Salobrena

We arrived last Thursday and met with our friend Stan who has been staying at the campsite since before Christmas. He had earmarked an excellent pitch for us on the edge of the site with a view of the mountains. The floor surface looks like grass in the photo but is mesh fabric, a sort of economy astro turf.

The mountains are part of the Sierra Nevada, the highest range in Spain, and are snow covered at this time of the year. There are tracks just over the hedge and scrub land so it’s good for walks and some bird watching

Across the road from the campsite is the beach. It’s wide and long, in a pleasant setting but quite gritty. We weren’t going to swim anyway. 

The Mezquita and Cathedral

The Mezquita (mosque) was extended several times; the final version held up to 40,000 people. Here are some of the 1293 marble columns connected by distinctive supporting double arches, stretching into the distance, giving some idea of the scale of the building and its unique design.

These columns were mainly reused roman marble brought in from previous Roman territories. Coming from various sources, the columns were of different lengths and were cleverly adapted by putting the short ones on plinths or sinking the tall ones into the floor. So recycling isn’t a new idea.

Extra height was achieved by adding arches as the next photo shows. The sunlight streaming in adds to the harmonious beauty the builders achieved.

The most intricate decoration is reserved for the Mihrab, the most sacred area of the mosque that points precisely towards Mecca. However, in this case, it isn’t aligned correctly because the old St Vincent’s cathedral wall was incorporated into the structure and that was pointing due east, as Christian churches do. St Vincent’s revenge, you may say.

The detail of the craftsmanship is astoundingly intricate, an example of which is worth reproducing here. 

The ceiling above the Mihrab is also incredibly ornate and beautifully designed, but might look a bit ott in the average house.

So, if this is the mosque, where’s this added cathedral? The answer is: right in the middle!

In 1236 Cordoba was reconquered by the Christians, so ending 500 years of Moorish rule. The mosque was ritually reconsecrated as a Christian church, and over the next 300 years some internal modifications were made, for example some of the columns were partitioned  to make chapels, mainly  around the perimiter. But substantially it was still the same mosque as built by the Moors.

However, in 1536, despite local opposition, it was decided to build a cathedral right in the centre of the mosque. The resulting edifice is quite ornate and magnificent  although it occupies less than 10% of the mosque floor area. They needed to demolish the mosque roof where the cathedral was to be built to get the extra height needed for their design. This is a shot of part of how it turned out.

The cathedral is open sided, so look around and you peer into the original mosque. It’s a strange combination.

The chapels referred to above that were created around the edge of the building appear to be of conventional Roman Catholic Church type until you see how the Moorish features have been incorporated and redecorated.

Some chapels though have barely bothered to alter any of the Moslem decoration, as in the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) shown next. It’s a testimony to the original craftsman.

We visited the Mezquita/Cathedral on two days running as there was so much amazing architecture to be seen. The place held an atmosphere of calm and harmony; a unique building, certainly one of the most extraordinary we have ever seen.

Monday 7th March: Cordoba

The journey from Aranjuez to Cordoba crosses the high central plains. These are sparsely populated agricultural lands, cold in winter and baking in summer. We got the cold bit, with some sleet, but otherwise easy driving on a deserted motorway. The weather perked up towards our destination, so we visited Cordoba the following day in bright sunshine.

Cordoba’s archaeology goes back to the Bronze Age, but recorded history starts in 152 BC when it was founded as a Roman city. The roman bridge still survives, and crosses the wide river Guadalquivir near the historic centre.

The Moors’ (Arab) conquest of Spain began In 711, and within 10 years they controlled most of the country. In 756 Cordoba became their capital, and grew to become, it is said, the greatest city in Europe.

Water supply was a particular Moorish skill, and here’s a reconstructed waterwheel of the type that was used then and continues to be used, in some places, up to the present. The wheel draws water up from the river and feeds it into the supply system. Might explain why the campsite mains water is such a trickle.

The old town is a huddle of narrow streets with whitewashed buildings, following the lines of the old Moorish city. This is similar to Moroccan towns we’ve seen, not surprising as many Moorish craftsmen and settlers came from Morocco.

Parts of the old city walls still stand, and again notice the water features fundamental to the city’s functioning in this hot, dry region.

The old centre is adorned with various grand buildings displaying high quality workmanship, for example this doorway. 

But Cordoba’s jewel in the crown, and the reason for its World Heritage status, is the Mezquita (the Mosque) and the Cathedral. Extraordinarily, they are both part of the same building.This is one of its external walls stretching into the distance, on the right side of the photo, which indicates how extensive it is.

The Mezquita (mosque) was built by the conquering Moors in 786.They bought the old St Vincent’s cathedral from the Christians and demolished most of it to create room for the mosque.  However, they incorporated the part of St Vincent’s wall shown in the photo below, where you can see both Christian and later Muslim styles. I’m not sure exactly which is which, either.

The Mezquita is entered through a large courtyard containing a bell tower that was built around the original minaret. The courtyard contains fountains for Muslim ritual purification before entering the mosque. The current fountains are not original but the essence of the courtyard, with its orange trees, is preserved.

So let’s enter this magnificent mosque and discover how it comes to contain a cathedral. This is nothing to do with the original St Vincent’s cathedral, but a later and more controversial addition. That’s the subject of our next blog.

Spain Spring 2016

Start: Monday 29^th Feb

We’re lucky with the weather for our first day; although cold, it’s clear, bright sunshine. Even the predictable A14 traffic jams melt away by Fenstanton (10 miles) and we made an earlier tunnel crossing than the one we had booked, so we managed to get as far as Le Mans by nightfall.

Our next stop is near Blaye, in the Bordeaux area, where we stay for a couple of days. It’s wet and windy, but we take a quick trip to the citadel at Blaye which is on the Gironde estuary. The citadel is a massive fort built to protect Bordeaux from assault via the estuary. It looks even more forbidding in damp, miserable weather.

The defences were constructed by ace French fort builder Vauban, in the late 17^th century. The citadel was never captured. The entrance gate shows the thickness of these impregnable walls. It just needs the Three Musketeers galloping through to bring it all to life. 

Inside the battlements was a large area more like a village than a military camp. However, we didn’t explore with our usual enthusiasm as a downpour settled in for the afternoon and we beat a retreat back to the shelter of the caravan. 

We left the Bordeaux area the next day and went for a longer journey than planned, as far as Burgos in northern Spain, so as to run out of the unsettled weather. Burgos was an overnighter, cold and dry, from where we ran due south to Aranjuez. Crossing the mountains to Madrid saw some real snow but the roads were all clear. Aranjuez is 30 miles beyond Madrid.

We visited Aranjuez four years ago, with not such happy memories as we were kept awake all weekend by a heavy metal rock concert! This time it was relatively quiet and we were able to enjoy the town’s faded elegance. It was acquired for the monarchy in 1178 and used by various kings, queens and nobility since that time. This is part of the royal palace.

No palace is complete without extensive grounds so there are parks and fountains galore surrounding the palace. One fountain coming up.

The Prince’s garden, in another part of the town, is probably the most impressive. It claims to be the largest enclosed garden in Europe. The gates are certainly very grand. 

Actually, we need to go through this park to get to the campsite, so walking into town we enjoy the gardens and ornamental paths. Even at this time year there’s some colour.

Another view shows a walk with a boundary wall lined with urns. There are hundreds of these identical urns all over the park and also the palace gardens. They must have got a job lot from somewhere.

At the far end of the park we cross the bridge and walk the short distance to the campsite. Tomorrow it’s up stumps, to Cordoba.

Home Monday 1st Feb: Reflections on Dubai

We expected Dubai to be a modern, skyscraper city with a huge range of manmade entertainments. It was all of that, with skydiving, helicopter rides, desert safaris, artificial snow ski slope and so on, including some things we’d never seen before like this steerable water-jet platform. The man (or victim) is poised on the top like a stilt walker.

These activities are expensive, and your bank balance could plummet as fast as a skydiver, but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Obviously we were lucky in seeing sights with Rob that maybe not many tourists would have, but they didn’t break the bank either. Other days we sat on the beach and swam in the sea. It was warm, and clear as you can see.

The hotel provided sun loungers on the beach so we were able to lie in comfort and watch the world- and the camels- go by.

The sun was hot even at this time of the year, but comfortably so, around 25 degrees; even so, a few hours of direct sun was enough and some afternoons we sat in the shady hotel garden. Again, they provided comfy loungers. You’ll spot Jane, one of the loungers on the loungers.

The hotel itself was in a pedestrianised resort setting, kept scrupulously clean, with the emphasis on family activities. There were street entertainers every night and fireworks at the weekend, with a huge variety of restaurants and cafes. Alcohol is very expensive, so no riotous behaviour was observed; in fact, we felt completely safe in all the places we visited.

This is the hotel and immediate surroundings.

So Dubai had all the glitz we anticipated, but more besides: some interesting, non-commercialised trips, and beach relaxation in pleasant surroundings. In other words, we had an enjoyable time!

The Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Completed in 2007, the Grand Mosque has 82 domes and a capacity of 41,000 people. It’s a fantasy shape on the skyline, as we circled in Rob’s car trying to find the entrance to the car park.

Most mosques don’t allow non-Muslims to enter, but this one does, as long as you observe the dress and behaviour protocols. Females' heads and shoulders need to be covered, and this is Jane’s make-shift hijab fashioned by the entrance staff from her cardigan. Rob’s clearly jealous.

The entrance is through the arched portal along an inlaid marble floor. Its design is Moroccan based, which is why it looks familiar. 

Passing through the entrance, the inner courtyard is flanked by columns through which we must walk to get into the mosque itself.

Look to the right from the column walkway and you see the courtyard: the largest marble mosaic area anywhere.

We now enter the mosque; the decoration is exquisite. Look at the colours in the chandelier, which is about two metres across. The floral design on the wall behind is inlaid marble. The largest chandelier is 10 metres across but not so pleasingly designed as this one.

The main area can accommodate 41,000 people and is covered by the biggest hand-knotted carpet in the world (it’s beginning to sound the Guinness Book of Records). Bet the lads from Carpet Rite got a sweat on fitting this one.

And, finally, having exited, the old folks are taking a rest. Jane’s hijab has stood up very well. The mosque was overwhelming in its scale and magnificence.

We leave the mosque, but we’re not finished yet. We are returning to Dubai via the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circuit. This is it, although it needs F1 cars and spectators to make capture the atmosphere.

Right in the centre of the racing circuit is the Yas Island Viceroy hotel, the building below wearing a hair-net, which is used by the majority of F1 teams. It’s also convenient for quick refreshment stops for drivers on the way round; it’s well known you can’t race your best without consuming a pie and a pint.

Rob says the 60 miles between Abu Dhabi and Dubai is prone to sandstorms. It is indeed all sand desert, but we make it ok this time without needing to call out the Camel Corps to guide us in.  

Old Dubai

The original Dubai grew up around Dubai Creek, a saltwater inlet about 8 miles long. We travelled there on the ultramodern metro for which Rob had got us some swipe tickets.

First stop, the Dubai museum. Here were details of excavations showing traces of habitation in the area going back thousands of years. Then, from the 7^th century, travellers’ accounts mention a thriving fishing and pearling industry. Proper recorded history didn’t begin until the late 1700’s when the oldest building was started, that’s the Al Fahidi Fort, now the museum. 

The museum gave a good presentation of the settlement’s history, particularly of the hazardous pearl collecting that employed large numbers up to the late 1920’s. After that time it fizzled out due to Japanese development of cultivated pearls.

The divers packed onto small boats like the one below and went as deep as 40 metres with just a peg on their nose. They wore full garments to protect against jelly fish stings, and could hold their breath for 4 to 5 minutes.

Here’s the fruit of their labours: pearls.

Proceeding along the Creek’s shoreline promenade, we came to the Heritage Village. This housed trinket shops and recreated traditional dwellings. However, there was no description of who occupied the dwellings or when, so it didn’t add a lot to our understanding of Dubai’s development.  The gaps in the wall’s stonework in this house look uncomfortably draughty, but were perhaps welcome in the heat. The plastic bin possibly dates it to the 1970’s, but there’s no telly, so who knows?

Moving a few doors down to the Sheik’s house, we entered a pleasant courtyard with rooms leading off containing texts from the Koran, with English translation. You’d need to have a good understanding of Islam to appreciate these, so it didn’t add much to our knowledge of the area either. In that respect, the Sheik’s house was no great shakes. However, notice the rectangular tower at the back. These towers were used to catch any breeze and funnel it into the rooms below to provide relief from the heat.

From 1892 Dubai became a British protectorate, and shortly after a tax-free port. This greatly expanded trade and Dubai thrived until the world recession of the late 20’s and 30’s. The Creek is still bustling with boats today, but mainly small ferry boats. 

Markets too flourished, in gold, spice and cloth. These are there today, so here we are, walking through the cloth market that supplies locals and tourists alike. I asked the same question in Morocco- why can’t the stallholders let you browse without hassling? You might just spot something you like and want to buy. Instead, you scurry past, head down, to avoid the hard sell on random items shoved under your nose. There again… perhaps we would have sold more shoes if…

Old Dubai is still a vibrant multi-national trading entity, reflecting the high immigrant population that the whole of Dubai needs to function. 85% is Asian, mainly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

The area was interesting, particularly the Dubai Museum, but we could have learned much more from other historic sites with the use of descriptions and information plaques.