On the way to Córdoba from Cádiz in Spain

Leaving Cadiz this morning was not easy, from an emotional viewpoint. This place has a sense of embracing you in its culture and geography, that makes it hard for you to leave it behind. But we did leave Cadiz this morning, on the 11.40 train with destination Cordoba, still in the Andalucian region of Spain. Cordoba is situated some 3 hours by train to the west of Cadiz. Cordoba is famous in the Iberian peninsula for a number of things, but most importantly for its Mezquita,

We arrived in Cordoba at 14.50 and the temperature was 39 degrees Celsius, and still climbing. As the distance between the train station and the hotel was more than 4kms, and with the mercury so high, we decided to get a taxi. The hotel is situated right opposite the Mezquita. So the position is excellent for exploring the casco viejo – old city -. The hotel’s decor is amazing, the ground floor looks like and art gallery, with large paintings and sculptures, as well as interior patios.

As lunch time in this part of Spain is anytime between 1 and 4 pm, we were able to get a menu del día – daily menu- today, in a local restaurant around the corner from our hotel.

We decided to have a quick look at the patio de los naranjos – a courtyard inside the Mesquita with orange and palm trees as well as a number of fountains, and find information about the Mezquita’s opening times. It is really amazing that whilst the temperature out -now 40 degrees outside, inside it was relatively cool. The construction of this building is such that by using thick walls and with the position of doors and interior patios the airflow provides this drop in temperature.

We decide that a visit tomorrow morning is in order. As most of the other places of interest are now close for the siesta time and with the mercury so high, walking now is not so good, so we decided to head back to the hotel.

Afterwards we started to explore Cordoba’s winding and narrow lanes in the old part of town. In this part of town the lanes are stone paved and there is a mixture of architectural styles, from Arabic style houses with interior patios, to Spanish decorated wrought iron balconies with potted plants. There are many smalls plazas with trees as well as fountains.

We also so many restaurants in which you could not only have dinner but also see a flamenco show. Flamenco music originates from the Andalucian region of Spain.

There was a temporary exhibition of dresses and other fashion items from the time of reina Isabella I, la católica. So I decided to trick there. It was not only worthwhile from the point of view of discovering and learning about the fashion at the time of Isabella, but also about the social issues of that time. In the same museum there was a permanent display of the history of religious attire over the last 5 centuries.

After this visit we continued our journey of discovery of the lanes of Cordoba’s old town. The twilight hour are one of best times to walk around this city, as the temperature drops – not much- so walking around is more pleasant. We walked around the part of town designated as the Jewish neighborhood at that time. We tried to visit the synagogue but as it was under renovation it was loosed to the public.

We ended today’s journey by going to a bar for a drink and the obligatory watching of the fútbol match on tv. Tonight’s match was between Brazil and Switzerland. Great match to watch, although tonight as Spain was not playing, the dinners were quieter. Whilst Brazil played really well they were not able to win against the Swiss team, and the match ended in a draw.

We will continue our discovery of Cordoba, starting early in the morning.