Two Vines

Today us our last sightseeing day, we’re in the morning flight home tomorrow. We don’t get up early as we could not secure tickets for the cathedral until 11.20am. I expect it will be thronging but it can’t be helped! A leisurely breakfast in the kitchen where I meet a couple of Danish people who arrived last night. they also had difficulty working out how to gain access to the building…so it wasn’t just us then! they are on their way to Marbella (can’t think of anything worse?). We set off and find ourselves at the cathedral an hour early. Unlike the Alcazaba there are strict queues so there will be no sneaking in early. We go for a wander around the shady streets of the Santa Cruz area. Ian is amusing himself mocking the tour ... read more

Today is Christopher Columbus Day, a national holiday to celebrate the discovery of America. As a result nothing has been formally booked for today as it’s unclear what is and what isn’t going to be open. The kitchen is unusually busy today too. A French couple are at the table, suitcases at the ready…they must be leaving. Then an older German couple come to use the kettle. They are on their way to Cadiz with their son who is at Madrid University. We eat a quick breakfast then head off in the direction of the mushrooms. Despite the thirty degree forecast for today, it’s still feeling pleasantly cool outside today. We are heading for Santa Cruz, the Jewish quarter. Here we find interesting narrow wiggly streets full of architectural detail. By 10.30am the place is crawling ... read more

It’s nice to have the luxury of a kitchen and we breakfast ‘at home’. Unfortunately the long life milk makes my coffee taste disgusting but it’s OK on the cereal. Note to get fresh milk on our way back today! We’re going on a general orientation tour of the city today so won’t be going inside the two major attractions: the Cathedral and the Alcazaba as we have five days here and we want plenty of time to appreciate them on their own. It rained early this morning so the streets are wet and it’s a pleasant temperature as we set off at 9.30am. Navigating our way through the narrow streets we make our way towards the river an iconic 19th century bridge, Puente de Triana. A little further on we find the Nao Victoria, an ... read more

I could have done with an extra hour in bed this morning but equally we can’t handle the heat later in the day so we’re out of our hotel by 9am and walking down the cool narrow streets of this photogenic town. Ian has worked out a walking circuit and we start off at the old Roman Bridge and the town gate. It’s still a pleasant temperature and there’s not too many others hanging around. We had hoped to beat the crowds to see the Mezquita, the highlight of the city, but today they are not opening till 10am so we decide to visit this later when the majority of tour groups will be at lunch. Well that’s the plan anywa IAN’s ACCOUNT OF OUR CIRCUIT Córdoba was established in 125BC as a Roman trading post ... read more

Another early start, we need to catch a bus to the Spain-Gibraltar border, but not before we have taken advantage of the ‘free breakfast’ that Holiday Inn is offering its guests. I’m sure it’s not really free as the rooms cost double what we’d pay in the UK. :-) It’s only a five minute walk to the bus stop but that’s not easy in the dark. They do have street lamps here but they are not switched on…energy saving? We’ve arrived at the stop about 15 minutes early, but that’s nit a bad thing as the bus does arrive 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Google’s assessment ‘crowded’ is thank fully incorrect and we’re glad we didn’t rush to get the earlier one. We could have driven of course, but the bus us so close and cheap ... read more