It's hard to say which of the four Andalucian cities we visited last week was the best one. Each had something about it that made it well worth a couple nights' stay.
Sevilla had the best food. We had huge plates of salmorenjo, a thick cold vegetable soup about the consistency of hummus, as well as gazpacho with boiled egg, solomillos doused in blue cheese sauce and laid over fries, super yummy pickled vegetables, and chicken skewers with roasted red pepper, just to name a few.
Granada was the place where I felt that Andalucian culture was the most vibrant and still made relevant. Isabel la Catolica's ghost was everywhere, but so was the massive influence of the Islamic dynasties that ruled the province until 1492. I loved how Granada manages to make even the most tired tourist staples of the region--tapas, flamenco--feel fresh and inspired while never losing their sense of tradition. The flamenco show we went to was buried deep in the Albazyn, and with the boxed wine and the backroom theater, it had the feel of underground performance art.
Cordoba has the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen in my life, the Mezquita-Catedral, a mosque converted into a cathedral in the middle ages once the province was taken over in the Reconquista. I loved this blatant mix of styles, and the coolest part is looking into the exposed ruins and seeing the site of Visigoth church it was built upon.
Cadiz is the most fun and the most relaxed. Like a little Caribbean island tacked onto the Atlantic coast of Spain, I immediately fell into a beach rhythm once we pulled into this station. Everyone was sunburned, half naked, and stuffing calamari into themselves . . . even me, who usually hates seafood in all forms.
And yup, I did get a little too much sun (not enough swimsuit time so far this summer means my skin is way not used to it!) , though not as much as Doug, whose chest has a splotchy speckled effect due to his lackadaisical application of sunscreen . . . next time, I'm getting him a spray bottle.
More from Morocco soon!
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