Monday dawned beautifully sunny again (& Dave said we were in for some rain ☔️ on the Tuesday) and our 24 hour “Hop On / Hop Off” bus ticket was still valid and we’d only done the mini-bus smaller loop tour the day before. So we cycled to town, locked up the bikes and caught the BIG double-decker which does a larger loop tour covering some of the newer parts of Cordoba (but which scarily 😳 still squeezes itself down the narrow streets of the old town narrowly missing taking the heads of the pedestrians walking by on the paths either side – with it’s wing mirrors…)
I’m not generally a fan of cities – I prefer smaller places – but overall re architecture, etc. – I think Seville gets my vote… Although Cordoba certainly wins from a historical basis with it’s Roman Temple, Roman Bridge, etc. and the jewel in it’s crown – The Mezquita De Cordoba – the Cathedral-Mosque of Cordoba.
After the bus trip, we sat in one of the many eateries – in the sunshine 😎 again – and Dave tried a lovely spinach & cheese pastry and we had a couple of toasted sandwiches washed down with tea & coffee then set off for the cathedral…
The main tickets were €13 each (and we skipped the queue & purchased them from the self-serve vending machine) and we also paid €4 each for the audio guide – which was excellent and which you absolutely needed…
The mosque began it’s life in the mid 6th century and was added to & expanded for a millennium up to the 16th century…
It was conquered by King Ferdinand III in 1236 which is when it was converted to a Catholic Cathedral…
The size of the place is VAST and the audio guide walked you around pointing out – among a great deal of other things – the red striped “double arches”, the different types of marble columns, the different types of ceiling, different flooring types, when the little chapels around the outside were built, etc. and it was just AWESOME !!!
The tour ended up in the “Courtyard of Orange Trees” with it’s beautiful fountains and where it was WARM in the sunshine again – as I couldn’t feel my extremities with it being pretty chilly inside 🥶
We then had a wander around town and Dave bought (yet another) t-shirt (!!!) and we finally decided to go into one of the (seemingly) thousands of “Ale-Hop” shops that we’ve seen whilst in Spain – and I’m hooked !!! I thought it was just over-priced socks & scarves but they have SO much more and I ended up with a lighty-up-10x-magnifying mirror !!!
I also hadn’t tried “churros” since we’d been here – and we didn’t want to spoil “us tea” (as I was making Spanish Omelette) so we bought some and brought them back. Traditionally they are sold with a cup of thick hot chocolate to dunk them in (they’re like a skinny plain donut consistency) but we improvised and had them with Nutella – and they were… OK 😐
We listened to 🎵 “da tunes” 🎵 whilst I made tea & drank my new fave wine this trip (Vino Rosado Penescal) then caught up on a week’s worth of blog entries – and I am now officially up to date 👍
- Location: 37° 52′ 46.59″ N 4° 46′ 47.71″ W