Granada Seville Cordoba
Now fully redesigned, this new edition contains the most up-to-the-minute practical information and listings, along with colour photographs and maps. Cadogan’s essential three city guide takes you right into the heart of southern Spain by uncovering the delights of Granada, Seville and Cordoba. Although all Spanish and all AndalucĂan, each has their own distinct character, scenery and vibe: Seville, a city of drama and passion, home to those most Spanish creations, flamenco and tapas, and the greatest gothic cathedral in the world, La Giralda; Spiritual Cordoba with its Great Mosque and medieval quarters; Refined and wistful Granada, with its extraordinary garden-hung Alhambra palace and spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada. With detailed information on traveling between the cities, plus a fascinating insight into their history and development, this is both a highly practical and deeply enthralling accompaniment to a three-centre trip or individual city break.
Extract: Dust in the Wind
The poets of al-Andalus devoted most of their attention to sensuous songs of love, nature, wine women and boys, but amidst all the lavish beauty there would linger, like a basso continuo, a not of refined detachment, of melancholy and futility. Instead of forgetting death in their man-made paradises, the poets made point of reminding their listeners of how useless it was to become attached to these worldly delights. After all, only God is forever, and why express love to something that would one day turn to dust? Why even attempt to build something perfect and eternal- the main ingredients of the lovely, delicate Alhambra are plaster and wood. The Nasrid kings, were they to return, might be appalled to find it still standing.
The Christians who led the Reconquista had no time for futility. ...click here to read the rest
Cadogan Guide- Granada, Seville, Cordoba, /5
Cadogan has he knack of sorting out what you must see when you visit a place. The history is always lively. The tours are well researched and to the point. The stories are fun - the kind of gossip that other travellers are always interested to hear.
Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls can be reached at: michel.pauls@wanadoo.fr
