Andalucia

Málaga

Málaga dates its roots back to the Phoenician area, but have constructions left by the Roman and the Moors as well. Next to Alcazaba, the impressive Moorish fortress, you may overlook the excavations of an old Roman amphitheatre. Still a busy shipping town with lines to Africa and The Canary Islands.

The cathedral, nicknamed La Manquita, is worth a visit. The name meaning "the one armed", because funds ran out when only one of the two towers had been erected. And that was in 1765!!

Casa Natal de Picasso, the place where Picasso grew up, is now the headquarter of the Picasso foundation. In Museo de Bellas Artes you may enjoy some of his very early sketches.

Nerja

Nerja, some 60 km east of Marbella was another Costa del Sol town until 1959 when some boys by incident discovered the fantastic cave system. Having visited the cave system in Gibraltar and experienced a symphonic concert there, we thought "another cave".

But, the "Cuevas de Nerja definitely are different and really a must. What was new to us was that the stalagmites had developed at different speed during the many hundreds/thousands of years. (Cave decorations found dates back some 20.000 years.) The formation seen at left is the highest in Europe, with 37 metres. How "mother nature" has produced the stalagmite at right, i a mystery to us. ("Honi soit qui mal y pense" i.e. Shame on you with dirty thoughts).

Nerja also invites you to one of the newer Paradors, at the edge of the "European balcony". Here you might have a wonderful meal at the terrace, or a swim in the pool, overlooking the area and the beach below, reached from the hotel by a lift. Test one of their specialities oxtail stew (One of us has up till now thought of that part of an animal only as a convenient means to scare flies.)

Granada

Alhambra, the Moorish summer palace is a place not to forget, or the main reason for going there. We met a German tourist that thought it to be nothing compared to Córdoba and other places in North Africa. Our experience is not that wide. What impressed us most is not the materials used, but how they have used the local materials of lime stone and wood, and how they developed a big complex with lots of fountains and dams based on natural supplies and pressure, no pump of any sort.

Specially in a time dominated by the Afghan demolishments and fighting, it a relief to see what other reader of the Koran has been stimulated to create. Be aware that they only sell a fixed number of tickets per day. To avoid congestion in some of the buildings you are given a "slot time" that may be several hours later, if ticket is not bought very early in the morning. If you have a problem to plan for such and "inconvenience", go for a guided tour that can be bought in the many travel agencies. They have prebooked tours.

Córdoba

This is another "must" city, full of history and charm.

The Roman bridge, crossing the Guadalquívir close to the old town, reflects little of its Roman roots, due to many rebuilds and enforcements. In the centre of one of its stone rails, you find an image of St Raphael at whose feet candles always burn and before whom many Córdobans remove their hats.

The Mezquita, the mosque, converted to a cathedral, dates back to the 10th century and emir Abd ar-Rahman III, one of the great rulers of Islamic history. At this time Córdoba was the largest, most prosperous cities of Europe, outshining Byzantium and Baghdad in science, culture and the arts.

The Mezquita is one of the marvellous masterpieces from the Moorish influence. Jan Morris described it as "so near the desert in its tent like forest of supporting pillars." (There are more than 800). The Mihram, the place for prayer, traditionally had two functions in Islamic worship, first it indicated the direction of Mecca and it also amplified the words of the Imam, the prayer leader. At Córdoba it is particularly magnificent. The shell-shaped ceiling is carved from a single block of marble and the chambers on either side are decorated with exquisite Byzantine mosaics of gold.

In todays political situation, where we Westerners unfortunately, to a great extent think of the Muslim world as tribesmen and illiterates, we should remember that "these tribes had the intellectual ability to produce such architecture, besides fostering great writers, scientists and mathematicians. We even use their counting system in the whole western world.

Perhaps we here might have a hint to what has caused the "distance" between a "great people", now feeling inferior to "tribes of primitive behaviour, selfish and with their own navel as the centre of the world.

Seville

Seville is a city steep in history. Throughout the narrow streets and main avenues - in fact, virtually everywhere you cast your eye, there are magnificent monuments and buildings which stand as a legacy to this city's fascinating heritage. Many of these date from the time of the 700 years under Moorish sovereignty, such as the Giralda, the Alcazar, and the Cathedral.

The cathedral was originally built as a mosque in the late 12th century. Later, Christian architects added the extra dimension of height. Its central nave rises to an awesome 42 metres and even the side chapels seem tall enough to contain an ordinary church. The total area covers 11,520 square metres and makes it one of the largest (the largest?) Christian church in the world.

The grandiose Sacrista mayor houses the treasury. Amid a huge collection of silver reliquaries and monastrances are the keys presented to Fernando by the Moorish and Jewish communities on the surrender of the city, sculpted into the latter in stylised Arabic script are the words 'May Allah render eternal the dominion of Islam in the city.'

The tomb of Christopher Columbus is another tourists "trap". Mr. Columbus died poor and without all the glamour he has been admitted, as having his tomb here.

One of the richest areas of the city, in terms of the sheer number of monuments, is the Barrio Santa Cruz which is very much in character with Seville's romantic image, its streets narrow and torturous to keep out the sun, with houses brilliantly whitewashed and barricaded with iron grilles. Almost all the houses have patios, often surprisingly large and in summer these become the principal family living room.

Not far away, you will find the Plaza de España, designed as the centrepiece of the Spanish Americas fair, and on the edge of the beautiful Maria Luisa Park. We fell in love with the tile pictures, each presenting one of the Spanish towns, as here Almería.

On a much smaller scale than the Plaza de España are the tranquil gardens of the Casa de Pilatos which, despite being built well after the Moslem period, by the Marquis of Tarifa, after being en captured by the impressions from the Renaissance Italy, demonstrates how long the interest in Mudejar architecture continued.

Nearby is the Royal Tobacco Factory, forever associated with the fictional gypsy heroine, Carmen, who toiled in its sultry halls. Today it is part of the university.

The Sevillians are great actors and put on an extraordinary performance at their annual Fería de Abril, a week-long party of drink, food and dance which takes place day and night in more than a thousand especially mounted tents. But above all it allows the men to parade on their fine horses and the women to dance in brilliantly coloured gypsy dresses.

Immediately before that is Holy Week, Semana Santa, a religious festival where hooded penitents march in long processions. Each procession/brotherhood carries two baroque floats, each some 2.000 kilos, carried by 40-50 people, on which sit Images of -the Virgin or Christ. In total Seville has more than 100 floats. We had the opportunity to visit Seville on Thursday and Friday in the Holy Week. In that period there are processions continuously, one procession walking the whole night. The old town is crowded by a million spectators. For more details visit our page on Spanish Festivals.

Both events are well worth experiencing. There is a surcharge on hotel accommodations during these periods, but we found the experience worth every €.

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Updated 12.02.2004