As authentic as it gets. 

I miss the south of Spain!

stories from southern spain

It's always nice to come back from a great adventure & share the memories, but this time, I took so many pictures that I would never have time to put them all up. So I decided to tell a few stories everyday about the pictures that touched me the most.

In the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Andalusia, a Unesco world heritage site & rightfully so.The amazing thing about almost everything in Andalusia is the Moorish influence, apparent in the architecture, crafts & centuries-old ruins. The Moors were darker-skinned people like Muslims, Arabs & Berbers.This region was a Muslim kingdom for nearly 800 years before the Christians took over, & the Islamic influence is still found everywhere. I never knew that before coming to Spain, did you?

Standing in an old monument, I find it hard to believe that it has seen centuries pass, wars fought, peace restored & now curious people trying in vain to understand their history.

This was a Holy week procession in Seville. They started in the afternoon from the main cathedral & continued into the smaller streets until midnight. I never saw anything like that before in my life. The elaborate float of a young Jesus making its way to the parish church, loud solemn band music, & thousands of people. There must have been about 50 men supporting the float, sweating like mad, & stopping every few minutes to let in air & drink water. Then they would hoist the wooden float on their heads in 1 fluid movement & continue on slowly.

We bumped into them again, still going strong in the night along the little winding streets! Pretty amazing sight. Sometimes young Jesus would pass right underneath the balconies.. if u were living there, u could probably reach out & touch him.

And I had one of my favorite travel companions... my mum! She's funny, doesnt ever get car-sick & packs luggage really well.

We were walking along the street in Seville, when this man comes out of a little nondescript chapel tucked away in a corner & shakes his head. Lookin at us, he said, you guys have to go in, muy bonito! Out of curiousity, we stepped in & it was like stepping into a piece of antique art so intricate we just breathed WOW.

No picture could ever do it justice because it seemed like the altar was carved into the wall like a cave of very very intricate baroque figurines & ornaments. Service had just started, and the locals seemed disturbed that tourists like us had chanced upon their little chapel. I have seen so many churches in my life but this is one of the prettiest for sure. If ever you find yourself in Seville one day, this would be a little gem worth seeing to believe.

1130pm & the city comes alive. In the streets after we watched the most amazing, intimate flamenco in a little courtyard. 3 rows of wooden chairs surrounding a small wooden stage, we sat down & were transported to another world. My mum clutched my arm, i had goosebumps & my sis declared it the best travel experience she ever had. No frills & loud music here, just a guitar, passionate singing, & a dance that was feminine yet strong. No photos & videos were allowed, but they did dance around for fun after the performance so I took a little video. Could not take my eyes off her hands.

The Alhambra in Granada, the last of the Moorish palaces from the 14th century. Another Unesco world heritage site we had the pleasure of seeing. We bought tickets for the Nasrid Palace a month in advance as only limited numbers of people can visit it at any one time. The prettiest patio in this palace was the Court of the Myrtles, a vestige of Muslim art which withstood centuries of war & modernization.

No trip to Spain is complete without seeing a bull-ring... and this one is the oldest in Spain. Though i was glad we missed the bull fights. It is a terrible sport & an extremely unfair fight. No bulls means my red friend can visit in peace ;)

more to come while I take a cappuccino break... I leave you with my favorite breakfast in Spain... churros con chocolate.. a kind of Spanish doughnut freshly fried & then dipped into hot thick chocolate... Mmmm!