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Leaving Madrid early this morning for a long bus trip through the regions of Castillo, LaMancha (think Don Quixote) and into Andalusia to the city of Córdoba.
As soon as Madrid is left behind, the landscape changes drastically. The land is barren with scrub grass and stunted shrubs. No crops, no livestock, no farms, no villages, no towns. Just the odd abandoned building dotting the flat land. However as we put some miles behind us and get closer to Córdoba, there appear small olive tree groves and vineyards. In Greece, many of the grape vines are grown on the ground in a circular nest fashion and it appears that some of the vineyards here use the same method although there are others using vines on supports. Down the road further, there are miles of olive oil groves, probably millions of acres (Idon’t think I am exaggerating). Spain is the largest producer of olive oil in the world but most of it is sold to Italy who then bottle it under an Italian brand name. Spain‘s largest industry is tourism. The country’s population is 50 million and last year there were 150 million tourists. Oranges are also exported.
Arrival in
Cordoba is a great surprise. Madrid is mostly modern with many new buildings but Córdoba has retained its ancient history.
We walked the courtyard of the Mosque/Cathedral with its moorish arches, palm trees and fountains before heading to a small kiosk hidden in the walls for bit of a cold drink. In our bit of free time, we checked out a few of the tourist trap stores but I wasn’t tempted. Then we headed across the Roman-era bridge over the river and surprised - there’s a bier fest going on. Not a lot of time to enjoy that but certainly enough time to have a quick beer while sauntering back over the bridge to meet our city guide.
The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba is one of the most exception monuments in the world, a testimony to the ancient alliance of art and faith between Muslims and Christians. The building originated in the mid 6th century but changed hands between the Muslims and the Christians before it was consecrated as the Cathedral of Santa Maria in 1246. There is a heavy Moorish influence with a forest of columns that look like palm trees mixed in with baroque Catholic decor. After
the walking tour through the cathedral, we then did a walking tour around the small myriad of streets surrounding the cathedral. Our guide warned us during our free time to not stray into the side streets and I could see why once we started to wander through. There was no pattern or meaning to the way the narrow lanes would around and up and down and crossed each other. One would easily get lost within 5 minutes. I can’t describe it so look at the pictures.
Back on the bus around 5 pm to aim our sights on Sevilla about an hour and half away. We will have dinner at the hotel tonight but not until 8:30 so time to unpack & rest and get caught up with the blogging.
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