CORDOBA

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CORDOBA SUNDAY 16TH TO TUESDAY 18TH JUNE
It's Monday night (I think) and I'm sitting in the courtyard/bar of the El Conquistador Hotel in Cordoba. Another amazing place! Unlike hilly Toledo, Cordoba is flat and the old town, known as the Jewish Quarter, is compact and quite easy to get around. The train journey from Toledo went well and I was here in the hotel around 1:30pm yesterday. I took a short walk - short because again it was very hot - 38 degrees! - and then sat in the bar until it was time to walk the short distance to the Royal Stables for the 'Espectaculo Ecuestre' (Equestria Show) showcasing the Andalucian horses - dancing flamenco with brightly dressed women, racing in a 'chariot' like rig, and making movements that looked like they were skipping, and numerous other exciting moments.
It was lovely to sleep in a room that opened onto an inner courtyard instead of the street. After breakfast, I made my way to the post office on the far side of the central city to post a parcel back home. I was sick of carrying the fleecy jacket that I had brought with me and I had finished the book ( Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth) that I thought would last me 2 months. I'd also collected a small bag of books and other such 'stuff'. Thanks goodness for the Lonely Planet Phrase Book as the assistant did not speak any English but we muddled our way through it and hopefully the parcel is on its way to Australia!
It was much cooler today - only 24 degrees - so I decided to do 2 walking tours that were offered as part of the Hop On Hop Off Bus ticket. The first, led by Javi, took the group through the central and eastern old town. Cordoba has a 'best courtyard' and 'best balcony' competition in May and we were shown a couple of the winners - geraniums and bougainvillea growing out of window boxes. An amazing sight! There were only 2 English speakers in the group so Javi had to keep switching between Spanish and English. The Spanish cohort left the tour before it ended (due to a restaurant booking) and so during the last section of the tour we had Javi knowledge to ourselves. The best of these tours have been when the guide shares something of themselves. We were at the Templo Romano when we saw some kittens playing in the ruins - evidently mum had had a 'visit' from a Siamese tomcat as the kittens were a mixture of some black (like her) and some looking decided Siamese!!! Javi shared with us that he had a Siamese cat!
In between the tours I organised my accommodation in Seville and had some lunch. Then at 5pm I joined a tour of the Jewish Quarter and the area around the Alcazar, led by Fatima - a great story teller! She talked about ghosts from the place used as a hospital during the Black Death and about great Cordoba people from history like Maimondes (1135 - 1205) a philosopher and doctor of medicine. She finished the tour with a blessing that Saint Raphael, the guardian angel of Cardoba, look after each of us own our journeys home.
Before I leave in the morning, I will go across the road into the Mosque and Cathedral. It opens at 8:30am free of charge for single travellers who wish to walk around in silence! I'm going to give it a try! The exterior is that of the original mosque that was built and extended during the 8th and 10th centuries. Inside it is a cathedral! I've been told that it a 'must see'!

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