The Alcazar
Anyway, onwards. So by now, I think, we are on Thursday, so we visited the Alcazar. It is actually very relaxed to get in, despite what had seemed like a very long queue when we arrived. Jenny had booked in advance, and we went for a delicious lunch beforehand, at a place just opposite the restaurant recommended by Emily from her earlier trip. (She gave us some very good recommendations, although they were mostly booked out, so she obviously has an eye for the popular eateries!She has saved them all on Google Maps, marked up with the oranges emoji rather than the usual starred places, which I quite enjoyed!)
The Alcazar actually means “The Palace” in Arabic. Qasr is the Arabic word for “palace” so it’s just The Palace. Similarly, the river Guadalquivir is rabic for Wadi Al-Kabir (the big river or watercourse). So this whole city is built on the Arabic civilization that dominated between around 750 and 1250 AD. It’s a long time since I’ve studied the history, but it’s quite inspiring to think of Islam at the time as such a positive and progressive power and not just with Mullahs beheading people and stoning women. This all gave me a renewed interest in studying the period, and maybe digging out anything that I wrote at the time, although it might all have disappeared.
Well, we loved the Alcazar. There are so many gardens within gardens, and we spent hours just wondering around and sitting watching people and trees. The décor is similar to the Alhambra, less glitzy, and with many additions from the Spanish colonial period. In fact, I’m not even sure whether all of it was originally Arab or not, as some of the gardens seem to have a Christian origin. There was originally, for example, a labyrinth garden that was removed at the turn of the 20th century. But so many interesting things as well. At one end of the garden, there was a water organ, one of only 4 in the world, from what I remember. Anyway, definitely if the Alcazar were a milkshake, it would get 10/10.
We walked back past Casa de Libros and Rioja, along the Boulevard de San Pablo, stopping off for a Sangria at Casa Murillo. Unfortunately, what I had hoped might be a Sci Fi and comic bookshop was shut. I had been in to Casa de Libros earlier to hunt for Spanish indigenous Sci Fi and it was a bit of a disappointment. Lots of American stuff that has been translated, but almost nothing from the short list I had made from AI such as Elia Barcelo. Anyway, will keep looking!
That evening, we went back to the pottery area in Triana and had a lovely meal at a quirky restaurant on Calle Callao behind the Mercado. This had a really interesting wine from Cadiz, so it was nice to get away from the Rioja or Ribera combi they offer at almost all bars.
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