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Published: October 28th 2013
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The ALSA supra economy sped smoothly towards Cordoba. The upgraded service came with leather seats, less passengers, free newspapers, a goody bag (containing a few snacks), a bottle of water, headsets and most importantly, assigned seating. The previous scrambe and lack of queue formation was not evidient today.
Cordoba is the second oldest large town in Europe apparently. It is twinned with Manchester. The blue skies bore no resemblance to it's twin and the forecast was predicting a mere 31 degrees - not bad for October. The forecast said it was still raining in La Coruna! The bus skirted the city and arrived on time at the bus station opposite the revamped train station. We chose the right direction for the hotel this time. It was easy mind - you could see it from the station.
We checked in and set for the Old Town, following the laid out gardens owards the old city walls. We proceeded straight to the 1st Century Roman bridge, which spans the Guardalquiver River. A truly impressive sight, which links the southern edge of the city with the Cathedral Quarter. The city's skyline is dominated by the Mezquita - the medieval Islamic mosque that
Roman Bridge
...............Mezquita in the background was converted into a Cathloic christian cathedral. It is regarded as one the finest pieces of Moorish Architecture. The history comes with a price tag though - an entry fee of 18 Euros. We avoided the visit for today, as I'd read that it was free before 10 am on a morning whilst church services are being held. We spent the rest of the afternoon aimlessly wandering rond the less commercial side to the Old Town. The commercial heart around the old Jewish Qaurter is the tourist hub, but normal life exists beyond that with all the same pretty streets.
After an evening stroll round the floodlight Mezquita area, we went to a more local area for our food. We stumbled on one of the best kept secrets on Calle Alcade de la Cruz Ceballos. A gaming venue is normally full of teenagers playing random computer games, but not here. A whole ground floor filled with a large scalextric track for all budding motor racing fans can practice their skills. We walked up the Bar Mariles Pata Negra. This is where the locals go, so don't expect a translated menu or any English spoken. You will howver be treated
to great tapas and Andusian cuisine at bargain prices to that you expect 1/2 a mile away. Tripadvisor is not wrong in it's reviews. We ended up there both nights - why go anywhere else?
We were up bright and early and at the Mezquita for 8.30am. This allowed the fre entry - just walk past the security - and probably a full hour to wander round at your leisure. The security staff start to clear the building aroud 9.30 am in preparation for it's commercial opening at 10 am, so whilst free your time i the venue is restricted. We thought it was long enough to see what we needed, so were not unduly disappointed. As described on the recent rail trip round Spain by Michael Portillo, the internal areas of the mosque are like walking through a forest. The pillars are supposed to be recycled Roman pillars.
The free theme of the morning continued. The former Royal palace of Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos is almost adjacent to the Mezquita. It is a comparative bargain at 4.50 Euros entry, but is free before 10 or 10.30 am. We seized the opportunity. The palace itself
has a few interesting mosaics and the tower offers a panoramic view of the city and Roman Bridge. The gardens are laid out to west in a terrace in the form of a mini-Generalife. They are said to be among the most beautiful in Spain. The central point are statues of Spanish monarchs giving an audience to Christopher Columbus. Columbus apparently made an unsuccessful journey to Cordoba seeking cash from the said Royals, in order to fund his journeys to seek the Indies. He was granted his audience, but went away empty handed. The Royals were financially committed to retaking Granada from the Moors. Columbus later made another attempt, found Queen Isabela in a better frame of mind, got his money and went on to find that he wasn’t the first person to find the Americas. The morning was almost over and we had some lunch at our adopted headquarters at Bar Moriles.
We continued the theme of palaces and gardens in the afternoon at Palacio de Viana. It was a former house and gardens owned by the rich and famous of Cordoba over the generations. There are 6500 square metres of house and gardens. It flows between 12
patio gardens, each of which has a different theme. Alas, we had to pay.
We abandoned the delights of ALSA for our return to Malaga, in favour of a trip on the AVE. The ticketing system of RNEFE was on a par with that of ALSA, in that it doesn’t encourage payment with foreign issued credit or debit cards. I tried every card, only to thwarted by the “please refer to your bank” messages. The discount tickets were obtained from an American agency, Petrabax, which is the suggested alternative source for early bird discounts by the man who knows all in Seat 61. The check in was all very airport inspired with baggage screening through an x-ray machine, followed by scanning of the printed tickets. The platform was helpfully marked out with all the relevant carriages stopping points and even more helpfully the train stopped at the correct place. We were in tourist class – 3
rd class effectively in the new world of Spanish trains. It was still very comfortable with mammoth legroom and headsets. The majority of our fellow passengers were from Madrid heading to the coast. The train sped along efficiently and it is only
when you study the screens that you realise just how fast it was travelling. 300 km/hour is pretty quick – 186 mph!! There was clearly a limiter on the speed too. The driver also knew where the brakes were at the appropriate points. In 50 minutes even with a go slow through the suburbs, we were back in the centre of Malaga.
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