Treasures from Around the World

Wednesdays are usually reserved for art, but today I’m going to stretch that definition just a little bit. I want to show you guys some of the cool things I’ve picked up from my travels over the years.

Now, I’ve been known to keep everything from my receipts for chocolate (because I can’t go to a new country and not try their chocolate) to my tags for luggage. But these souvenirs are more beautiful, and all picked out to represent the country I was in.

First up is a gorgeous plate from Morocco. It’s all hand-hammered metal, inlaid with different colors. It was so hard to pick out just one because they had a million of them! I love the colors in this one though, and it was the perfect size. I gave it to my Mom.

This vase on the left is from France. Normandy, to be specific. They had these things all over the place. They’re handmade and so beautiful! On the right is a mini Eiffel Tower. Both were also gifts for my mom. (Although she was a little put off when she saw the size of the Eiffel Tower that I got myself, haha.)

My mom loves the ocean and the beach, so naturally she’d collect sand. These are from my various trips. Sometimes, when I’m lucky, I can find a bottle with the name of the country on it too.

Here’s my Eiffel Tower. Mom’s is about 2” tall. Mine is about a foot tall. She was a little jealous, haha.

I actually didn’t pick this up on one of my trips, but it did come from another country! My friend from Argentina gave it to me. It’s used to hold mate, a type of tea. (I tried the tea. It was really gross.)

These came from Greece. They’re two of my favorite goddesses – Artemis and Aphrodite. I wanted a whole set of them, but that would’ve been waaaay expensive.

Yes, yes that is a chocolate frog box in the background…

Here’s another gift I’ve received. This is a keychain/cell phone charm from Korea I got as a present from a friend who went there for a Karate tournament.

These are also from Morocco. We went into a giant store full of awesome mosaics and neat pieces like this. I know they’re miniatures of some traditional dishes in Moroccan culture, but I can’t remember exactly what they were for.

This one is from France. I love the original painting, and it seemed only fitting to get this neat clock! Only…it’s really, really loud. So it stays in our basement.

Lastly, this is a beautiful fan I brought home for my mom. It’s from Seville, Spain. These are the big thing over there and I have a weird affinity for fans anyway, so I had to get one! They’re hand painted and made of wood and cloth.

What kinds of things have you picked up from your travels? What is the one thing you would have to pick up if you got a chance to go to your dream country?

Wandering Bard: Spain (Córdoba)

Back in May, I did a post on La Alhambra, a group of palaces built by the Moorish people in Granada, Spain back in the mid to late 1300s. My awesome blogging buddy Julie Glover left me a very excited comment – I had mentioned Córdoba, she said. Apparently, her aunt was from there and Julie would love to visit some time.

Your wish is my command!

Here’s something to gaze at while I give you a little history lesson. Córdoba is a city in southern Spain and was – at one point in time – one of the largest cities in the world in terms of its population. Having been under Islamic rule for quite a while, it was only in the mid 1200s that it came under Spanish/Christian rule.

Shortly after, new churches were built within the city. However, some mosques were actually converted into churches, such as the one that goes to this bell tower.

This is called the Great Mosque of Córdoba, and it actually has a more interesting history than that. It was first a pagan temple. Then it was turned into a Christian church. Then it was converted into a mosque, and later a new mosque was built on the same site. Following that, it became a Roman Catholic church.

Whew!

Talk about an eclectic building.

Maybe you’ve never heard of this building before – at least you think you haven’t. Chances are, if you’re into architecture or art history, you’ve seen this shot at some point in your life:

This building has what is called an arcaded hypostyle hall. That sounds complicated, but it’s not. “Arcaded” simply means arches (as you can see in the picture), and “hypostyle” just means that the roof is supported by columns (hypó meaning ‘under’ and stŷlos meaning ‘column’). The famous red and white striped arches are made of limestone and brick, except for the section you see above. They were a little short on cash, apparently, so they just painted the red parts in here to make it match.

The columns are made of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. In the picture below, you can see that one of the artists signed his name on this one!

Our guide then took us to the Street of Flowers, which provides a classic view of the bell tower.

And that was a little slice of Córdoba for you! Hope you had a great time!

There you go, Julie! Hope you enjoyed it. Can’t wait till you get to go there for real! Did everyone else enjoy the trip? I know I did. I don’t want to go to work now.

Wandering Bard: Spain (La Alhambra)

Okay, we’ve traveled back to every country I’ve been to except for one – Spain! I have a lot of regrets about Spain. I minored in Spanish, but I was too nervous to use it while we were there. My greatest achievement was asking if something had ham on it (jamón), and not mixing it up with the word for soap (jabón). Although, I think the amount of food I ate there makes up for a lot of my mistakes. I had true Spanish paella, and that’s about as good as it gets, people.

So, today we are in Granada, Spain at La Alhambra (pronounced: Ahl-ahm-brah). This is a group of three palaces and some royal gardens that were built between 1338 and 1390 by the Moorish (Islamic) people.

The really neat thing about this place is that there are absolutely, positively NO water pumps. All the water seen in Alhambra is gravity fed and comes from the nearby mountains. Water was a sign of prosperity, power, and wealth, so there were a lot of fountains in these gardens. Imagine what this would’ve looked like to someone living in the 14^th century, when even those who were lucky enough to live above the poverty line would’ve looked on at these gardens in awe.

This is one of my favorite shots from La Alhambra!

The place was beautiful and ornately built, but as usual I like to let my pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy!

This shows an overview of the city of Granada from one of the higher points in the palace.

This is one of the cute little orchards tucked away near one of the buildings.

La Alhambra resident puppy!! (I promise he’s just sleeping!)

The summer palace.

The intricately carved wall and a window for the harem to “see and not be seen.”

One of the MANY beautiful courtyards.

A trellis that I’m sure would’ve looked fabulous in the summer (we were there in March).

Cool story: We learned in Cordoba (later on) that when the oranges have a big leaf they are good to eat, but when they have a big leaf and a little leaf they aren’t – they’re bitter! The locals always know a tourist when they see one because of this. (These look a little too shriveled to eat…)

Have you ever been to Spain? Have you been to La Alhambra? What’s one regret you have in regards to traveling to a foreign country?