On the Loose in Al Andalus

We started our journey in Andalusia at a gallop. Like Romans with Visigoths nipping at their heels. Like Moors on the run during the Reconquista. Three towns in six days.

Night Flight to Malaga

Kathy met her match with her seat mate. His ability to talk eventually had her digging for her headphones. I was sitting in the row in front of them, so I listened in. Despite being in the middle of a British Airways plane surrounded by Brits, these two non-Brits started off with their opinions on Brexit. Then they followed this up with a lengthy dissertation on everybody’s topic du jour/semaine/mois/annee, Donald Trump. When no more words for madness could be found they carried on to sort out situations in Spain, the middle east, Pakistan, and Roman sites in Spain.

We last saw this man at the luggage carousal bending a woman’s ear about Scientology.

Malaga

Malaga is a harbour town and I was not sure what to expect.

But I was pleasantly surprised by its beauty strolling along the main street near the waterfront the next morning. Warm breezes and palm trees, birds-of-paradise and hibiscus.

We headed to the Alcazaba, or the citadel of the Moors.

Right beside the lower part of the Alcazaba was the ancient Roman theatre of Malaga, or Malaca as it was known in Roman times. There was a good interpretive centre beside it.

Granada

From Malaga we took the bus to Granada, then hopped onto a city bus into the centre of town, where we crowded into a mini-bus and promptly passed the stop for our pension, going all the way up to the top of the Alhambra. So we know how to get there for the next day. Half way back down the hill we jumped out where we thought our place might be near. We wandered up and down the street before realizing it was not really on that street but one off it with a very similar name. Don’t overlook the Huerta added to a street name. Apparently they don’t just add descriptive words to a name for no reason.

Granada is an attractive city with stunning sights to behold. We did part of a walking tour and then had dinner at an organic food restaurant in a square. The meal was good but not spectacular, I had aubergine pie and rice pudding for dessert. The Greeks do it better (did I just write that?).

The next day our tickets (which we bought before we left) were for the afternoon entry so we finished our walking tour wandering the streets of Granada. Very picturesque beside the river. We bought a lunch to go – spinach pastry (again the Greeks have the edge) and water, and caught our favourite mini-bus up the hill.

I have read that the Alhambra is one of the top ten visited sights in the world. And here we are. The view of Granada below caught my breath as we walked into the Generalife, the palace/citadel’s garden area outside of the complex walls. It is like a surreal painting.

Even into October the flowers are beautiful.

During our visit to the Alcazar, or defensive entrance to the hilltop complex, Kathy climbed the tower while I checked out the views to the mountains.

It was during this brief separation that she lost her ticket to enter the Nasirid Palace. At 3:45 and our entry was 4:30. Drama ensued. We went from museum info, to the Alhambra info centre, to the ticket office, walking the length of the site and back again at top speed in warm weather. Thanks to a very helpful and calm young woman at the info desk, Kathy got a new ticket and we queue jumped (always lines to enter) into the palace by 4:50.

Thankfully there are seats in various rooms and we took the opportunity to sit and catch our breaths. It also gave us the opportunity to really admire the intricate designs on the walls and in the tiles.

After dinner back in the town centre of very delicious cheeses, meats and pates, and olives (better than the Greeks), accompanied by some very refreshing cervesas, we head back to our quaint pension with the unbearable beds.

Cordoba

We took the bus from Granada to Cordoba and along our one and a half hour journey the hills were covered with rows and endless rows of olive trees. I wondered if this was the same landscape the Roman saw because two thousand years ago this region was the biggest producer of olive oil in the ancient world.

Cordoba looks a little rough around the edges at first. I loved walking across the Roman bridge to get into the older section of town, just in front of la Mesquita, but there were people and police everywhere. It was a national holiday so that was probably why but it was slightly unnerving. Especially since our hotel is right across a narrow street from la Mesquita.

Cordoba’s Roman remains have seen better days. Obviously, you’re probably saying. The empty cans of cat food scattered around the Temple of the Imperial Cult did not help. However, the archeological museum was good.

But nobody comes to Cordoba for its Roman sights, not even me. It is la Mesquita that is the main attraction. And it is amazing and worth the visit. I think it competes easily with the Alhambra in Granada.

It is an enigma wrapped up in conundrum. A church in the middle of a mosque.

Our pace is unsustainable, so at the next stop in Cadiz we will be staying longer.

Now here it is your moment of mosaic from the Cordoba Archeological Museum.