In my favorite song Jim Morrison sings about Andalusia - the second largest area of Spain. The home of corrida, sherry, greatest Arabic palaces, fans, flamenco, gazpacho, tapas and Costa de la Sol - which defines "Spain" for many people. The region of Andalusia geographically is seated close to Africa and there are many traces of the Muslim influence in the culture
plus very hot climate (around 40°C or more in summer). Traveling across Andalusia is traveling between endless fields of sunflowers and grains and hills covered with olive trees and vineyards. It is also famous of the pottery and few other DOC wines.
We spent few nights in Málaga, coastal city famous for it's sweet, fortified wine. While the central part of the city is not any interesting, the summer life is focused on the beach of the Mediterranean sea - with many small tapas bars and taverns, the open fire barbecues and fresh, cheap seafood.There are also an Arabic castle Gibralfaro ans stronghold Alcazaba to visit and very interesting old town (with ruins of Roman theatre). Like almost every city it has corrida arena (in the Andalusia's version of corrida bull is actually killed at the end of the fight).
The first city we visited - Seville - is the capital city of the region, famous for the largest in the world Cathedral (Cathedral of Seville) - with tomb of Columbus - and Torre del Oro, a watchtower with golden tiles.
"There’s nothing worse than being a blind man in Granada" - and the reason are the fabulous gardens and palaces of Alhambra. The palace and fortress complex of the Moorish rulers is the masterpiece of the Islamic architecture with beautiful arabesques, gardens and water constructions. I think the photos will be the best comment:
Córdoba is another
must see. The famous Mezquita - a Roman Catholic cathedral build inside of the mosque which is another example of great Muslim architecture. It's very hard to catch on the photograph the whole crazy concept of building cathedral in the middle of the Muslim temple - the good comment is the one by Holy Roman Emperor - "You have destroyed something unique to make something commonplace". There is an Alcazar (castle, gardens and a Moorish bathhouse) in Córdoba as well and the old town - Jewish district - with the fantastic flower patios and cozy taverns.
And finally Jerez de la Frontera, small and poor city famous for only one thing : sherry. Every drop of this fantastic wine (or vinegar) was once fermenting in one of the thousands of barrels kept in the local
bodega. Sherry is produced in
solera method in which the wine for bottling is taken from the oldest barrel in the cellar and replaced by the second oldest wine.
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It must be extremely hard to be a vegetarian in Spain , as the cuisine favors cured meat and even the famous rice dish - paella - can be made with chicken stock. But if you like seafood, wine, olive oil, smoked pepper, saffron and cheese (like us :D) there is plenty to eat and enjoy. Coastal area is paradise for fish lovers and bbq-ed sardines are simply fantastic, especially if you order mug of cold sangria and some nice tapa of sour octopus or manchego cheese in olive oil. Local cuisine was enriched by Muslim influences and never lost it's unique character. We loved cold aho balnco, gazpacho andaluz and salmorejo (which is also a cold tomato soup). I have also posted about wines, including Andalusian wines, in one of my previous post.
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