Ubeda and Baeza - The Renaissance Cities

Ubeda And Baeza
We took the Peugeot for a drive today through scenic countryside, hills gently splayed to the horizon filled with neat lines of olive orchards spreading to eternity. Jaen Province provides 10% of the world’s olive oil.

Our two hour drive to Ubeda was pleasant. Once there, we were rewarded with a visit to the first of the Renaissance Cities, a well-maintained medieval district highlighted by the architecture of the area’s maestro Andres de Vandelvira and its centerpiece the Iglesia de San Pablo.

The area exuded a sense of calm and we felt that we had the whole place to ourselves unlike many of the more tourist-centered sites we have visited thus far.
A short drive took us to Baeza, the smallest and “brightest gem” of the Renaissance triangle (which also includes Jaen). Large limestone blocks are the primary architectural medium and are the building blocks for the Cathedral de Santa Maria.
Later we were introduced to a distant view of the splendor of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range which today was mostly cloaked in mist. Snow-capped peaks occasionally revealed themselves to give us a taste of what we might expect on the last leg of our journey starting tomorrow when we will make our way to our house in the mountains.

Cordoba - The Mezquita

The Mezquita

Inside the Mezquita, we stood in wonder engulfed by the grandeur and solemnity of a mosque (started in the eighth century) which in its heyday could hold 40,000 worshippers facing Mecca. The myriad arches of red and white stripes flow into the distance evoking both billowing tents and palm trees, a veritable spiritual oasis.

The onslaught of Christianity in its most garish and brazen quest for dominance reached a nadir of tolerance for diversity in 1523 when Carlos V permitted the construction of a massive baroque Cathedral and Capilla Real in the middle of this previously simple, serene structure. The Cathedral itself is quite impressive and would have stood alone as an architectural delight if only it had been built elsewhere.

Cordoba - The Jewish District

Cordoba
We picked up our Peugeot in Malaga and drove the ninety minutes or so up to Cordoba. It was a very pleasant ride on smooth, easy to use roads. Traffic was very organized and polite and everybody stayed in the slow lane unless overtaking – a wonderful concept. Our hotel, the Eurostars Maimonides, has underground parking. If you’ve ever complained at the tight parking at Trader Joe’s - that is like parking in a prairie compared to the postage stamp sized space we had to squeeze into.

The old city of Cordoba radiates out from the amazing Mezquita mosque in an intricate web of cobbled alleyways forming what is known as the Juderia or Jewish District. It is here that the inhabitants, (actually made up of a mix of those of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths) formed a politically sound and spiritually aware society that flourished in both science and philosophy.
We visited the Torre de la Calahorra (link in Spanish), a museum depicting the “Life of Al-Andalus.” Here we heard the words of the Jewish doctor and philosopher Maimonides, his Muslim counterpart Averroes, and the religious zealots Al-Arabi and King Alfonso X, each representing significant facets of this cultural period of synergy. We visited the sinagoga, the only remaining synagogue in Andalucia and one of only three in Spain (the other two are in Toledo). It is basically a one room building with an ante room and small courtyard. It has been unused as a temple in hundreds of years.

Last Day In Barcelona

Our last day in Barcelona before we fly down to Malaga, pick up a car, and drive to Cordoba in

Andalucia. In Barca we visited the Contemporary Art Museum and saw three extraordinary and varied temporary exhibitions of artists that we had not heard of before, but all of whom really impressed us. Rabascall, Meireles and Bayrle all provided unique perspectives on society.

We walked down the bustling main street of La Rambla, stopping off at St. Josef's Boqueria, or marketplace. Hanging jambon (hams), and a multiplicity of fruits, vegetables, bakery, and fish were all being displayed for sale.

Barcelona - City Of Gaudi

A Day of Gaudi:

Sunday in Barcelona was our day to explore some of the extraordinary architectural works of Antoni Gaudi. But first…the hotel breakfast buffet!
We are finding the Barca Metro to be a very easy way to get around the city. Everything is clearly color coded and directions are exact. Our first stop was at Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s as-yet unfinished cathedral masterpiece.

Work began on the cathedral in 1882 and will continue for decades to come. The design features are based on elements in nature. It is massive and elegant, intended to reach up into the heavens to welcome god, and to sit firmly bound to the earth to greet mortal visitors to the city. We waited for 45 minutes to take the elevator up into one of the spires, and it was well worth the wait! Then, the long walk down the narrow spiral staircase:

Park Guell is another Gaudi extravaganza. It is a park built high up above Central Barcelona and overlooking both the city and the Mediterranean Sea. It was originally intended to be the location for an elite housing project. This did not prove financially viable, however. The land was transformed into a municipal park which now offers a unique haven of calm for visitors, of which there were many today.

Gaudi’s tile work is interwoven with organic design and is evident throughout the park. Local families and tourists strolled peacefully among the street vendors and musicians.

Barcelona - Montjuic, Miro, and The Magic Fountain

We found it difficult to get up early this morning and instead changed our plans to accommodate our energy level. We had cappuccino and baguettes for breakfast before setting off to Montjuic: The Mount of The Jews; or possibly ‘juic’ may refer to a derivative of ‘Jupiter’. Montjuic is visible from almost everywhere in Barcelona, seemingly guarding the city. In actuality, the mountain functioned as a fortress for centuries. We took the Metro which culminated with a funicular train that tunneled through the mountain at a sharp angle dropping us near the summit. From there we visited the Joan Miro Museum (click on English version of link). The art of Miro is simplistic, joyful, evocative, and enlightening. I was incredibly happy just being surrounded by these works.
Next we visited the magnificent Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, a palace dominating Montjuic and proudly overlooking the whole city:

Twilight brought about the most delightful show of lights, and dancing fountains synchronized with stirring music at the Magic Fountain. We returned to the El Born district for dinner and some experiments with hand-held night photography (3200 ISO) in the back streets of the area. We ate cod baked with brie and a vegetarian pasta made from local organic vegetables.
A full day! We have been eating well but generally lightly. We have been walking all over the city. We are enthusiastic about all the glories of this surprising, creative, sunny, colorful, international city.

Barcelona - Picasso and Barceloneta

Our first full day in Barcelona saw us meandering like drunkards between the pure excitement of the new and the body heaviness of jetlag. We wandered through the back streets to find a lovely, ageless tapas restaurant that opened up from a narrow street frontage into a set of cavernous, atmospheric rooms divided by brick arches. Our fare included potato garlic omlette, Russian salad, tuna empanadas and bruschetta.

Later we visited the Picasso Museum which primarily unfolded the early years of the maestro’s life revealing him to be a talented artist even in childhood. The gallery was housed in a wonderful old stone building a few blocks from our hotel.

The streets of El Born during the daytime are alive with art, design, fresh ideas, graffiti, and wonderful bakeries and restaurants.
In the evening we walked over to La Barceloneta, an eighteenth century, working class waterfront district. We promenaded along the beach down to the massive Gehry fish sculpture overlooking the Mediterranean at twilight before landing at the El Rey de la Gamba fish restaurant, where we ate alfresco, sampling thick, buttery monkfish and a huge seafood paella along with a bottle of rustic house wine. We enjoyed our walk home past the Lichtenstein sculpture to our hotel, arriving happy and worn-out from a full-day.
It is now 4am local time and jetlag has won the battle. The crowds are still singing and engaging in a lively banter down on the streets. I awoke from a dream in which I was watching a movie that was based on a book that was based on a fairy tale. I woke with the odd feeling that I had walked into someone else’s dream.