4/30/22 Visit Cordoba, Sail to Portugal

Today we drove to Cordoba, about 2 hours away, primarily to explore a very odd building -- first a huge mosque and then converted into two separate cathedrals. It was originally built by the Moors in the late 700s and they added on to it three times. The estimate is that it could have held 30,000 worshipers. After the re-conquest in 1236, the odd thing happened: the conquerors did not destroy the mosque, they repurposed it, added a number of apses with Christian themes and created a cathedral inside of it. Later, in the 16th century, a larger cathedral was created in the middle of the former mosque. This involved removing a number of supporting pillars to create the nave and transept. The architects assumed that they were safer removing these supports from the middle and the building did not collapse. The mosque minaret which had been converted to a bell tower underwent major renovations around this time too.

There was also a wall around the city and a Jewish quarter. In several places, the Jewish quarter is denoted by a series of four Hebrew characters formed in the shape of the Iberian Peninsula. We entered through the Jewish quarter to arrive at the mosque/cathedral.

The bronze characters here are in the
shape of the Iberian Peninsula

These next 3 photos are of the outer wall.

Above and below: part of a patio, referenced below a
few other photos and the entrance to the patio. The blog
software sometimes has a mind of its own on photo
placement and I have learned that this version does
not nicely tolerate dragging photos to their proper
locations.

This is museum to the Sephardic Jews who
were driven out during the Inquisition. Spain
has now offered those who can trace their
Sephardic origins the right to re-enter the
country to live here.

We also explore a 'patio', which we would
call a Courtyard. There is a contest every
year to see who has the prettiest patio. The
flower pots on the back wall started
appearing as a way to fill in the cracks that
inevitably appear in the walls.

This is a monument to Maimonides, an
eminent middle ages scholar, born in
Cordoba, who became a personal
physician to Saladin.

The traditional rabbit fur hat of the
Cordobans

The current bell tower/former minaret

Several of the original cedar cross beams
used in building the cathedral

The space is enormous, more than you can tell from
photos.

The columns were connected with double arches and
in much of the building, the pillars were all unique, being
reclaimed from other buildings. They have different
capitals, feet, and materials.

One of the Christian apses near the entry

The old ceiling beams were replaced
with these.

Christian themes started appearing away from the
entrance.

Graves were added during the Christian
age. It was not a concept that Islam
endorsed.

The Imam would speak from here with his
back to the worshipers. The alcove was
cleverly designed to reflect and amplify
his words.

There were a lot of gold artifacts here
from the Christian era, but apparently
the collection is significantly reduced
from its height.

The newer Cathedral section

An original decoration was impacted
by an expansion project.

Above and below: the choir loft and the
organ is also visible below.

Leaving the Cathedral, we walked to lunch and then headed back to our bus for the trip home. We encountered a section of the original Roman wall and a Roman bridge.

An entry gate, probably Roman too.

An old section of wall

No idea what this is! It may be part of castle or Alcazar.

This is our last night on the Clio, so they produced a baked Alaska for desert. VERY yummy AND impressive. After dinner, we went to the top deck to watch our progress down the river to the Atlantic. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, we were well past the bridges, but did encounter a village enjoying their Saturday evening outdoors on a balmy evening.

4/29/22 A Day in the Life at a Bull Farm

One of the things OAT tries to do is to help us see life through the eyes of local people. Bull fighting is still a big deal here, although it has become controversial and is banned in some areas, like Barcelona. It is an economically important enterprise, providing jobs to the people who raise the animals and the performers in the ring. Many people still find it entertaining. A bull raised for the slaughterhouse will sell for about 500 Euros, but the ones bought for major bullrings can bring in 10,000 Euros or more. 

All the cattle, (both males and females are called bulls), are assessed for their fighting propensity and the best ones are kept for breeding. Others go to the slaughterhouse for food. The females are used to train the toreadors while assessing their qualities. Bulls only fight once because they become to wise to the process if they survive a fight and are much more dangerous to the human fighters. The best bulls are not killed in the ring and return to their farms for a long life as a sire. Each sire will have a herd of 25-30 plus calves. 

The bulls are divided by age. They stay with their mothers for a year or so, and then move into 3-year old groups. At four and five, they prepared for the ring. Before this stage, they have a very lazy existence, but once the ring is in their future, the farm starts getting them to run at least 3km per day to build their musculature and stamina, so they can perform better. 

This farm also grows cork oaks and raises pigs who use acorns from another variety of oak as their primary diet.  Growing cork oaks is not for the impatient. Trees have to be 25 years old before they start to produce a thick enough bark to harvest. Bark is cut off the base of the tree typically to where it branches out every 9 years.

The farm we visited is unique because it is run by a mother and daughter. This is typically a very male dominated venture, but in this case, the grandfather decided his daughter was the best fit for the next generation and now her daughter is a major player in the operation. 

We observed some of the livestock
from the bus as we drove in, then 
boarded this trailer (you can see the
unpadded seats at the front) for an
hour or so jaunt through a chunk of
the 2000 acres of the farm.

The livestock in medium-sized groups was mostly
the three year olds.

Four and five year olds are kept in groups of 8-10.

The color of the beasts is irrelevant.

As we headed out to find sections 
of the herd, the tractor driver started
yelling like he was being sorely
injured, but he was called the herd 
for their feeding of these pellets to
supplement their grass diet. They are
so well fed on grass this time of year
that they didn't seem that eager for
this treat, which looks a lot like
a wine cork.

These boys are being encouraged to build muscle
by running a few laps, escorted by a dog and a 
couple horses.

This pig decided to help eat the pellets.
Iberian pigs are fed on acorns exclusively
for part of each year. The farm has both
cork oaks and acorn oaks. The pigs
prefer the acorn oak produce, but will
also eat acorns from the cork oaks.

We are inside the practice ring where the females
are testing and toreros are traine.

The best bulls are showcased here.

The practice ring from the home where we had lunch.

After lunch, we headed back to Seville and walked through part of Parque Marie Luisa. This is where the main Spanish pavilion for the 1929 World's Fair is located. It was said to have been built with building wings reaching toward the other pavilions as though it was wrapping its arms around its former colonies. It is now used for a variety of public offices.