Cordoba

So...I was supposed to go to Cordoba this past Saturday, but I was out at the discoteca until like three in the morning and then had my NBA Fantasy draft that lasted until around five.  In other words, I slept through the bus.  I woke up at 9:08 just in time to go back to bed since the bus left at 9:00.  Oops.  Slept in until around one, but that didn't really cure my tiredness.

While I missed the bus Saturday, it turns out that all hope wasn't lost, nor was I the only late sleeper.  My good friend Adrian and I decided to try our luck at going on Sunday with the second group.  I actually made it out of bed in time and since they don't take role or really even really know who signed up in the first place, this turned out to be an easy mission.  Next thing you know I was on my way to Cordoba...and two hours later I was actually there.

When we got off the bus we were greeted by la Puente Romana (Roman Bridge for those of you who say dos equis, "two x") that spans across el Río Guadalquivir (the same one that goes through Sevilla).  After separating into our groups and fumbling around the tiny baby streets of Cordoba we arrived at our first significant destination: el Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos.  Pretty sweet place, but unfortunately it was the one day of the year that it was closed.  Apparently it was the day that they set aside to honor their protector, Saint Rafael Archangel.  But ya as we walked up I almost bumped in to the mayor not knowing it was him.  He was receiving like a scepter or a cane or a sword or something from some dude dressed up like a joker.  Okay, well a little background on this place.  Apparently it was a palace of the Visigods until the Muslims conquered the peninsula and tore down the palace in order to build a new one.  Well at some point during the time 711-1492 the Christians did the same thing to the Muslims.  The most important thing about this place is that it is where Christopher Columbus came to ask the King and Queen of Spain for the money to sail to the Indies, since he knew the earth was round.  Well you know what happened after that but I don't really remember what else happened here so I'll just leave it at that.

Got off the bus to see la Puente Romano, which we'd soon be crossing.

Maimonides.  The first person to translate the Torah to arabic.  He was also a genius in the field of medicine.

So as we walk up to the el Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos the mayor of Cordoba strolls up. I almost ran into him as he was being handed his scepter.

A rose, for you.

So many long straight fountains in this European world.

Is it just me or does this statue look like its standing in the wall during a free kick?

Huge round trees...

...are fun to bounce off of.

Jumping in with some friends and Cristobal Colón.  Picture from Adrian.

Colón: "Yo Isabel and Fernando give me some gold to go to the Indies cuz I know the world is round."

Reyes Cristianos: "You're one crazy mother f-----, but go ahead."  Best investment ever I'd say.  Isabel actually dipped into her own pocket for this one since they were broke after fighting the Muslims for so long.

So after the garden we had some free time to eat or whatever and me and some friends went to this restaurant where I had a great grilled ham and cheese.  I love eating food that tastes good, it makes me sooo happy.  SOOO HAPPY.  After struggling with some language barrier or something during our attempts to pay we finally got out of there in time to go to one of the sites that I have wanted to see the most in Spain: La Mesquita Catedral.  This mosque (=mesquita), is ridiculous, unique, awesome and everything cool.  After the Christians conquered Cordoba they needed to build a Cathedral, so they wrote to the King at the time, I think it was Carlos asking if they could build the cathedral in the center of the mosque.  Being a loyal Christian, Carlos said, "of course!" without ever having seen the building himself.  Well, turns out that when Carlos visited the mosque/cathedral later he was not happy that his people had destroyed something so unique to build a cathedral in the middle of it, a cathedral similar to those that could be found in Granada, Madrid, Sevilla, pretty much anywhere.  Even though the mosque got a little messed up, the cathedral in the center is pretty amazing too.  

So the mosque was built over time and expanded by three members of the ruling family.  Two did the interior and another worked on the tower.  Each member added their own "flair" and tried to out-do the other.  Nowadays the mosque has 1,300 columns and is sometimes referred to as the forest of columns.  It also has an arch for every day of the year (...365).  I don't really know much information about the cathedral.

Another cool arch.  Built by the later ruler.

Some stuff.

Here you can see where the Muslim and Christian influences mix.  Its incredible to walk from the dark column-filled mosque into the enormous, high-ceilinged and classical cathedral.

Every Mosque has to have a tower?  Apparently the Muslim tower is hidden inside this Christian one.  Oh and more frickin' orange trees.

Whoop whoop

It's weird walking over dead people.

Dome surrounded by more crazy arches.

Adrian and I.

Every cathedral has to have its organ(s)...kind of like people.

How'd you like this for a ceiling?

The whatever its called where the priest stands. 

This myspace pic is for Arnie Gardner the master myspace pic-taker.

Plaza Corredera, for some reason recommended for us to do during our free time.

View from across the river near the end of the trip.

Finally, in more recent years there has been a large controversy over who gets to use the mosque.  It is currently a Christian place of worship but at one point (last year?) a group of Muslims entered and began to pray together.  They were tossed out of the place and as you might have guess this only served to fuel the flames.  There is currently a ton of security that is pretty up-tight about anything that moves.

Can't we all just get along? :-)