Spain

In total we spent six full days in Spain, but in many ways it seemed a lot longer! This is in part due to the hectic travel experience in getting there and in some ways a poorly planned trip. It would be a bit unfair to say that Spain was less than terrific as there were many wonderful experiences that we shared, and one must consider that we will forever compare other countries in Europe to Italy. For our taste, Italy is pretty tough to beat. Our goal was to see as much of Southern Spain as possible as there are limitations as to the time of the year that you can travel to “Andalusia” (The Southern most region of Spain) as summer is far too hot and winter can get a bit cold. A brief bit of history is necessary to really appreciate Spain, which can rival most any country in historical significance. I have broken down this section into three destinations:

Madrid (The capital of Spain)
Seville (The Capital of Andalusia)
Granada (The Final Stronghold of the Moorish Empire which ruled Spain for 700 years)

Madrid – It would be a bit unfair to have an opinion either way on Madrid as we lost one full day there due to the airline fiasco (In total we only spent two nights and one half day there), but we did get a chance to walk around a bit and see some of the cities amazing architecture. There are of course many amazing cities in Europe from the perspective of architecture, and I would have to say that Madrid is near the top of the list. On any given street you will see some of the most impressive buildings that you can imagine. What makes the architecture unique in Madrid is that it appears to be relatively new compared to places like Rome, Paris and Florence. Since Spain was one of the worlds foremost Imperialistic Countries (Having conquered such a significant percentage of the New World) it would make sense that its capital is home to an amazing collection of treasures (Especially gold and other fine minerals that it stole from the Indians of North and South America! Sorry for the politically opinionated diversion, that’s just the bleeding heart in me coming out :>).

Since we didn’t have a tour of Madrid, or time to visit its numerous monuments, there is little that I have to share about the cities history. I can only tell you that as far as a walking city goes, its pretty darn impressive (See photos)

Seville –

For a great many years, I have had Southern Spain near the top of my list places that I would love to visit. The challenge has been the time of year that is ideal for visiting this land whose coast line lies only 30 miles from Morocco in North Africa. Temperatures can reach as high as 125 degrees during the summer months, making the Spring or Fall the only times that one should visit. It simply has not made sense to travel half way around the world for only one week (The kids school schedule would not permit anything other than Spring Break), so when we decided to move to Italy, Andalusia (Southern Spain) was an automatic. The biggest attraction for me is that I am one quarter Syrian and therefore have a desire to experience as much of the Arab world as is safe to do so. Southern Spain gives you a true taste of Arab influence but without the worry. We Americans have a jaded perspective on Arab people due to the many conflicts we have witnessed in our lifetime, however just as “We” are not our government in America, neither are the Arab people theirs. Arab people are some of the most passionate, social and charismatic you will ever meet and their food aint too bad either!

Seville is the capital of Southern Spain and a large city of nearly 1 million people (It doesn’t seem that large however when you are there). Many are unaware of the history of Spain and in particular the South, so I will take a brief moment to summarize.

Spain was predominantly under Roman rule (And a part of the Roman government) for many hundreds of years up until 712 AD, when it was conquered by the Moors of Northern Africa. The Moors being of Muslim decent incorporated many of their traditions into the food, architecture and religion into this region that it ruled for over 700 years! Their reach of habitation covered all of Spain up to the French boarder, making it one of the largest land areas under Muslim rule. It is interesting to note that at the time of Arab rule, Spain was inhabited by Muslims, Jews and Christians and tolerance was practiced towards all three religions. It was not until the fall of Grenada (More on this city later) that the conquering Christians forced conversion to Christianity and extradited all Jews from the Country. Seville itself fell to the Christians in 1248 and the unfortunate fact is that much of the wonderful Arab architecture of this period was destroyed by the Christians.

The major attraction of Seville is Santa Maria Cathedral and we hired a great guide by the name of Luis to show us around. The Church was built in 1401 and is the largest Gothic Church in the world and ranks as the third largest overall behind St. Peters in Rome and St. Pauls in London (Those that remember last months blog should immediately detect that we now officially have a controversy on our hands as Alex tells us that the Duomo in Florence in the worlds third largest church!) Lets just say they are both freaking big! Perhaps some of you have been to Notre Dame in Paris (The worlds most famous Gothic Church). I would tell you that Santa Maria in Seville is far superior. The alter itself, took over 40 years to carve and its back drop is wood covered in gold leaf (Floor to ceiling, which is 8 stories high!). It is nothing shy of mesmerizing with over 2000 individual pictures telling the story of the Christian religion (In these times, virtually everyone was illiterate so conversion to the faith was done with visual imagery). To give you an idea of the sheer magnitude of this amazing shrine, one of the side alters has a painting as a back drop that is alone just over 500 square feet in size! (See photo).

Perhaps the greatest gift that Santa Maria Cathedral offers however is the tomb of Christopher Columbus himself! The story of Columbus is quite interesting. We all know the story from our history classes of his famous voyage and discovery of America in 1492 (He actually discovered what is now the Dominican Republic and an Italian, Amerigo Vespuccio discovered the mainland of what we consider to be America, hence he name!). The part of the story that I was never told was how he died. Columbus was commissioned by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to sail the Pacific in an effort to prove that the world was round and to find an alternative route to India (Hence the reason it was called the West Indies). The deal that he had with the King and Queen entitled him to 10% of all the land he discovered! It seems that when the King and Queen realized just how much land there really was (Basically most of Central America and the Carribean) they decided to renege on the deal and threw Ol Chris into jail! He died there that very night (Mysteriously I might add). Upon his death his remains were moved to Seville and later his son moved them to the Dominican Republic. When the French later invaded the Dominican, they were moved to Hvana Cuba. A few years ago there was a lively debate between Seville and The Domincan Republic as to who really had the bones of Columbus. Following an extensive analysis by scientists, it was concluded by DNA findings that BOTH countries truly had partial remains of the famous Spanish Conquistador.

A final note about the Cathedral. The city of Seville is built along the Guadalquvir River “Big River” which runs some 90 kms to the Atlantic. Columbus, Magellan and a host of other Spanish sailors came to pray at this church before they set sail to Americas.

Seville is also the birthplace of two wonderful traditions (Flamenco and Tapas) and it would be wrong to not mention both. Flamenco is a type of dancing that is synonymous with Spain and is performed to the Spanish acoustic guitar and singing. We went to a Flamenco show one night in Seville that included a tapas dinner. The entertainment was un-remarkable (Wasn’t horrible, just nothing special) but we were treated to watching Trey swipe a plate of olives off a neighboring table (Per his grandfathers coaxing) as my dad was simply not wiling to wait for the typically methodical food service you receive in Spain!

Tapas are a bit of an institution in Spain. Think of Tapas as small meals (Appetizers) that are eaten in most cases standing up, while having a glass of wine. It is not at all uncommon for Spanish people to migrate from one tapas bar to the next over the course of an evening, while eating several dishes. It makes for a very social way of dining and the dishes are excellent. Without question, my favorite was the “Suckling Pig” which melts in your mouth. Those of you that are saying “What the Hell is suckling Pig”, think of pulled pork but without the BBQ sauce, that type of tender. In finality on Spanish food, much to my father’s surprise it is nothing like Mexican food. Paella, gazpacho and pork are all staples of the Spanish table. The only problem that we had with Spanish food was that it simply wasn’t diverse enough. Every place we ate seemed to have the exact same menu. A week was simply overkill of the same dishes.

Following three days in Seville, we jumped back into our rental car and made the drive across the “Andalus” to Grenada. Along the way we passed by many unremarkable villages (This part of the trip was a bit disappointing as it was long and tiring). One stop in particular was in a village called Rhonda, which must have some major historical significance but we just never found out about it because we didn’t have the time. Rhonda is also the place that bull fighting was invented (Many of these villages in the Andalus were likely far better than we realized, but we only saw them from the highway!). What we did find out, was that you better hadn’t order a kids meal in a nice restaurant with an amazing view unless you qualify (See notes from the cheap seats)!

Grenada –

Our final stop was the city of Grenada, which also happened to be the final stop for the Christians in their quest to take back Spain. Grenada was the final city to fall from the hands of the Arabs in 1492 (Yes the same year that Columbus discovered America!) At the time of the final battle, Grenada was the largest city in Europe. This may seem astonishing, but it was for good reason. As the Christians migrated across Spain and one by one conquered the various Arabic cities, the remaining Arabs fled to Grenada. The city swelled in size over a 100 year period of time and became the place for the Arabs last stand.

The major attraction for one to visit modern day Grenada is The Alhambra (Red Castle). Built in 1238, The Alhambra is the only example of a Medieval Arab Palace left in the world. You will no longer find any remaining in Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia etc… as they were all destroyed by the Turks and Mongols hundreds of years ago. The Alhambra is in an ideal position as far as palaces go. It rests high on an enormous hilltop over looking the valley that houses Grenada and is blessed with having an aqueduct which provided it with running water (Not exactly a common amenity in the middle ages and a bit of a necessity in a place that has soaring summer time temperatures).

To say that the Alhambra is a stunning palace would be an understatement. The distinct Arabic influence in its architecture, makes for an incredibly exotic feel. The Alhambra actually boasted seven different palaces within it enormous walls, but only three remain as four of them were destroyed by France during the Napoleanic Wars. These are not palaces of opulence like those found in many places of western influence. The Arabic people lived under a philosophy that the outside of a home (Or Palace) should be understated so as to not make those less fortunate feel bad. Internally, The Alhambra has some of the most spectacular architectural design you will ever see. The ceilings alone as awe inspiring (See photos)

When visiting the Andalusia, we were given a different perspective on the religion of Islam that many in our part of the world may be unaware of. One of the interesting facts that we learned is that genetically speaking, Arabs and Jews are more closely related in their genetic makeup than any two societies on the planet (Like two brothers that hate each other I guess). A further insight into this close relationship lies within the Koran itself where the following people are all included and revered within the Muslim faith (Mohammad, Jesus, Abraham, Adam, Moses and The Virgin Mary). When meeting the people of the Arab world (We met many Moroccans on our trip to Spain) and you reflect on the above facts, it makes it even more difficult to understand the problems that we have in the world today…