Cordoba and Barcelona

its been a long absence. the last month has been a bit of a whirlwind and i've been stuck in a bit of a doldrum. ive been meaning to write for a while, but lo and behold, i havnt. this is a way of me to get back into the swing of things, get my motivation back, and with it my sense of purpose without which life becomes meaningless. sounds a little dramatic, but its really not, just a matter of post holiday hangover so to speak. but the long and short of it is im back until im gone again, which hopefully wont be anytime soon.

so i finally did a little traveling around spain. in andalucia i visited malaga (which is pretty wack, it is way too touristy and developed and has lost any magic that it may have had) and i also visited cordoba which was a much more pleasant experience. the central attraction in cordoba is the mosque/cathedral (originally a mosque and converteted, like the vast majority of the mosques in spain). this building is quite phenomenal in its architecture and its magic which i must say it preserves quite well.

and now for some pictures
this is the mosque from the outside. it is huge, as all the mosques and cathedrals are here in spain.








this is the inside. the whole thing , which must be a few acres at least is completely adorned with these double arches. it just keeps going and going and going. it is quite a magical effect taht really cant be captured in a picture. the sensation of..of.. i guess i dont quite know how to describe it, but is something like awe and admiration for the mathematical genious of the architecture. the alternating red and white are not painted on either they are actually alternating bricks and stone which adds to the awe i think, when you consider the amount of arches that had to be made (probably close to a thousand)








here is another picture of the mosque with a statue of jesus to christianize it.








aside from the mosque cordoba still retains alot of its character from its andalusian days. the city was famous for being perhaps the most advanced center of culture and learning (not to mention religious tolerance) in its day. some well known scholars are the muslim averoes and the jewish maimonides (as well as the roman seneca, although his day was long before it was a muslim capital)










these are statues of maimonides and seneca





aside form andalucia, i also visited barcelona. now barcelona is a happening city. i mean this place is a very cosmopolitan place with people form the four corners of the globe, but at the same time it doesnt have that overwhelming sensation you get in new york or mexico or any other 'big' city. it has a population of about 1.5 million and doesnt really have too many tall buildings. the city itself is extremely beautiful it is full of gothic and modernist archtecture, which im sure i would appreciate alot more if i knew anything about archtecture, but nonthe less it was a great visit and i look foward to going back to watch Barcelona (the soccer team) play. i stayed with a friend from granada who had an appartment right in the center of the city and we were able to walk everywhere. i would say the coolest part of the short trip was visiting the 'Temple de la Sagrada Familia' this is a very very large church which is still in the process of being built. it was designed by the modernist master antoni gaudi. the city itself is in a way gaudi's showroom and his influence is felt far beyond the reaches of architecture. the church is quite simply magnificent. i mean i dont knwo how to describe it, its just so freiking kool looking. it almost looks like a drip sand castle. i guess the pictures will speak more thant he words.

here is a picture as i approached it on the street.








this is a picture of the facade of 'the passion'

this is the nativity front.



























i few pictures of the sculptures on the outside.










these are a few pictures of the inside of the church.













like i said the church is not finished. currently their are 8 towers built. and supposedly they are going to add a bunch more and one of them is supposedly almost double the size. the inside is going to be inlaid with colors and all the wondows will have stained glass. in short i think it will be truly breathtaking when it is finally finished, i only hope that i am alive to see it.






here is a picture i found on the internet of what its going to look like when its done. ont he left is the current state of the building and ont he right is what its supposed to look lioke when its finished. needless to say they still have a long way to go, but so far so good.








good to talk to you again. ill be around