Andalucia to Algarve

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We were delayed on the outskirts of Cordoba by youths who were participating in a local running event. Nonetheless,we found our hotel overlooking Cordoba easily and arrived in warm early evening weather. So we quickly changed and plunged into the chilly outdoor pool. Mary was particularly heroic, but she suffered for it for a few days afterwards.

We decided that we had no time to do justice to Cordoba that evening, so we arranged to stay for two days, thus taking a full day to explore the city - and giving us a chance to shake off travel fatigue before the last leg of our journey.

Next morning, after watching some keen cyclists tackling the hills round the hotel, we dropped down into town and found a free parking space near the centre of town with some difficulty. The narrow streets have recently been repainted and the old bridge over the Gualalquivir has been rendered safe. So it didn´t really have the air of a medieval city, but it was most attractive none the less. The main attraction, of course, was the Mosque cum Cathedral and its grounds. It must be a unique building, and some parts were very beautiful. It´s even more impressive than it appears in photographs. I suspect that the Roman Catholic church collect the admission money. They certainly claim the credit for maintaining the place, and feel no guilt about appropriating the mosque for their purposes. (Apparently, it was a church before it was a mosque.) There is also a memorial to the priests etc who were persecuted during the Spanish Republican Period (1936-9).

We wanted to visit Alcazar, with its landscaped gardens but the former home of the Spanish Inquisition closes early on Sunday. The Guadalquivir was reduced to a trickle (it's been a hot summer) but the river bed still provides a sanctuary for local wildlife.

That night the weather broke and we awoke to damp conditions. However, it cleared up quickly as we set off for the Algarve and even the cloud was a distant memory by the time we reached Seville. Eventually, we crossed over the bridge across the Guadiana river into Portugal on the worst surfaced road (worse than Dalby Crescent) we had come upon. I suspect that both the Spanish and Portuguese believe that the road surface should be maintained by the other party.

In Portugal, it was pleasant to discover nice cool sea breezes, but the strong sunshine was harsh on our northern faces. Still, it felt that we had at last reached somewhere familiar yet exotic. Eventually we rolled up at our villa with 930.4 miles on the clock, 872 of them since leaving Santander. Still, in all, we had driven for only 16 hours over 4 days. So, covering the distance with ease in such good time was surely a tribute to Spanish roads.

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Photos

Our hotel in Cordoba
A warm welcome in Cordoba

Al Mihrab
The pool looks inviting but it was cooler than we'd hoped

Mosque cum Cathedral
Not your average Cathedral

Bridge over Guadalquivir
It's raining in them hills

Below the Bridge
It's been another dry summer

Inside the Mosque/Cathedral
It's quite stunning on first sight.

Typical Mosaic
Just one of numerous interesting archways