Traveling in the desolate landscape of Iberia is truly eye opening. Instead of lush green, you find dry harsh environments, desolate of inhabitants. The cities are dense, crowded full of life - late into the night. The culture here is a big mix ... not the usual cosmopolitan mix of New York, London or Paris but a mix of European, Arab, Jewish and of course Gypsy who have all lived together and mixed for a thousand years (well the Gypsies are still a bit distinct). Cordoba, while lacking in the many tourist attractions of Granada (except the fabulous Mezquita), feels more authentic than the big Granada. Cordoba was also the largest city in Europe 1000 years ago and at the time was the center of knowledge in this part of the world. Some great thinkers and scientists originated from Cordoba (e.g. the Roman philosopher Seneca, the Islamic Philosopher Averroes and the Jewish Philosopher Maimonides). Funny how things change. To read more on Cordoba's history, click here.
One amazing feature of Granada is the Alhambra ...
I will update later with more info and photos.
[Update 8/8/05]
Here are my travel companions in the Plaza de la Corredera in the center of Cordoba's old city. Later we visited la Mezquita (see pics below), it was first a Visigothic Cathedral that was destroyed by the Moors, then a giant Mosque (3rd biggest in the world). Where Cordoba was reconquered by the Christians in the 1200s, a giant Cathedral (see pic #4) was built in the center of the Mosque.
After the Muslims fled Cordoba, they installed their new capital in the fortress on a hill overlooking Granada. Here are pictures from this fortress, the Alhambra.
And if you think that Moorish influence was restricted to Spain, there are plenty of examples in Portugal, such as the fantastic photo seen bellow of a fountain in Sintra Portugal (summer residence of the Portuguese Royal family - when Portugal had a Royal Family). Also the use of ceramic tiles to decorate the outside of buildings is much more prominent in Portugal than in Spain, as you can see from this fantastic city-scape painting (on ceramic tiles) from the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon (see bellow).
