Gibraltar, Sevilla, and Cordoba

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Whenever I go on any vacation with my program, we seem to pack in so much stuff into such a small amount of time. When I signed up to go to Gibraltar, Sevilla, and Cordoba, I was sure it was going to be one of the busiest weekends of my life. I wasn’t wrong but I definitely have built up a tolerance for marathon touring after spending so much time in Europe.

Our first stop was Gibraltar which is in the south of Spain. Strange as it may seem, Gibraltar is owned by the British and you have to pass through customs in order to get in. Gibraltar is around the size of a midsize city with about around 200,000 people living there. Most people just commute here during the day and live in Spain. I think the worst part was that the currency changes. Technically you are supposed to use Sterling Pounds but most places took Euros too. Personally, I didn’t like the city of Gibraltar. It felt a little dirty and run-down with nothing very exciting to see. Luckily we didn’t spend much time in the city because the main attraction is the Rock of Gibraltar. Half of Gibraltar is a giant rock or mountain that sticks out like a giant’s thumb coming up out of the ground.

During World War II, the Allies used this as a headquarters. They dug over 30 miles of tunnels throughout the rock which is incredible since Gibraltar is only around 8 square miles in total. Our bus ride up was exciting cause we got to drive through some of the bigger tunnels. At the top, there is cave with some pretty neat stalagmites and stalactites. The cave wasn’t that incredible but inside was an amphitheatre with a stage that was surrounded by the cave. I would love to see a band perform there. Even though all these things were cool, the most memorable part of Gibraltar were the monkeys. Excuse me, the apes. Apparently the locals don’t like to call them monkeys since monkeys have tails. These apes covered the mountain and were not afraid of humans at all. One of my friends had a banana in his pocket and the moment he stepped off the bus, a monkey ran over and grabbed it. Another one of my friends was carrying a purse when a monkey jumped at her and tried to take it away from her. Luckily our guide scared the ape away and he dropped her purse. She was really scared but I thought it was hilarious.

Well, that basically sums up Gibraltar. We only stayed there for a few hours and then we drove on to Sevilla. I loved Sevilla and I can’t wait to go back with my family. We spent the whole day there and we got to see so many cool things. It was especially interesting because I have been studying a lot about the ancient building in my art history class. We saw La Torre de Oro (Tower of Gold) which was the old Moorish tower that those traveling by boat would see as they came into the city on the river. It wasn’t made of gold but it was covered in tiles so it reflected the light. These tiles are gone now, unfortunately. We also saw the Giralda which is a bell tower that used to be an Alminar, or the tower of the mosque. When the Christians came in they added a bell to the top of the tower. They destroyed the mosque and put in a cathedral. The Giralda was fun to climb cause there were no stairs. Instead the moors put in ramps so you could ride a donkey or horse. This was fun for about ten ramps but by the time we had climbed past thirty-something ramps I was pretty tired.

Besides the Moorish architecture, we saw where they had the world’s fair back in the 20’s. Each country designed and built their own house. Some were incredible while others were pretty boring. I think I remember Mexico’s looked like a cheesy restaurant with cacti painted on the walls. In the middle of all the houses was the main building. It was a giant semicircle building with a little river that ran through it. Around the building were mosaic pictures for each region in Spain. I got my picture taken next to the Granada one.

Oh, I forgot about the royal palace in Sevilla. The palace was built in three parts. One part was the old Moorish palace modernized, the next was a mix between Arabic and Spanish style, and the last was a more modern western European style. The most memorable part for me were the gardens. Orange trees and palms were scattered throughout with fountains placed here and there. It wasn’t the biggest or best garden I have seen but it was really pretty.

After all the sights, we walked around town and then laid by the river with the other Spanish college students. It was a gorgeous day.

The next morning we left for Cordoba. I have somewhat mixed feelings about Cordoba. First I’ll tell you about the Cathedral which is incredible. Cordoba used to be the capital of the Arabic dominated spain so the mosque here was arguably the most beautiful in the world. Sadly, the Christians destroyed part of it and built a cathedral. Thankfully they saved the majority of the mosque only now its referred to as a cathedral. Row after row of columns surround the cathedral which is in the middle. At the far end of the cathedral, on the Quibla, which is the name for the wall that faces Mecca, is the Mihrab. The mihrab is the nook where the leader of the prayers speaks so that his voice is amplified. It is always the most decorated part of the mosque. Since Cordoba was such an incredible place, the mihrab there is the most beautiful in the world.

Besides all the beautiful columns and decorations, the cathedral is actually very pretty too. The seats were carved from beautiful dark wood. I don’t remember what kind but it’s beautiful nonetheless.

Now you may be wondering why I have mixed feeling after such a glowing review of the cathedral. Well, the city itself is not that exciting. It might have been cause it was Sunday and most things were closed or the fact that so many tourists and gypsies were everywhere. Either way, I didn’t love the city. Another downer is that the huge roman bridge is closed for repairs so I couldn’t even walk across it. Oh well, if you get a chance to come to Cordoba, make it a day trip cause the cathedral is worth it.

Well that is about it for that trip. I’m glad that all my classes about the history of Spain are starting to pay off. I hope you enjoyed the history/architecture lesson. I’ll try and incorporate more of that into my other posts. Don’t worry, I still have a few more trips to talk about. Get ready.