We met at 7:30am on Friday at los Jardines del Triunfo. I tried to sleep on the way, but it was too uncomfortable. We arrived at the historic site, Madinat-al-Zahra, around 11 and split into groups based on our section of Islamic Art and Architecture. Thus, my teacher led our group, and explained the history of the site. I found it very interesting to walk though the ruins and apply it to what we had been learning in class. We also spent a little time in the museum. After a few hours, we drove 10 minutes to the center of Córdoba where we had about an hour of free time to eat and explore the city. Delia and José told me to find a famous tortilla bar beside the mosque. After we ate our packed lunches, a few friends and I found the bar and split a delicious piece of tortilla de patatas. One thing that bothered me was the amount of people that came up to us and asked for money; more apparent in Granada. After eating, we went for a short walk before returning to the mosque at 3:30. La Mezquita de Córdoba is very famous and now I understand why. First off, it is
enormous. The outside patio is very pretty, with a fountain and many trees. The inside looked like a mosque apart from the many Christian paintings and statues. At one point, we turned a corner and the dark rows of arcs (naves) were replaced with a bright, white cathedral. I couldn't believe that a cathedral was built right in the middle of the mosque. The history behind it is incredible (my art teacher led our tour again). After the mosque visit, we had the option to leave, but I decided to make the most of the visit and stay. The remainder of the activities were focused on the Sephardic Jews (Spanish Jews). We visited la Sinagoga, la Casa de la Memoria de Sefarad, y Taller de música Sefardí. Having only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before, I was dragging at that point and had a tough time concentrating on the history presented during the tours. I still thought it was pretty cool though. Afterwards, we had some free time before leaving for Granada around 7:30. Once we got back around 10, I made myself something to eat before passing out. What an exhausting day!
We met at 7:30am on Friday at los Jardines del Triunfo. I tried to sleep on the way, but it was too uncomfortable. We arrived at the historic site, Madinat-al-Zahra, around 11 and split into groups based on our section of Islamic Art and Architecture. Thus, my teacher led our group, and explained the history of the site. I found it very interesting to walk though the ruins and apply it to what we had been learning in class. We also spent a little time in the museum. After a few hours, we drove 10 minutes to the center of Córdoba where we had about an hour of free time to eat and explore the city. Delia and José told me to find a famous tortilla bar beside the mosque. After we ate our packed lunches, a few friends and I found the bar and split a delicious piece of tortilla de patatas. One thing that bothered me was the amount of people that came up to us and asked for money; more apparent in Granada. After eating, we went for a short walk before returning to the mosque at 3:30. La Mezquita de Córdoba is very famous and now I understand why. First off, it is enormous. The outside patio is very pretty, with a fountain and many trees. The inside looked like a mosque apart from the many Christian paintings and statues. At one point, we turned a corner and the dark rows of arcs (naves) were replaced with a bright, white cathedral. I couldn't believe that a cathedral was built right in the middle of the mosque. The history behind it is incredible (my art teacher led our tour again). After the mosque visit, we had the option to leave, but I decided to make the most of the visit and stay. The remainder of the activities were focused on the Sephardic Jews (Spanish Jews). We visited la Sinagoga, la Casa de la Memoria de Sefarad, y Taller de música Sefardí. Having only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before, I was dragging at that point and had a tough time concentrating on the history presented during the tours. I still thought it was pretty cool though. Afterwards, we had some free time before leaving for Granada around 7:30. Once we got back around 10, I made myself something to eat before passing out. What an exhausting day!
