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Published: December 4th 2006
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Cordoba: worth a day’s time
Buses Save Money but not Stomachs The cool thing about the bus system from Granada is that you can actually reserve seats on the bus and buy the tickets in advance on the internet. Kel was nice enough to take some time to accomplish this for us the day before we left Granada and got us the two front seats on the bus in hopes of keeping us both from getting car sick on the windy roads between Granada and Cordoba.
We did what we’ve learned to do before these trips. We ate, used the restrooms, and got to the bus station a little early. When we got to the bus station we had to actually get the tickets which took some work. The lady at the ticket booth was behind 2 inches of bullet proof glass which made the discussion in broken Spanish nearly impossible. Kel managed to pull it out in the end by handing the lady a list of every number she had discovered on the website when buying the tickets the day before. After a little snarling (her), and cajoling (us) we managed to get
our tickets.
The scenery outside of Granada is well worth the view but the roads are really twisty. The bus driver drove a bit like a crazy man but I managed to keep it together. I got a little queasy but didn’t actually get sick. Kel was fine and slept a large part of the way.
Cordoba…a much cleaner city After we got to our hotel and checked in, we went for a walk to get acclimated to our new surroundings. The hotel is on the opposite side of the Guadalquivir River from most of the city. This would normally be no problem but it seems that Cordoba, like every other city in Spain, does its construction projects during the winter time. This means that the pedestrian Roman Bridge that is very convenient from our hotel is closed for construction. This makes the walk from the hotel to the beginning of major sites and restaurants about a mile.
So we walked the mile to the city with the sun setting and got a quick view of the area including the Mezquita, which is Cordoba’s main site. It was a Christian church that was torn
down and made into a Mosque which was then converted into a larger Cathedral. Pretty much the standard Spanish story of Moorish conquest and then Spanish re-conquest.
We went to a local tapas bar for dinner and met a really nice couple who were about our parent’s age. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were sitting next to us having a drink which I was unfamiliar with, so; I asked them what they were drinking. After another half hour of talking they had shared a ton of good information with us about Germany. They had lived there during the 60’s when Mr. Clark was active in the military and had experienced Germany during the winter. While their information probably was a little dated, we really appreciated their help.
I was really impressed with the fact that these two people, who were probably twice as old as we are, were still traveling and enjoying themselves. It turned out they were using the same Rick Steve’s books we were and were traveling with just a backpack a piece. Unlike us, they had managed to stick to closer to 30 pounds, but still very impressive!!
The Mezquita This morning
we got up and ventured out for breakfast. After a light breakfast of toast and coffee we went to the Mezquita to catch the inside of the building. This is probably one of the coolest churches we’ve been to because it has retained its heritage. Unlike the churches in Sevilla and elsewhere, the Mezquita still has its Moorish roots firmly in place intermingled with the normal Christian chapels for various Saints and scenes from the Bible.
The inside of the church has hundreds of red and blue marble columns which are topped in Moorish arches of marble. The original Mirhab is still in place as well. This is the niche where the imam would stand and lead prayer. The Mihrab has intricate Arabic script and tones of different colored mosaics.
The rest of the Church is full of the normal chapels seen in all churches and contains the main nave of the Cathedral where services are held. The main nave has a wooden carved choir area with the church organ and contains a cool red and blue marble scene of Christ.
I would have to say that this alone makes Cordoba worth traveling to, even if you
only do it as a day trip between Sevilla and Madrid. The Mezquita is an amazing site that is truly unique in its combination of historical architecture.
The Rest of the Day We explored downtown Cordoba for the rest of the afternoon and got ourselves lunch. Kel really enjoyed her hotdog and cheese paella...mine was the usual tapas with French fries. (Kel - seriously, it came in a big paella dish and was like rice pilaf with hot dog slices and cheese on it. Tasty in a semi-weird presentation =)
Since then we’ve been resting in our hotel room getting ready for dinner. Hope everyone’s doing well at home! Tomorrow we are off to Madrid so you may not get a blog from us tomorrow.
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