The South of Spain

Chronological order is for squares.

This past week we traveled to Southern Spain. Our first stop was a short one in Consuegra, "un lugar para aventura" (a place for adventure). It is the home to some cool Don Quixote style windmills and a small castle. 

I thought this was a pretty shot. In the pictures below I am doing the windmill in front of a windmill, with the castle in the background. 

Next we went to Cordoba and saw La Mezquita. It was so so amazing. It used to be an enormous Islamic mosque, until the Christian overthrow in Spain. Now it is technically a cathedral, but they just built extra chapels inside and decorated with ornate Christian themes. 

A look at Cordoba from across the river.

The beautiful red and white striped arches in La Mezquita.

Towards the end of the building, the striped arches are no longer made out of brick, but were only painted with red and white stripes to cut costs. 

I'm not sure what the name is off this, but it is the sacred spot on one side of the building that all the Muslims pray towards. Something interesting about this mosque is that it was not built facing Mecca, but rather the direction of Mecca from the immigrants' home mosque in Africa.

My friend Becca looking artsy and taking a picture of a stained glass window.

This is the organ in the center chapel inside the Mezquita. Huge clash of cultures, eh? There was a big controversy over whether the mosque should be converted into a cathedral or not. The king at the time finally gave consent, but later regretted it, saying "We have taken something extraordinary and made it ordinary."

We spent the first two nights in Sevilla. It was a cool city that reminded me a lot of Southern California. It was nice and balmy, and warmer than Madrid. Like most of Southern Spain it had a large Islamic influence from when the Moors resided there hundreds of years ago. I really like Islamic art so I took far too many pictures. 

River shot.

Cathedral.

Sevilla is the capital of Andalucia. We went to the palace where the King would stay for part of the year.

The ceilings here are amazing.

We also went to the palace gardens where I had some fun taking pictures.

Me with my awesome study abroad friends.

Inside the cathedral.

There really is no way to describe how enormous these cathedrals are. I believe this one is the 3rd larges gothic cathedral in all of Europe. It honestly takes your breath away every time you walk into a place like this. This pictures doesn't even begin to show how huge it is.

The incredibly ornate and giant altar in the center chapel.

This is me standing next to Christopher Columbus's remains (and I look quite happy about it too). The four guards holding the coffin represent the four kingdoms in Spain.

This cathedral tower used to be a minaret in the old mosque. During the Moorish reign, a man would ride his horse to the top of the tower and call everyone in for prayers.

We walked up all 34 floors to the top to see...

this. Isn't it an incredible view?

Definitely worth the walk.