Spanspek

The history of Spain is inextricably linked to the Arabs and Moors who, it must be said, civilised the place. The brought great advances in architecture, art and personal hygiene. (The indigenous Spaniards and the Visigoths didn't bath much before then.) They invaded only those parts they wanted, avoided those they couldn't get to or those that were too cold, and waged constant war against those who resisted (mostly the Portuguese). Once successful, they were remarkably tolerant of others—Christians and Jews.

Nowhere is this to be seen more than in Sevllle and Granada. Their old cities have many traces of the time: Mosques converted to Christian churches, design elements everywhere, and even old synagogues. And this despite attempts to erase their legacy. One can only presume that when the cleverest minds in the Christian kingdoms beheld the splendour of Arab and Moorish architecture, they threw up their hands, realising that it was pointless to try to exceed them... so they converted the to Christian places of worship and dwellings.

Real Alcazares is one such example. It's an Arab palace with Christian additions. Like others of its kind, it is adorned with intricate decoration—portraits of people (and perhaps an living creature) being forbidden under Islam. The beautiful, but often over-the-top, filigree of the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo periods is garish by comparison. In any case, the latter came from elsewhere in Europe and a few hundred years after the Moors were defeated. So beloved by the Caliph was Granada that he surrendered rather than see his city destroyed.

Today has been full-on: two tours of the city!

The first took us to the Plaza de España, a large semicircular building erected for the 1929 World Expo. It celebrates all of Spain with frescos of each province lining its lower walls. We looked at only the outside. What it´s for now, who knows, but it certainly is impressive.

The next stop was the Maria Luisa Gardens and the Jewish Quarter. Yes, another. I suppose it´s an indication of the tolerance of the Muslim overlords of the time that the three faiths should be allowed to co-exist. But then they do have one thing (God) in common! Like the Jewish Quarter in Cordoba, the streets are narrow, more the way of building than anything peculiar to Jewish quarters.

We also toured the 1929 and 1992 Pavillions, each set comprising buildings erected to represent countries or groups of countries. Then it was on to the Macarena Cathedral. Many Catholics will disagree of course but since I´m pretty much faithless these days and it´s hard enough to understand devotion to something one must know is untrue, throwing enormous resources at places of worship at the expense of the devotees is utterly immoral. But that´s partly my Protestant upbringing!

This afternoon we went to the Real Alcázares, an enormous palace built by the Arabs and taken over by the Christians. But as with the Corbdoba Cathedral, an enormous amount of it has been preserved.

You have to hand it to them. Denied the right to make images of people, the artists threw their efforts into geometric design which is just breathtaking.

We arrived in Seville. Our guide had arranged a number of "extra tours". More money, but it´s maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The first was a performance of "real" Flamenco. Like the show in Madrid it was a mixture of live music and pre-recorded. The pre-recorded music was cheesy synthesizer recreations of Bizet. The sound was terrible (forgive me, I´m a sound guy).

The performance was enjoyable but I sense that it´s a tourist attraction more than a pure expression of Flamenco. Perhaps it is no more or less so than that in Madrid, but I enjoyed the latter more.

We did have a complementary drink as part of the package, so of course most chose sangria, that beguiling mixture of red wine, fruit and liquors (not sure if this had the liquors). It´s very nice but I think that the red wine was pretty rough. For once, I don´t care.

Cordoba was once the capital of Spain, or al-Andalus as the Arabs called it. It was an important sanctuary of Islam in the West. The Arabs and, later, the Moors, introduced important advances to Spain by way of agriculture, architecture, culture and education and personal hygiene. Our guide Valerie said it was likely the Visigoths before them bathed twice in their lives: at birth and before marriage!

We went on a guided tour of the old city, starting at the Jewish quarter to the Cathedral of Cordoba.

The Cathedral site was built by the Visigoths but destroyed and built over by the Muslim invaders. Despite that emphatic expression of their dominance, they presided over a very tolerant society which allowed Jews and Christians to live freely. When Ferdinand II kicked them out in 1236, he and his minions weren't anywhere near as reasonable.

The Mosque was started in 785 and extended over the next 400 years. It became the largest mosque in the known world, overtaking that in Damascus though it was largely modelled on it. When the Christians reconquered the city, the converted the mosque to a cathedral and built many chapels at the walls and the main Chapel and choir in the centre. The architecture is amazing and the decorations are beautiful. It must be said that they're much more tasteful than the Catholic Chapels built over parts of them. Given the strength of their "faith", it is remarkable that 80% of the mosque survives in its original form.

We got up early this morning for a bus trip from Madrid to Seville. Of course, we didn�t have breakfast so a coffee and muffin from Starbucks ahd to do. We have visitors from Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Mauritius, New Zealand, and the US. Everyone is very nice, though we can better judge those who speak a little English (remarkably many of them).

Our guide is a very entertaining woman called Valerie. She explained how in Spanish nothing is said directly. Her example was English: it is raining, Spanish: it might be raining. I�m not sure whether to believe this but her Spanish commentary is longer than the English!

Madrid is a bit like my previous experience of Spanish cities (mainly Murcia and Cartegena): very spread out and patchy on the outskirts. We soon descended into a valley which appears to be the "bread basket" of the city and then into the state of Castillo-La Mancha, the "dry lands". It is indeed very dry. Unlike Australia where one sees dry river and creek beds, here there don�t seem to be as many rivers and creeks anyway. Valerie explained that despite this La Mancha�s main industry is agriculture. They�ve evidently figured out how to do it: a rotation of potatoes, corn and sunflowers in Winter, Spring and Summer respectively. There�s also a lot of wine, which due to the lack of water and the heat, never needs assisted fermentation or additives to make a decent wine.

After the Sierra Mareno we crossed into Andlucia, the "green lands". At this time of year, they�re not very green, but still it�s an improvement over La Mancha. Crops here are similar, with the addition of a lot more olive oil. There are olive trees everywhere!