Viva España 1/2

First of all, I feel obliged to like to thank Mark for the advices he bestowed when I was up to buy my new Digital Camera. Thanks again, with a D-SLR like the Nikon D50, my trip was well documented.

Moreover, my heart goes to May Shidyak and her family. Terrorism will never silent honest voices around the world.

And back to Spain, I had a great time & company this summer. I’d like to thank Paco, Rosana, Florencio, Minoo, Pliar, Fernando, Mamen, Agatha, Christina, Mourad, Massi, Na’ema, Miriam, Pepe, Nadia, Hasan, El-Jefe, Anna & M for all the help they offered. (I hope some of you read blogs ;)

This year I tried as much as I can, to avoid ‘Homeis’ (i.e. Kuwaitis), not that I don’t like them, but to get a real sense of a vacation abroad, I can dwell with them for 11 months and that’s quiet ample. Maybe that’s what I’m doing now.

For this post, let’s start with Cordoba. One of the greatest cities in Europe, if not the world (and I’m not exaggerating). History swirls the air, every corner has a story and every brick include talks for itself. It was (with Baghdad) two of the most populated cities in the world around 10 centuries ago.

The jewel of the City is La Mezquita-Catedral, wich was a mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Jami3), after the Spanish Reconquest a cathedral was inserted in the middle, so now it’s two temples in one. Inside “La Mezquita” (the way people of Cordoba like to call it) you can travel in time just by turning your head from right to left. With La Juderia (Jewish Quarter) as well, you can explore three different religions, in one place.

Of course, I didn’t miss the opportunity to capture the sense of Cordoba with my camera, or try to. (Photos from Cordoba).

In Malaga, we attended the annual fair (Feria De Malaga). A week in august that marks the Reconquest of the city. We had fun as everybody did. People were singing, dancing, playing or drinking almost all the time. (Photos from Malaga).

One day, we decided to go to Cadiz (aka “The Little Silver Cup), so obvious it’s the city of the football team, which is doing well (nowadays) in the Spanish Liga, as far as I know.

Due to the snaky, narrow, windy and high mountain road to Cadiz, the mission was NOT accomplished. My friend who was driving is phobic to heights (I don’t know what do they this condition).

Instead, we made short visits to Tarifa & Algeciras (Europe’s Gates to Africa).
While Tarifa was filled with surfers because the Mediterranean and the Atlantic bump into each other there and the waves & winds are Ideal for surfing. Algeciras was filled with immigrants (from morocco) and with ‘Hasheesh’. As Fernando puts it, in Algeciras instead of saying ‘Hola’ you’ll be greeted with ‘Queres Hasheesh’!
(Photos from the road trip).

To be continued …