Day 29_last day in Cordoba

Every other American here has a copy of Rick Steves: Spain under their arm.  Rick Steves and I don't always agree as I don't think he cares about landscapes.  Based on his poor recommendation, I did not take the students to the Alcazar, or Christian Royal Palace (c.1236), yesterday.  I would agree with him that the building was not very informative, despite its incredible history.  No map or floor plan was provided so it was impossible to know what you were looking at:  where was the tower for the Inquisition?  Where were the Royal rooms?...Since it is Saturday it is a free day for class, but a couple of students joined their trusty leader to see a few more interesting places.  The Royal gardens at the Alcazar are beautiful and reminiscent in design of the Generalife.  They have formal, clipped evergreens, infilled with flowers, with gravity-based water features throughout.  We took a ton of photos and I kicked myself for not bringing the rest of the group.

We also visited a 10th Century synagogue in the Juderia section of town.  This sinagoga is only one of three built prior to the Inquisition (1492) that is still standing.  I especially wanted to see it to see how different religions share design.  In many ways this synagogue is like the Mezquita with its extravagant stone carved walls, except that rather than Quran quotes, it has Hebrew quotes from the Torah.  My conclusions are that in Cordoba, Muslim, Christian and Jewish places of worship readily borrow design from each other.

I also wanted to see where everyone lives in Cordoba and left the dense, tight streets of the historic core to venture outside the walls to the modern city.  Modern Spain has long, fast traffic streets, wide sidewalks, with long linear parks between traffic lanes and a mix of Roman ruins thrown in for good measure.  For me the Roman ruins are fascinating, but it must be a drag if you are trying to develop your property and happen upon a precious Roman temple...and now own a cultural resource for your country.  The long linear parks are well used and include the only grass I have seen.  I still can't decide if you can have a successful park without grass.  The weather has been hottest here as we are inland--around 85 - 90 degrees.  The trees and grass are cooling.  I walked along typical residential streets, peeking into the interior courtyards.  Most homes had a lush interior patio with its Moorish influence--another shade place.

In France, people constantly walked against the lights and jaywalked safely.  In Spain I witnessed my busdriver gun it when he saw an elderly woman start crossing the road.  When the lights turn green for pedestrians here, everyone stays put and is afraid to cross!  Never have seen anything like it!  Clearly pedestrians do not have the right of way.  Wonder whether it is wise to rent bikes again in Sevilla...