περιπλάνηση: 6/21/13 Sammi and Spain

Here's where the captions start to get questionable. I'm asking Sam the names of these places, or at least what town they were in, and she gets this frozen look. Ummmmm.....

Travel fatigue has set in by Spain. The trip has become a blur in terms of palaces and cathedrals and mosques.

The main takeaway from visiting Spain: it's freaking hot and siesta afternoons (everything closes from 2 until about 5) are the only way to survive.

Some Spanish Royal Palace (one of many)... she thinks possibly on the way to Madrid?

I was charmed by this place. "Oh, did you eat here?"
"No. We just stopped the bus to all go to the bathroom."
"Ah. Pretty Pit Stop."

The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba (architectural overview here)

First a church circa 600, then a mosque with extensive additions in the late 700s with the Moorish conquest of Cordoba and completed in 987, and then back into Church hands in 1236 by Ferdinand III. That's pretty much Spanish history in one spot.

The building is most notable for its arcaded hypostyle hall, with 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings, such as the Mérida amphitheatre. The double arches were a new introduction to architecture, permitting higher ceilings than would otherwise be possible with relatively low columns. The double arches consist of a lower horseshoe arch and an upper semi-circular arch. The famous alternating red and white voussoirs of the arches were inspired by those in the Dome of the Rock.and also resemble those of the Aachen Cathedral, which were built almost at the same time. A centrally located honey-combed dome has blue tiles decorated with stars. ~MCC Wiki

lion!

Sam's favorite tour guide, Lola, who went through Cordoba with them.

The Giralda, 1184

The Alcázar of Seville

Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla

In the Alcázar Gardens

And, Sam's "It's so freaking hot!!" face, for posterity.

The Seville Cathedral (and tomb of Christopher Columbus)

The Alhambra of Granada

She loved the white cities on the hills.

Must remember: two leaves bitter, one leaf sweet

And, finally, for the last two and a half days, a brilliant spot to end the journey. Costa del Sol is on the beach and next to the mountains and all they did was relax. The seabreeze cooled the city down immensely from the killer sun they had to tromp around in all week.