Seville is a wonderful. Many cities leave you breathless because there is too much smog or for huge and endless buildings. Seville, however, takes you, bewitches you with its small streets, the white houses with blue or yellow lines, its churches that comes out unexpectedly around the corner. Typical of the entire region is the cathedral that was once a mosque, which was "liberated" and then reconquered by the Arabs and finally Christian. Who said it must belong to someone? Cannot it simply be open to everyone, belonging to everyone? There is still a clear sign of religious conflict: the Giralda, an high tower right in the square, the minaret of the old mosque. The Old and the New harmoniously marry in a Seville kissed by a warm sun or refreshed by gentle winter rains.
To go around Seville is to live the Spain that we have always imagined in movies: the one of the toreros, tapas and street flamenco. But also that of young people who enjoy and study. There are so many! The city is full of university’s campus, surrounded by student bars.
And then there is "Plaza de España", a masterpiece of architecture, a tribute to a beautiful city on the occasion of the Iberic-American exhibition of 1929. You can walk among fabulous mosaics of tiles on which the Spanish regions are painted. The square represents a symbolic embrace of the former colonies. Anibal Gonzalez (the architect) wanted to apologize to the lands on the other side of the ocean for the terrible mistake made in the past, the wild colonialism.
Granada is a city with very different areas: the center, the Alhambra and the Sacromonte (certainly the most striking and original part).
The center is chaotic, full of restaurants and bars. Very touristic and commercial, only low quality bars and souvenir shops.
The Alhambra is the traditional Arab citadel located on one of the hills of Granada. It extends over the whole hill, is a city in the city or perhaps more simply the "original Granada". The gardens around are endless and the view spectacular. From the inside I saw only the photos but I had the impression that everything was rebuilt like a museum and I preferred not to enter. Someone says it is the most beautiful part of Granada, but I have preferred to live the life of the city and the people, watching the stars from the hill.
Better to move towards the Sacromonte, perhaps walking a little along the river to the north to enjoy the view of the Alhambra from below. The Sacromonte, or Gitan’s district, is the cuna of flamenco. Among the caves carved into the rocks on the hill the gypsies chanted popular songs, played "flamenco" guitars, cajon and other "poor" instruments. They danced to warm cold nights and hearts. They gathered in the squares and the streets. Those that today are the stage for street artists who find on the Sacromonte the perfect environment to play their songs, dances, poems and emotions.
Cordoba is the smallest of the Andalusian cities. Going beyond the well conserved and still shining sandy yellow Roman bridge, you enter the oldest and most characteristic part of the city. Passing through an archway after the bridge, you immediately enter the Mezquita’s square, the cathedral of the immaculate Conception of Maria Santissima. The most beautiful cathedral/ mosque in Andalusia, a perfect encounter between Arab-Islamic art and Gothic-Renaissance architecture.
To be honest it has not a lot of Gothic-Renaissance. It is a cathedral with marked Arab traits. Once upon a time it dominated the Andalusian desert before the modern city was born all around. The orange garden, the bell tower and, above all, an infinity of arches that run after each other make it enchanting. It is impossible to find the beginning and the end, everything is perfectly symmetrical. A sense of protection and peace spreads within the walls. They were once the protection of monks and Christians during the Arab "invasions", now they are the favorite background for tourists' photos. Better like this! Human works should not serve to attack or defend, but remain there forever to be admired and loved.
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