This isn't Spain, it's Middle Earth

While in Córdoba we visited the Castle of the Christian Kings. It is the place where Christopher Colombus, Isabel and Ferdinand planned the world changing trip to India.
The interior wall and courtyard.

The tower as viewed from the garden.

This is me. Legolas and Gimli just missed being in the photo.

A statue of Fernando in the garden outside the castle.

Colombus asking for money to finance his exploration to India

This Angel watches over Córdoba.

The bridge over the River of Guadalquivir. That is the Cathedral in the background. I was going to ask that they move the crane, but I do not know the word in Spanish.

La Mezquita at Córdoba

This is the most impressive building I have ever seen. It was first built in 800 by the Muslim Caliphate. At that time Córdoba was the most important city in the Muslim world outside of Damascus.







The Mosque was built using a series of double arches to support the ceiling. Over the centuries it was added onto until it was larger than the size of a football field (that is soccer in America).






For such an important building, the builders made a huge mistake: the Mosque faces south instead of Southeast towards Mecca. Oops.

Then in the 15th century Córdoba was conquered by the Catholic kingdoms of Castilla and Aragón. In the middle of the Mosque they constructed a huge Cathedral.

Now, all the art in the Mosque and Cathedral is Christian with only some Arabic on the arches and the design itself to pay tribute to its origin.

This is the organ in the Cathedral. The organist sits about twenty feet above everyone.

Floral Homage to The Virgen of the Angustias

September 15th is the Day of the Matron Saint of Granada, The Virgin of the Angustias. People leave boquets of flowers at the Church of the Virgin of the Angustias. They then place the flowers on scaffolding set up at the front of the church. The inside, which is already the most ornate church I have ever been inside, is also decorated.

The buoquets for sale on the street. There were dozens of these vendors.

A up-close of the flowers.

This is the entrance to the church. The heart and ribbons over the door are made of carnations.

This is one of the steeples with the flowers in front. The church is surprisingly big and it is right in the middle of the city so it appears out of nowhere.

That is me in the corner to put the number of flowers into perspective. I do not know if you can tell but I was also eating the biggest cone of helado I found thus far in Granada. The flavors I chose were white chocolate and Ferrero Rocher.

First Day of School

Every year, the first day of school followed the same simple, yet exciting routine. Wake up uncharacteristically early, one of Shea's two days she can wake up on her own (the other being Christmas), eat a breakfast of fun cereal, dress in the newly bought first-day-of-school clothes and then take pictures outside. Unfortunately, my mom, a very worthy photo-chronicler of all important days, events and occasions could not take my picture here in Spain. So, here is my first day of school picture*
These are pictures of my school, a converted hotel so it has a great garden and the classrooms have double doors that open onto little balconies.This is the view from the bathroom.

*To be honest, the picture is not from my first day of classes

I run to you, I run to you

This is Parque Francisco Garcia Lorca, located three blocks from my apartment. It is about twenty acres of trees, grass, gardens, fountains and has many paths wondering every which way. I usually run here at about eight o'clock in the evening when it is cooling down and people are coming out. These pictures were taken at this time of night.



These are just some of the many variety of trees in the park: pine, oak, and palm.

These are some of the roses that come in every color imaginable. The rose garden is located in the center of the park.

This is the main fountain that is at the entrance to the park. It is right by the ramp that goes up about ten feet that is my only incline on the run.




Below is what the running trail looks like. They spray it down a few times a day to fight dust and cool down the air above the dirt.

This is the Museum, with the Alhambra in the background. History within history

This is from the Arab Baths. Don't worry these are the sky lights, not open holes into the deep pit we were in

This one is from 200 AD, again the Romans, look for Hercules

Today I visited the Museum of Archaeology and Geology and the Arab Baths. The Arab Baths are over 1000 years old and some of the artifacts in the museum are closer to 2000. I have included pictures from these places. I also went to the beach, but no pictures were taken as I was in the water for the entire time except for breaks to eat ice cream and lay on my towel. I had an umbrella this time as I went with locals who know the proper equipment to use. It was very fun to spend time with Jaime, Fran and their friends even though I could not always follow their conversations.

This first picture is from the Roman Occupation from c. 300 AD. The third line from the bottom talks of a native practice called Flaminica. The origins of Flamenco go way back

Falling into Soup

What brings the world together more than food? I certainly cannot think of anything. For lunch today we had crema (it wasn't sopa, the word normally used for soup because it was too liquidy) made from calabacin (zucchini) and queso. There was also water and salt. But that was it; something so simple, however was able to connect the lives of six people from 4 countries. Maybe it takes good food to do this because as Ina (from Germany) said, "It's so good I want to fall in it."