Spain 2012: Cordoba

So I got my parents right off the plane and straight to the Atocha train station in Madrid. We grabbed some bocadillos and boarded the bullet train straight to Cordoba. It was the only place on the trip that we stayed just one night, but it turned out to be my Dad's favorite stop on the entire trip.

The parents with the bell tower/minaret of the Mezquita (or the "mosquito" as my dad kept calling it)

Some of the lovely patios in Cordoba

{I found a shortcut}

I saw this building the last time I was in Cordoba. It was open when we walked by so we peeked inside--it was a church with a youth service going on. 

After walking around the city we called it a night. We woke up the next morning and, to the sound of the mass going on in the high alter area, explored the Mesquita for free!

Inside the Mesquita--a former mosque turned into a church after the reconquest. Pictures can't do it justice--it's like being in a forest of columns. 

The history is interesting too: It's built on the ruins of a Visgoth church (around 600 AD). You can see some of the Visgoth mosaics under the floor in certain parts of the building. It was then a mosque built in the 900s. In the 1200s the Christians kicked out the Moors in Cordoba and it became a church. In the 1500s they turned it into a Spanish-style Renaissance cathedral. 

The prayer niche of the "mosque"

Entering the "Cathedral" part. (The ceilings go from 30 feet to 130 feet in an instant!)

Cordoba is a beautiful town. It was years after I fell in love with Spain that I made my way to it--but it's been a favorite ever since. 

Next stop: Granada!

Finally!

A break from the norm because, well, I'm in a celebratory mood!

This week I've been in Abilene catching up with friends and former coworkers/professors/ students/roommates. I also caught up on the progress of a project I haven't thought about in a while.

Years ago I signed on to help out on an editing project which aimed to turn a giant stack of photocopied excerpts into a book containing a collection of T. B. Maston's writings. It was only supposed to last a semester, but, of course, it stretched on. I spent part of one summer typing up the articles into 749 single spaced pages of text (and also developing a case of self-diagnosed carpal tunnel!) and the duration of another summer hunting down copyrights. I spent hours upon hours reading, editing and hauling the thing around. It was not always an entertaining job, but I started to really love T.B. Maston.

Maybe it was just a byproduct of my stressed and sleep deprived state of mind at the time, but after so much time working on his writings I began to feel like I knew the guy (who died in 1988). In fact, it was my respect for Maston--who was an early supporter of racial equality in the volatile mess of racial tensions in the South, who along with his wife lovingly cared for their severely handicapped son in their home and, even though he had a degree from Yale, always tried to write so that his mom, who only had a 4th grade education, could understand it--that kept me going when my cynicism inched higher and higher.

My love for Maston kept me interested in the project and ended with me digging up bricks from his demolished house (...that's another story). I used to wear a locket quite frequently, but never got around to putting anything inside. You guessed it--(through an overly caffeinated decision and the luck that I happened to have a flyer with a perfectly sized picture of Maston at my fingertips) TB made his way into my locket.

Anyway, I signed off on the project way back in May of last year, but the book has been bogged down in formatting and publishing challenges ever since. I talked with one of the professors on the project and we both agreed that it seemed the thing might never get finished. Fifteen minutes later someone stopped me in the hall to tell me that they had just sent the final version of the reader to the publishers and the thing should be printed and bound (with my name on the cover!) in around 45 days.

In honor of this accomplishment, and of Maston, I'm rocking the locket today and digging up some old articles and videos of Ol' TB. I won't lie, its like visiting an old friend. 

Sounio, Corinth and Other Greek Leftovers

A catch up blog! These are from Greece a couple of weeks ago:

We took the opportunity to get out of the city a couple of times during our stay in Athens. The city is huge, and even in the off season there are lots of people packed into a small space. We took day trips out to Sounio on the public buses and then hired a guide and driver to go out to Corinth. Pictures and stories below:

Temple to Poseidon (built around 440 BC)

Lord Byron visited Sounio (even scratching his name into one of the columns) and wrote this of it: 

Place me on Sunium's marbled steep, 

Where nothing, save the waves and I, 

May hear our mutual murmurs sweep

The view!

I took a picnic lunch, dangled my feet off the edge and stared into the sea. (It was all fun and games until I saw a snake a little while later!)

These huge wildflowers were all over the area and are here in Cyprus too. 

A shot at the temple of Zeus back in Athens. It's soooo big.  

The Corinthian Canal (It's no Panama Canal...but it will do!)

Part of the old Corinthian road! They used to drag ships over the isthmus along this road. If you have ever read background material on 1st or 2nd Corinthians--you have probably read about this!

Inscription found at ancient Corinth which says that Erastus, a city officer, payed for this pavement. Likely this is the Erastus mentioned in the New Testament.

Lots of headless statues--to save time statue makers would have a bunch of statue bodies ready made. They would then carve up a head that looked like you and stick it down into the neck socket. 

Some mosaics

The Bema/judgement seat--or the place where they would hear cases/trials. It's one of the few places they know for sure that Paul was in.

Ancient starting blocks (you know you want to do it too!)

Roman toilets...or as I like to call them: Paul's Potties! (Because he probably would have used them while he was here.)

We drove and then hiked all the way up to Acrocorinth (the high old-old part of the city where the temple once stood). 

It was breathtaking (both the view and the climb!)

A look back over the plains 

It was very much what I think of when I think "castle." 

Finally we stopped at Cenchreae on the coast. This is the ancient port city from which Paul would have sailed east from. (Also this is where, according to Acts 18:18, he shaved his head!). Phoebe was mentioned to be from here as well. The old port and church are all under water now, but you can climb out on it and have a look at it through the clear water. 

Some of the group hopped across some rocks that were sticking out of the water to have a look at the ruins. Some of the rest of us talked Bobby into moving those rocks. I thought it was hilarious. 

The end! Next up a couple more Cyprus blogs, and maybe even some more Nicaragua...We will see!

Agia Napa

Now that I am here I can see how Agia Napa could be considered tourist hell in the summer. Thankfully though, it's not summer. It's spring. That means there's wildflowers everywhere and I had the beach almost entirely to myself today. It also means that I got a 200 euro hotel room for 40 (slippers and all!). Not bad Agia Napa, not bad. 

(The one thing my fancy hotel does not have though, is free wifi. So here I am at the cafe down the road drinking the cheapest thing on the menu to use their wifi. And let me tell you, this Greek coffee has some BITE.)

Oh, and one more interesting fact before the pictures: Any idea where Agia Napa gets its name? Agia/ayia we know is "holy." Napa anyone? Think napkin. The town gets its name from the monastery here which was named after the "holy handkerchief" supposedly used to wipe Jesus' tears with on his way to the cross. Interesting, no?

OK, moving on...

My spiffy digs

My balcony. Today was divided between laying out and reading at the pool...

then laying out and reading at the beach. 

Yesterday I went on a long walk (round trip I think it was almost 20 kilometers--which is good. That's the daily average for the Camino). 

The water, the views, the flowers--it was all beautiful. 

Up until this point of my walk I had been barefoot (I just continued walking from the beach). I finally put my shoes back on (sans socks/rolling my pants back down) to look at some cliffs and then just decided to rock the look the rest of the way. Yep. (There's hardly anyone but old Germans here anyway.)

The sea caves were breathtaking

Another look at them from the return

Fields and wildflowers

Just an overall lovely walk and lovely day.  

This morning I woke up early(ish) and went to the monastery here. This 600 year old sycamore tree is in the courtyard. 

The monastery--built 1570. 

Icons inside

More monastery 

Fountain in the courtyard that predates the monastery

And some religious kitsch for good measure. 

Tomorrow to the capital! That is...unless I decide to stay. 

Larnaka, Cyprus

So I thought I might catch up on blogging when I was in Texas for a few days. That obviously didn't happen. I also thought I might catch up a bit when I was here in Cyprus, taking it easy for a week or so. I've come to the realization that this is not going to happen. Not only have I not shown you most of Nicaragua, I now haven't shown you Sounio or Corinth from the Greece trip. 


I am also about to drop off of the grid again--the Camino is just around the corner. I'll be bare bones-ing it as I hoof it across Spain on foot, so starting April 1st or so, things will drop back down to only occasional updates from internet cafes along the way (if that). But for now...I'll just try to keep up with Cyprus!

Today I was reading through my guidebook in my room still in pjs when I realized the weekly walking tour started in 10 minutes. Too bad, I thought. And then I thought, well...I might could make it. What do you know, I did. I ended up with the worst tour guide ever, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. Afterwards I explored other parts of the city, finally broke down and bought an umbrella (it has poured every afternoon since I got here!), and walked through Lazarus' tomb in Agios Lazaros. To wrap up the afternoon I found myself a cafe with big windows (and wifi!) and have been planning my next step here in Cyprus.

I will admit it's been hard to keep in my self-imposed strict budget here in Cyprus (it's a lot more expensive than I originally thought it would be), but especially considering the camino is coming quickly, I caved when I saw a crazy deal for a fancy hotel on the coast. So, the plan for the next few days is to kick back! Because, sometimes you just need a vacation from your vacation. 


Pictures below!

I generally say that traveling is a continual exercise in problem solving skills (well...at least for me!). This is what you get when you want to make tea and don't have a kettle or cup: tea made with hot water from the sink in a water bottle. It works. 

More colonial archetecture

Carpentry shops

Chairmakers

Inside the fort/castle

A look at the sea: If my geography is correct (and it's probably not) I think we should be looking toward Palestine

Another shot of the castle

Some more pretty houses

Church of Agios Lazaros (St. Lazarus) From my relatively useless Lonely Planet:

Lazarus was expelled from Jerusalem and came to Larnaka, where he was ordained as a bishop by St. Barnabas. He reportedly remained a bishop for 30 years. After he died (for the second time) he was buried where the current church stands. His relics did not stay entombed for very long after their discovery in 890, as they were transported to Constantinople and subsequently removed to Marseille in 1204. 

A shot of some of the icons in the church

Sarcophagi where Lazarus was supposedly buried

Next stop: Agia Napa. It's supposed to have beautiful water but be incredibly touristy. It's only March though, so I'll hold my judgement until I see it for myself!