Dear loyal followers of our humble blog,
I am writing to you all from the comfort of my bedroom after a whirlwind adventure of a lifetime in Andalucia. I’ve just spent the last 3 hours poring over mountains of photos from the last week (my homework can wait one more day, right?), reliving the memories – sinking again into the awe of viewing, for the very first time, the marching red and white arches of La Gran Mezquita de Cordoba, or puzzling over the sculpted text and designs intertwining and climbing the walls of La Alhambra like so many flowering vines following the steps of an exquisite dance.
I’ve a feeling that experiencing these ancient sites would instill wonder in any human soul, but being obsessed (I don’t think I can describe the sentiment more strongly than that) with history and art as I am, I’m pretty sure I died from the rapture of it all at least about 10 times. Imagine, for example, our first thoughts upon entering La Catedral de Granada. This particular edifice was erected in “el estilo gigante” – gigantic style. Shall I explain? It’s quite possible that it took me 15 minutes just to gaze from the pearly tiled floors to the arching ceiling, that being supported by towering columns that bore a strong resemblance to giant sequoias. I’m convinced that it would have taken at least half of the group to stretch our arms around one (ok, perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but these things were monstrous!). To sit at the base of one of them would have felt akin to being an ant at the foot of an immense tree, staring up into the blue and pondering the world in all its wonder. Surely the cathedral was meant to inspire that sort of awe, and I have to admit that my heart was ready to leap out of my chest in violent worship of our grand Creator. If human hands can erect something of such grandeur, what wonder is the source of all this creativity capable of? I’ve had a very small taste of that splendor during travels through mountains – veritable coffers of the riches of God, and that alone was enough to knock me off my feet.
Well dear friends, that was just the tip of the iceberg. We spent the morning of the following day chasing foreign scents and frolicking music down the strange and labyrinthine alleys of el Albaicin, one of the oldest parts of Granada and home to some truly gorgeous Arabic architecture – a small hint of what awaited us in La Alhambra later that afternoon. I’ll not spend much time with description as I’m anxious to get on to talking about the Mosque, but suffice it to say the ancient palace was like something out of Arabian Nights. The walls really did seem to come alive with crawling decoration – flower stems twisting and turning like serpents twining their way through starbursts, diamonds, and the flowing script of passages from the Qu’ran. It was every bit as staggering as the cathedral, though perhaps expressing power and beauty through playful mind-games and tricks of the eye rather than the somewhat forceful, engulfing power of the cathedral.
I should interject here that all of these delights for the eyes were supplemented throughout with gastric delights, the most famous of which was the cherished “churros con chocolate” (put frankly, deep fried dough dipped in molten chocolate), without a doubt the most calorie-laden fiesta my tongue has ever enjoyed.
With that, I arrive finally at the jewel of our tour, the dazzling ruby of Cordoba – La Gran Mezquita. I’m willing to admit that any bitterness I had at the fact that the lions were absent from the Court of the Lions (they would choose to restore them when their greatest fan was coming to visit) in La Alhambra was quickly washed away by the Great Mosque. I’ll not bore you all with dusty art history facts (though I’m dying to pour forth with all I’ve got), but the mosque is truly a feat to be admired. It’s basically a building the size of a football field filled with row upon row of columns, each pair supporting a double arch of red and white stripes. The affect is breath-taking, lit as it is by dim chandeliers that bathe the edges in shadow and trick the eye into thinking that the columns march into infinity. To top it off, a giant cathedral has been plunked right in the middle of the mosque! As unnatural as the mix seems, there’s something beautiful and magnificent about the way in which the two styles meld and clash. It’s an incredibly strange, and certainly unique, experience. I’d have loved to wander beneath those candied arches for hours, breathing in years of dust and the spicy-sweet scent of incense in the light flickering candles.
--Written by Kyria Osterhouse
PICTURES from our trip to Andalucia:
Group pic with La Alhambra in the background
Funny group pic in the Plaza of the Alhambra
The Mosque and it's arches
Some of the group "One foot in, one foot out" of the city proper of Cordoba
The Monastery in Granada
No comments:
Post a Comment