built over the spot where he fed 5000 people by miraculously mutiplying fish and bread.
Masada
The fortress of Masada was the the last Jewish resistance holding out against the Romans. Despite its seemingly unassailable position on top of a isolated cliff, the Romans managed to take it; I am glad I had a guide here because the story of how they managed to do it is absolutely fascinating. Once they knew they faced certain defeat, the rebels chose mass suicide rather than surrender.
Dead Sea
The lowest, saltiest place on Earth, meant to have good mudbaths. Need I say more?
Jerusalem
I never get bored of coming to Jerusalem's Old City. It's amazing how much history can be encapsulated by such a small space, and how significant it is to the world's major religions. It also says so much about the relationship between Jews, Muslims and Christians even today - a city divided into 4 distinct quarters so that God forbid a Jew wouldn't have to live next to a Muslim.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Not quite the end of the road
As most of you know, we had considered staying in London in the medium-term, but for various reasons that's not going to happen. So I am officially announcing my relatively imminent arrival back in Melbourne - in late January 2010.
Instead of the end of the road, London became a 10 day stopover on the way to somewhere else. We were hosted by my lovely friends Katie and Jay (that's two separate households), which was great both financially and socially. The time went by so quicky that I didn't manage to catch up with everyone I wanted to (you know who you are, sorry about that!). Instead, I managed to get a really cheap flight to Israel and am now spending the time here I was planning to spend in London. I will meet Tim in Barcelona, from where we will travel Spain and Morocco.
My impressions of London... as a city goes, I think it's hard to beat for the sheer amount of things going on. There seem to be endless concerts, plays, musicals etc to see, activities you can do, clubs you can join, places where you can eat, cheap airlines you can fly with. But it's so all-encompassing! I think am too used to the suburban existence, where on the weekends you feel like you have escaped the city. There seems to be no escaping London. Does anyone else feel like that?
Instead of the end of the road, London became a 10 day stopover on the way to somewhere else. We were hosted by my lovely friends Katie and Jay (that's two separate households), which was great both financially and socially. The time went by so quicky that I didn't manage to catch up with everyone I wanted to (you know who you are, sorry about that!). Instead, I managed to get a really cheap flight to Israel and am now spending the time here I was planning to spend in London. I will meet Tim in Barcelona, from where we will travel Spain and Morocco.
My impressions of London... as a city goes, I think it's hard to beat for the sheer amount of things going on. There seem to be endless concerts, plays, musicals etc to see, activities you can do, clubs you can join, places where you can eat, cheap airlines you can fly with. But it's so all-encompassing! I think am too used to the suburban existence, where on the weekends you feel like you have escaped the city. There seems to be no escaping London. Does anyone else feel like that?
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