Andalusia
May 2018
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| "Largest wooden structure in the world." |
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| How much of today's tourism -- with its focus on speed, photos and food -- is 1) busywork, 2) consumerism, 3) distraction and 4) worksite for shoring up one's identity? |
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| Islamic ornamentation risks being somewhat soulless and just clever. Its Christian counterpart risks being precious and idolatrous (see below). |
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| Bee nest there. |
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| Spanish Inquisition museum: "This place is part of you. It is part of your history." |
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| Flemish realism gone mad? |
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| Or just perennial preoccupation of the citified? |
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| More rigorous monotheists (Jews, Muslims, iconoclasts...) believe beautiful Christian art risks replacing God. Indeed it seems the number of people seeking out Christian painting, sculpture, music and architecture for non-religious reasons (in museums, concert halls, old churches, auction houses...) has only increased since the Renaissance or Enlightenment. While the number of faithful, at least in the West, has only dropped. |
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| A Catholic relic: a saint's diaphragm. Catholicism is arguably the world's oldest institution. It may be susceptible to idol and saint worship but that also functions to make it more "democratic", flexible and decentralized. |
Itinerary: 10 days' solo travel in Seville, Cordoba and Granada.
