Historically Speaking

My love of travel started with a love of history, which started with a love of reading.  I, therefore, blame my parents for teaching me to read at a young age. This has led to a life long love of reading, learning, researching, and exploring.

I find that I cannot travel somewhere without first reading everything I can about that place. I also find that when I read about a location, it grips my heart until I have the opportunity to see what I have read about.  For example, did you know that the book Robinson Crusoe, mandatory reading for many middle school students in the US, was actually written on and about the island of Tobago... a beautiful wonder in the Caribbean  about 2 miles from the coast of Venezuela? I took this book with me when I went to Tobago and read the whole thing while enjoying the waters and sun of this beautiful country so few speak or even know of.

Many years ago,  I immersed myself in reading historical novels about England in the 1400 and 1500's.  It almost became an obsession and when I went to London in 2008, I was asked if I wanted to go to Windsor Castle or the Tower of London. Without hesitation, I chose the Tower.  The response 'Oh you want to see the Crown Jewels'.  I responded, 'No I want to see where Anne Boleyn was beheaded'.

If you know anything about English history, you have heard of the wonderful, caring, kind husband that was Henry VIII. You know the one.  He had 6 wives. The first divorced, second beheaded, third died, forth divorced, fifth beheaded, sixth died.  It is a tragic story of a deranged man, consumed with power.  Well, his first wife was Katherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess.  Katherine was the daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand, the Catholic Monarchs who unified the country we now call Spain. Isabella also financed the voyages of one Christopher Columbus.. who happened upon North America and made the Europeans aware of its existence.

Isabella and Ferdinand were religious fanatics.  You can view them from different perspectives. Were they evil and intolerant? Probably. Did they believe they were following the will of God? Probably. If you view them from Katherine's perspective, they are great rulers. Isabella was a warrior, a strong female  in a time when it was not safe to be a strong female. A woman who fought for her right to her crown, who kept her power even through and despite her marriage.

When Katherine was a young girl, her parents won a victory against the  Moors, the Muslim population in Spain, and they expelled them all from the country.  The Sultan was forced to hand the keys of the Alhambra Palace to Isabella and Ferdinand, who promptly moved in. I have read about the  young Infantas, Katherine included, running through the gardens and past the fountains on the patios of this great Moorish palace.  The Alhambra is one of the most visited places in Spain and I have longed to see it for many years.  This was the sole motivational factor of a weeklong trip through Spain.

The Alhambra was incredible, but not actually the highlight of my trip as I expected. Yes, we stood in the room where Columbus met with Isabella and Ferdinand and pleaded his case.  Yes, we walked through the luscious gardens.  Yes, we saw the rooms of the Sultan's favorite wife. The carvings, the artistic beauty of the structures, the fountains and sound of water throughout- it is a sight to see.

No, this wasn't my highlight.  My highlight came 2 days before when we stopped in Cordoba, outside of the famous Sevilla. We were in Cordoba for only a few hours, more of a lunch break in an otherwise jam packed tour. In Cordoba, there is an ancient Mosque. It was not part of the tour and if you wanted to go, you had to pay from your own little purse of Euros.  Our guide spoke about it multiple times and shared that the Mosque really shouldn't be missed.  I am not one to miss out, so onward we went.

Here is the crazy part.  Although it is a mosque, it is technically a Catholic Cathedral. Why? How?  The Mosque was constructed in 786. It was expanded for the next 2 centuries.  in 1236, Cordoba was conquered by the Christians from Castile and the mosque was converted to a cathedral.  Today, this building is the main cathedral of Cordoba and mass is celebrated every day.

I have been in many a Catholic church in my times travelling.  I expected to see a complete conversion to a cathedral. This was mainly due to history of the Spanish Catholic monarchs expelling everything not Christian throughout Spain. But they didnt here. They left the building looking like a mosque, including arabic writing  and Koran inscriptions throughout. It was spectacular.  The details and the architecture have stood the test of time. I cannot even describe the feeling of presence in this building with so much history between its walls. I stood there, in a Catholic cathedral, which was truly a 1200 year old mosque and marvelled that it was almost unchanged with the exception of the relics and artwork you see in most Catholic churches.  When you know of all of the things destroyed over the course of time, in the name of religion or in the name of progress... and you see something that was changed.... but not really.... and is  allowed to just be beauty in and of itself... it will speak to your soul.

So add a little history to your travel... or add a little travel to your history.  I don't think you will regret it.