Cordoba tales as the end nears

We’re headed towards the end of our time in Spain and enjoying the slower pace of our trip as we finish off here in Cordoba. We began our visit here with a meeting with friends of friends and a little tapas that even I could eat. The conversation was both enjoyable and enlightening as we received recommendations on where to dine and what to visit.

Cordoba has been another great place to wander through the old town. A little like Toledo in many ways but flatter and hotter. I’ve been quite surprised that there seem to be a lot fewer tourists here compared to both Toledo and Granada.

The highlight of our time in town has been visiting the Mezquita. Originally a mosque, after the reconquest they built a cathedral right on top of it. Inside it is an amazing mixture of Christian and Islamic elements. It quite takes your breath away.

Another beautiful space here is the Synagogue which was much simpler than the two in Toledo, (We have now seen all the the synagogues that remain from before the expulsion of the Jewish population from Spain in 1492.)

Julio Romero de Torres was an artist who came originally from Cordoba and there is a museum here in his honour. Much of his painting features Spanish women of a particular look and Cordoba always seems to put in an appearance somewhere in his pieces.

We took a night tour of the city which was a pleasant experience as by 9.30pm much of the heat of the day has gone. The tour took us to several parts of town that we had not visited outside the wall of the old city. Our guide did a sterling job as she coped with two different groups at the same time, the Italian speakers and the English speakers. The tour ended with free tapas which was very enjoyable.

Tomorrow we head back to the UK and further travels to the north and a stay in a Scottish castle.

Current temperature: Cordoba 32C/89F, mum’s place 14C/57F, our place 72F/22C

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1 Response to Cordoba tales as the end nears

  1. Phi says:

    Thanks a ton for writing up these notes – it’s really helpful for me when I’m going back through my photos trying to remember where the devil I’d taking some photograph :-). Love you!

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