We luckily flew out of the U.S. on time & things have been pretty hectic during our trip around Spain- already, we've been to Salamanca, Segovia, El Escorial outside of Madrid & Toledo. We got to Madrid last night & I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city. It's a bit like visiting NYC with its endless crowds of people & 24-hour movement! After 2 1/2 more days in Madrid, we have 3 days in Barcelona before we take an AVE high speed rain train to Córdoba. Then, we have orientation/class registration/activities to help us get to know the city as well as visits to its historic sties such as the Gran Mezquita, the Madinat Al-Zahra ruins & the Sinagoga de Córdoba. Apparently, it offers services about once or twice a month & while extremely small (unsurprising considering there are very few Jews in Córdoba today despite its rich history of those of all three Abrahamic faiths) it certainly would be an interesting experience.
Right now, I unfortunately don't have enough time to upload photos or write more elaborate entries. And almost certainly won't until after I get settled in Córdoba, when I plan to make a bunch of posts relating more details of everything I've been doing along with plenty of pictures. But to summarize, in Salamanca, we saw the New Cathedral of Salamanca, the University of Salamanca (the 4th oldest university in Europe which has continued to operate today), the wonderful Plaza Mayor & the Roman Bridge. In Segovia, we saw its gigantic Roman Aqueduct & its Alcazar (Arabic for castle/fortresses & alegedly Walt Disney's inspiration for the iconic Cinderella's Castle!). Then we saw El Escorial, where several kings of Spain lived, including Phillip II. We got to Madrid last night, but so far, all I've really gotten aquainted with is the Plaza Mayor & it's main bar neighborhood. Today, we went to Toledo & saw the La Sinagoga del Tránsito & Sephardic museum. To me, it felt a tad bittersweet: while it's certainly wonderful that Spain's Jewish past has been/still is being recognized, excavated, researched & archived, I think about how little we know considering how the Jews in Spain were violently persecuted and expelled during the Inquisition, with many others forced to convert to Christianity as an "alternative". The lively Jewish community in Toledo from hundreds of years ago has been reduced to merely a history of the people who *once* were there, who are no longer due to the anti-Semitism which continues today. Still, there are tiny Jewish communities in Madrid, Barcelona & a few other major cities in Spain, reminding me that we are in some ways, still here. Afterwards, we saw El Greco's masterpiece The Burial of the Count of Orgaz at the church of Santo Tomé & the Toledo Cathedral, which had several wonderful El Greco paintings on top of a Goya, Zurbarán Van Dyck & a Raphael or two.
In the meantime, I'll find time to upload all the photos I've been taking as soon as I can so that they can be shared with everyone!
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