May 19th - Granada & Cordoba

This weekend's lesson.... if you find a long line, stand in it! (I'll explain later)

Yesterday I was extremely lucky! I had a half day left in Granada and I wanted to go see the cathedral Isabella and Ferdinand commissioned. I had seen the outside the day before but I didn't go in. I walked over there to find a ridiculously long line, longer then La Sagrada Familia line, all filled with Spaniards. As I walked to the back I looked through the line for people who looked like a tourist and listened for some English so I could ask what was going on but not a single person looked like a tourist (they're pretty easy to spot, I definitely look like one) or spoke any language other then Spanish! I finally found the end and decided to stay because this was the one thing I wanted to do and I had plenty of time. I stood in line for an hour and a half (I had my book with me!) and finally got in and man am I glad I stayed. At the time I had no idea what was going on but there were these booths or float looking things all with the Virgin Mary on them. They were all very ornate, some with a lot of candles, other with lots of flowers, and there were about 38 of them. Tons of people were in there taking pictures of each one. I found out later what was going on but first here are my pictures.

She looked really sad in each one, it seemed intentional

This was the only where she didn't
look sad

I have no idea what's going on here but
that is apparently not Jesus

So many people!!!!!

I also noticed a bunch of groups of guys in sweat suits (separate groups all designated by a color) all holding a bundle of something under their arms and the streets were lined with chairs. I found a lady who spoke English and she explained to me that it's a huge festival that happens once ever 100 years!!! Yes that's not a typo. The different groups of guys are all from different churches and they all carry the floats around the streets and the bundles they carry are back braces. I found a website in Spanish that explained it, this is what google translate had:

On the occasion of the centenary of the Canonical Coronation of Our Lady of Sorrows, patroness of the Archdiocese of Granada, the Royal Federation brotherhoods of Holy Week in Granada organizes Mariana Magna, in honor of penance to the brotherhoods image of Sorrows and his brotherhood by that commemoration.

Lady of Sorrows, makes sense they all look so sad. Apparently it's a huge thing to go see them in the Cathedral before they're carried around and since I missed the parade I'm happy I got to see it in the Cathedral.

Only picture I have of the guys I'm talking about

I then headed to the train station and off I went to Cordoba! I have my own room and my own bathroom here! This morning I felt pretty guilty for staying in bed a long time just reading and enjoying having my own space but I have to remember this is marathon not a sprint and I can't always go-go-go! I first headed over to the Jewish area. It has the third surviving medieval synagogue in Spain (the first two are in Toledo which I saw, see earlier posts!) built in 1315 and used as a hospital in 1492. It was tiny but interesting, here are a few pictures:

Across the way was a Sephardic Museum and I went naturally. My favorite part was a section on some of the influential women of the time that had really beautiful paintings of each on tin. The picture below depicts a women who was a famous artist and poet. She would walk through the streets of Cordoba with her poems embroidered on her clothes. She is said to have inspired numerous contemporary narrative works.

After the museum I went to the Mezquita, the main thing to do in Cordoba. It's a Cathedral inside of a Mosque, very strange. What I found to be the most interesting were the subtle differences in the mosque area based on who was expending it at the time, for example, slightly different flooring or the paint job on the arches. I actually didn't take a lot of pictures! Can you believe it?! Well I'm going to be honest with you... I'm kinda over churches, and synagogues and mosques for that matter. I think I'd be ok not seeing one for awhile :-) Here are a few pics anyway:

Mihrab, focal point in the mosque,
this is in the direction of mecca

Arches in the mosque area surrounding the cathedral

Cathedral section

I ended up running into a guy from Michigan that I met on the train and we went for really delicious tapas. Below is manchego cheese, iberian ham, potato omelet (they call it an omelet but it's not really because there aren't any eggs), and grilled baby squid.

After all of that I was pretty tired and planned on heading back for a siesta and to write this but I saw an information booth and I read in my guide book there was a garden festival around this time that was pretty big so I thought I would ask. They had pamphlets and I was right, this was the last day of the festival! I saw a street blocked off by the cops so I walked down to see what was going on and there were tons of people standing in lines to get into people's houses! See this weekend's lesson above! I stood in a line to see what was going on and eventually I went to someone's house into their courtyard to look at their gardening! There were so many people, and again no tourists that I could see and I was surprised it was just as many men as women and people of all ages. Everyone would take each other's pictures inside the houses and after you could leave money on a tray if you wanted. I left a few cents at each house I went to. I walked into the front door and generally there were steps to the upstairs close by and the kitchen would have windows into the courtyard, it was a very neat thing to see, I'm happy I stubbled upon it! I'm not sure how people get selected but the four I went to were all pretty close together. There are different neighbors you can visit that have several houses selected but I only had the stamina for one neighborhood. There are some pictures below to show you the beautiful flowers! Mom, I have more pictures if you'd like to see them.

So many people, lots of lines to stand in! 

These were hanging outside of a lot of
people's homes

I tried to do a panorama in my favorite house to
show how every wall was completely covered 

OK, so if you made it this far, and I appreciate it if you did, I have a treat.... more observations! 

1. Their pillows have different dimensions, they are always the length of the bed, even in a double, and not as wide as ours. I think I'm going to have to buy a spanish pillow before I leave :)

2. Street signs in Spain suck everywhere, they are only on the sides of buildings and hard to see unless you walk right up to it, impossible in a car

3. I have mostly come across female travelers. I definitely expected it to be the opposite, way to go women!

4. I LOVE the double kiss (a kiss on each cheek when you say hello or goodbye) for two reasons...

a. It takes the awkward do we shake hands, hug, or awkwardly wave out of the equation, it's the same every time!

b. It's a great way to get away from someone you'd rather not be with anymore (like a guy for example) just lean in for the kiss-kiss, say adios and you're on your way! Not that this has happened to me a lot just saying.

Good Night!