Cordoba and Granada

This picture is actually in Cadiz - the lovely Brittnay and I. 

A view of Cadiz. I think somewhere in there some Roman ruins were supposed to be seen...

This is Cordoba. Across that bridge is the worlds 3rd largest Mosque in the World. It was pretty impressive. I was also pretty impressed and pleased with this post-card quality picture... ehhem. I've seen this same photograph on the internet and in shops.... I like to think mine has a little something extra though. It must be the graffiti at the bottom.

 This was el Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos

haha... Luka.

I want to say that these are Roman ruins, but I don't know if that's just my brain filling in gaps because it seems like a liable hypothesis, or if it's in fact true. Someone should look it up...

  The view from the top of the tower of the Alcazar:

BK with a make-over

This is inside the Mosque. These are terrible pictures. It was incredible. I wish I could have captured it better.

This was... a hole? ... that you could look down (inside the Mosque) to see what used to be underneath. Apparently the muslims built their mosque over what used to be a Visigoth church, or Visigoth something. All I know is that is a Visigoth floor, which is under the muslim floor. Someone should look that up to... I can't remember what the tour guide told us.

I also learned that this mosque got turned into a Cathedral after the christians took back Cordoba from the arabs somewhere around 1000 b.c. However, they weren't allowed to tear it down or change it too much to preserve the architecture of the mosque. Instead, they added some "capillas" (chapels?) around the sides and something in the center, they closed off the arches, which used to be open entrances and allowed light to flow in. Outside there was a tower, and the catholics built and entire tower around it to cover it up, so outside was catholic but the inner inside was islamic. Interesting.

I also learned that the majority of the mosque was built from Roman ruins. This time I know for sure. The pillars that were used were transferred from old temples, so every one is different. It wasn't until one of the last sections of the mosque that the Arabs figured out how to design their own and stopped using old roman pillars. We could see the signature of the architects too. They differentiated between christians and others with a cross.

This is a Catholic section:

All these woodcarvings took 40 people, and I wish I could remember how many years, but it was a long time. Every single one is different, and infinitely detailed. They each tell a story from the bible, and of course are filled with symbolism.

I think our tour guide there is over 1000 pipes in that organ...

Bunch of dead guys are buried under there:

This is La Alhambra in Granada. I wish I could have spent more time there on another day. The rain caught us, and I wasn't exactly prepared, so that sucked. I didn't take enough pictures either - over the course of the weekend in general. I'm still waiting for more pictures to pop up on facebook so I can steal them.

More amazing architecture, thanks to the muslims. They're very smart I've found. Well, at least back when they took over Spain. I had to do a whole project on it for my Civilization class. I would know.

Demoralized

Well, this post is going to be obviously not related to any of my direct experiences traveling. This is more about Spanish culture that I've learned about on TV:

Prostitution and Abortion

Both are legal. Pimping is not, thank goodness. Because that's too violent and goes against women's rights. It's all about protecting the woman. Yeah, mhm.  I guess, to Spain's defense, it may be a slightly debated topic. But mostly it's been on the news only because neighbors are complaining that they can hear hookers fighting with their pimps on the street at night, and their kids can't sleep. Outlawing pimping isn't workin' so well.

And Abortion! I learned shortly after arriving from my host mom that Spain just recently passed a law so that 16-year-old girls can legally get an abortion without parental consent. WHAT?????

In what world is that OK????? Apparently Spain's world. Again, to Spain's.... defense?... if you can call it that, I think 16 is the US's 18. Yet, spaniards can't get a drivers license until they're 18.

SO, to reiterate: A spanish girl can get an abortion at 16 all by herself, but she can't be trusted to drive a freaking automobile until she is a mature 18-year-old.

What I want to know, is do they know anything about psychology here? Do they know anything about the development of human beings? Sexuality? Let's make it easy - Do they know ANYTHING ABOUT TEENAGERS??

Spain has so many commercials about women's rights, and domestic violence issues, and these laws are supposed to be empowering: that we women have the right to do what we want with our own bodies. But why doesn't anyone see that all legalizing prostitution does is enable men to continue using us? It doesn't matter if we "choose" it. Men are getting what they want, and maybe some women are too, but that doesn't change that those women walk away still feeling ashamed, used, and dirty. If anyone is going to fight for women's rights, then they need to fight to OUTLAW this. Forget the rights to your own body. It's not legal to do drugs. It shouldn't be legal to hurt yourself like this either.

You don't see men out there doing it as much. What's up with that? Anyone that says that the world is not sexist is blind or lying. And women ARE objectified. Way more than men. And I hate that these things are so taboo, and not talked about. No one knows what this crap does to a women's head, not to mention her heart. If we did talk about these things more, maybe there would be a few less strip clubs, fewer cheaters, less casual sex, more lasting marriages. A little bit more respect for women. A little more tenderness. A little more care.

We need to respect ourselves, but we need to receive it from the opposite sex too. The men hiring prostitutes are at just as much fault as the women out there selling themselves. Restoring women's dignity is going to take help from both sides.

Yeah, that'll be the day.

Jesus help me.

Barcelona

Gotta love Ryanair... I had a nice little walk in the sun from the plane to the airport. I figured this would be a new concept to some of those following my blog. 

Traveling to Barcelona was quite the adventure - to put it in positive light. I bought tickets to the wrong airport: Reus, not El Prat, which turned out to be about an hour train ride from Barcelona. Not too bad, I guess. The hassel was that my friend was picking me up before going into work, so I was in a HUGE rush, paid like 7 euros for a taxi, made friends with some girls on the train so I could barrow their cell phone and call my friend to tell him where I was going to be (because I lost my cell phone in Sevilla the night before), and then ran around like a wild goose chase at the train station looking for my friend once I got there. Ugh. But I got there. 

This used to be the Plaza de los Toros, but bull fights just recently became illegal in Catalunya.

My first day, I went to my friends place and slept a few hours (because I had only slept a few hours the night before) and then went out with a group of people to eat dinner. We ended up at this outdoor rap concert. It was pretty cool. It was a lot of "against the system" type stuff, and a lot of it had to be translated for me by my new friends because there was a lot in Catalan, which to my surprise, I could understand less than Italian. I saw a lot of Catalunya flags, and heard about their desire for independence. It was very interesting.

This was from the top of some fortress or castle or something. I don't even know where I was at. Marc took me on his little mo-ped (which are everywhere there). I'm pretty sure it was in the Montjuic neighborhood though. I'll look it up.

The Olympics Stadium

The Plaza during the day

Montjuic

I can't remember if this is Gaudi or not... but crazy Barcelona architecture none the less.

Gaudi's Pedrero

Marc told me something significant about this place, I swear.... I just can't remember...

El Mercat Boqueria

Checking my hair after putting that helmet on and off so many times... I was on my own for the rest of the day from here on out, so I also took advantage of this stopping point to whip out my map. I live by those things.

Catedral de Barcelona... with a little construction. Seattle isn't the only one apparently.

I think this was a roman wall.... I really shouldn't wait so long to post my pictures...

Ayuntamiento below. This plaza is where protests usually start, and other things too I'm sure.

Inside the cathedral - I went back an hour later so that I could get in for free.

Another church. Santa Maria or something like that. Santa Maria is a pretty safe bet.

This was another market, but I didn't get to go in. It was closed. I thought it looked cool though; kind of reminded me of the EMP in Seattle. Maybe that's why I liked it.

The traditional dance in barcelona isn't Flamenco like most of Spain, it's called la danza Sardana. All these people get together outside the Cathedral at a certain time on Saturday and Sunday to dance, and there is a band playing outside. They all put their belongings in the middle of the circle, which symbolizes community. Its kind of a delicate dance, on tip toes with small steps and not too fast. It was interesting. Mostly older people were here, which makes me think the tradition may be getting lost. sad.

There is an Arc de Triomf in Barcelona, too!

I saw a protest march: people are getting upset that the government is obsessing about the economy and the global crisis, but not doing anything for the actual citizens. I watched a show about how people are becoming homeless. Banks are taking away homes left and right here too, the difference is that people have to keep paying on their no-longer homes here. Its really sad to see how normal people who are working and have kids and are just like me or any other person end up living in a little tent outside. they're working their butts off to get their lives back, and these kinds of things are what the people are fighting for. They want jobs, normal pay, help for housing... etc.

Columbus Monument - except he's not actually pointing towards America. It's the opposite direction.

I don't know what that was, but it looked important.

I absolutely loved this fountain. I know it wasn't remotely important compared to other things I saw, but it was definitely among my favorites. 

Sagrada Familia - Gaudi. Pretty cool.

Parc Guell - Gaudi. Also pretty cool.

They look like ginger bread houses. Gaudi must have been on something when he was working.