Last day in Cordoba

We got up and headed down to the 8:30 AM opening of the Mezquita/cathedral that we toured last night. 

We were able to take photos this time except the cathedral itself was roped off so we couldn’t see much of the magnificent craftsmanship ( although we got some partial views from various angles). I wish we could have taken photos last night as this church is stunningly ornate. 

In the light of day I realized how much of the building has been converted to Catholicism. This was not apparent last night due to the way the tour went and the lighting provided during our visit. 

We were able to get near the mihrab niche where the Iman would lead the worship when the building was a mosque. The decoration is beautiful ( which in reality I can say for virtually all parts of this UNESCO World Heritage Site ).

The top photo above is the roof above the Imans mihrab niche, with the niche itself immediately above this comment.

Probably my favourite photo from inside the Mezquita

After about 45 minutes everybody was kicked out of the building as a church mass was about to happen in the cathedral. Caro wanted to participate so I went for a walk along the path up on the river bank.

I got a great shot of the Roman bridge with its reflection in the river.

Later I waited for Caro in the main courtyard and was amazed to see HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of people lined up for entry once the mass was completed. 

Caro said the service was beautiful and uplifting. 

Afterwards we needed brunch so there is a very famous stand up bar that has great food.  All the times we have wanted to try it out there were lineups but not this morning, so we had a couple small plates of delicious food typical of this area

Next stop were the Royal gardens. They were quite nice and this is where we sat in the shade, listening to the fountains and chatting. 

By 12:30 we were walking in 36 degrees heat and had to stop for refreshments. Tinto de Verano (red wine and lemon pop) for Caro and ice cold cerveza for me. As is typical here the server gave us a tapa (yummy)

We meandered our way through narrow streets and alleyways up to the Archaeological Museum which I really liked. Caro is not a big fan of museums but she “took one for the team” and wandered around while I admired much of what the museum had. 

As we headed back to the hotel for our afternoon break (7 hours of walking so far) we stopped for ice cream. Yummy yummy!

We had a much needed nap, then went to the pool for a while before going back into the old district where we had some supper. 

A walk back through new streets for us brought us to the plaza we always seem to arrive at.

The photo  was from a roof top bar and while we anticipated having a glass of wine the service was so bad we just walked out and came back to our room. Incidentally the temp right now is 39 degrees.

Only 20,000 steps today LOL

Wednesday in Cordoba

 Another blistering hot day (39 degrees)

We were lazy this morning as there was nothing really planned until the evening.

We walked over to the original Roman part of this city which we hadn’t been to before and while at the archeological site we noticed another walking tour company. We inquired and found out about a tour starting in 20 minutes so we booked it.

This tour was, in any ways, the same as yesterday’s tour however our guide this time was much more to our liking and his approach to telling us about his city was much more to our style. Needless to say, we loved it!

The following are two photos from one of only three intact synagogues in Spain from the time before the Catholics came (the year 1236 in this part of the country); at least that is what I “think” I remember him saying. Over time it had been covered up and forgotten until less than 100 years ago when rediscovered during some renovations.

On the wall behind me as I took the photo above is a Catholic cross ( showing that that the synagogue was repurposed after the Jews were evicted ( or forced to convert to Catholicism). This had been covered up as well so the cross this shows its’ original colours.

With the finish of the tour at the Roman bridge ( in which I was sad to learn that only the bridge support pillars are original) we walked across for better photos of The Mezquita.

After a small lunch we walked back to our hotel for a nap and later a dip in the hotel pool which incidentally felt like ice berg water due to the extremely hot day we experienced.

Supper was at the same place we ate last night simply because their kitchen was open  I was surprised that many restaurants open for supper after  7 PM ( and we were eating at 6).

Tonight was a hi-light night. We had a night tour of The Mezquita,

OMG does not describe the beauty of this massive mosque/cathedral. We were told in no uncertain terms that no photos were allowed.We go back tomorrow morning to get some.

The building was “so” incredible. As we entered the old mosque both Caro and I got goosebumps! The mosque was built and enlarged three times over the centuries of Muslim rule and could hold 40,000 worshippers.

The architecture for all the different cultures and the influences of all of them together in one gigantic building is something we are both happy to have seen. The end of the tour was inside the cathedral which is inside the old mosque. The craftsmanship was outstanding throughout and as we sat in the pews of the cathedral they played recorded music with choirs singing. Terrific sound quality!

It was 29 degrees as we walked back at 10:30 tonight and my phone says we did over 23,000 steps today.

Cordoba

We were up at 6 AM and left the hotel at 7 AM. I made a judgement call as to the best place to catch a cab and lucked out as we were on our way to the train station within ten minutes of leaving. 

No problems getting the train and we left on time at 7:55. The train was a high speed one and within ten minutes we were already outside the city doing 230 km/hr.  The fastest it went was 300 km/hr.

In about 90ish minutes we zipped into Cordoba after flying through beautiful countryside. Miles and miles of various orchards

Our hotel was easy to find and we left our luggage in storage until check-in time

We were out walking to the old town and in particular La Mezquita; a former mosque from the 700’s which was then modified by adding a Catholic Church in the 1200’s after this part of the country was recaptured by the Catholics.

Another of the famous things to see here is the Roman bridge. It is beautiful 

The view from the bridge

The top view is looking back across the bridge at La Mezquita.

After a couple hours break in the air conditioned comfort of our bedroom ( about 40 degrees today) we went back out to catch a 5 PM walking tour which we had scheduled earlier in the day.

The lady was very interesting but spoke English so fast ( and with an accent) that we struggled to understand her. Still she showed us lots of interesting things not on the regular tourist lists. We will revisit these sites tomorrow.

The next photo is the place where Christopher Columbus kept trying and trying to get money for what became his first sailing across to the Americas in 1492.

We had supper in a large square about 15 minutes walk from here . Only 20,000 steps today. We’re slackers compared to yesterday.

Last full day in Granada

We woke up to the sound of “drip…drip”. Turns out there was a water leak from floor above coming through near our bathroom door. No issues for us though

We started our final day of discovery by walking along the river opposite the Alhambra heights. 

We found a busy bistro where we had breakfast ( much bigger than we really wanted LOL)

The ultimate goal of this morning was to get to the Mirador de San Nicholas (Saint Nicholas viewpoint), What great views!

In the photo above is The Alhambra and in the background, in the haze are the mountains.

We wandered back down the hill through the Albaicin neighbourhood. Some homes were built in the 1300’s.

The home above shows the Muslim influence.

The photo below is a Muslim era building that originally was a religious studies academy and is located right beside the Royal Chapel that was built centuries later by the Catholics.

We went back to the hotel for a break before heading over to a market where fresh sea food is cooked right after ordering and was the “thing to do”. Of course we weren’t very hungry  after our large breakfast a few hours before however we rationalized our decision by saying it was the last big meal of the day even though it was only 1 PM.

It was really good.

We decided to hike up the mountain to see a specific famous beautiful house and gardens. The roadway/ hiking path took us up to nearly the same location as The Alhambra, although not quite as far up. By now Caro’s feet were hurting but we hung in there, getting  to the place only to discover it was closed for a couple hours for siesta!!! Oops!  Back down the hill we went and eventually ended up in a park with a restaurant. Revitalized with ice cold Coke Zero and Sprite we made it back to the hotel for a break,

We went back to the cathedral area a couple of times in the afternoon and evening (13 minute walk from hotel) with the last time being so we could get a photo or two and see a bit of the night life. Over 25,000 steps today!