Andalucia

As you can see I am backtracking to fill in the holes. It would be great to keep this in real time but it is simply not possible.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

It is hard to believe that January has come to an end and so has our stay in Spain. Cadiz is an elegant seaport and in fact is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It was founded by the Phoenicians in 1100 B.C. and was called Gadir and later was conquered by the Romans. The Moors occupied Spain beginning around 800 AD and were kicked out in 1492. After the Americas were discovered, the merchants of Cadiz, positioned themselves to have a monopoly on the Spanish-American trade. It had its golden age during the 18th century. Many of the older structures were destroyed by a tsunami which followed an earthquake in Lisbon and then later by an earthquake. The people of Cadiz have an independent streak and enjoy celebrating whenever they can find the opportunity. They are proud of the fact that they got around Franco’s prohibition of Carnival….by having it underground the week after the official Carnival that kicks off Lent. Now they celebrate Carnival for 2 weeks, first the official celebration and then the “illegal” celebration.

We visited the so called white towns of Arcos and Ronda. Each is built on the side of a hill with narrow streets lined with white washed buildings. Both have cathedrals at the top of the hill which were originally built by the Moors to be mosques. After the Moors were kicked out of Spain, the buildings were converted to cathedrals. In the cathedral in Ronda, there is the original arch entrance to the mosque which is a fine example of the geometric arabesque plaster style, typical of Moorish architecture.

One striking feature of Arcos is that the main street is lined with Seville orange trees, pruned in an ornamental fashion and loaded with oranges. I can only imagine what it must be like to stroll down that street in Spring when the orange trees are in bloom.

In Ronda there is the Plaza de Toros, the oldest bull ring in Spain. It was here that the rules and customs of bull fighting were first established and which are practiced to this day. The early bull fighters are highly venerated and their statues are prominently displayed. Today this bull ring is only used twice a year for bull fighting. It is a beautiful example of Spanish architecture and our guide told us that a few years ago Placido Domingo sang in a performance of Carmen there. What an amazing experience that must have been, and in my opinion, far preferable to bull fighting.

In Ronda there are fantastic views of the surrounding orange and olive groves below and the town is split by a very deep ravine. The two sides are connected by a “new” bridge, built in the 18th century and an old bridge built in the 14th century by the Moors. The new bridge also housed a prison and is infamously portrayed in Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls.

On our last full day we visited Donana National Parc which is essentially an island at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. This park is only accessible by boat and they allow less than 300 visitors a day in order to protect the fragile habitats. It is a major resting point for birds migrating north and south between Europe and Africa. From a distance we saw a huge flock of pink flamingos and various types of geese. We saw plenty of wild boar which our guide called “wild pork”. They were surprisingly hairy and large. The park has incredible sand dunes which are constantly moving and swallowing up the pinyon pine trees in their path. On the other side of the dunes lies a beautiful, long and empty beach which I think looks due east to Cape Hatteras.

It is time to move on. Hasta la vista!