Spain continued (Cordoba-Seville-Madrid)

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FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2009 - CORDOBA

Missed by 9am bus this morning so figured I had plenty of time before I got the next one to Cordoba. Grabbed breakfast just after 10pm and then realised that the next bus was 11am - and the one after that wasn’t until 4:30pm. Despite rushing, I got to the bus station five minutes too late. So I headed across to the train station and while it ended up costing slightly more - managed to get an express train at 2:30pm which got me in an hour later. Spent a few hours at the train station reading and then using McDonald’s free wifi.

The train ride went really quickly and before I knew it I was in Cordoba. Managed to find the hostel easily - although the bus ride was a bit of a nightmare as it took its’ time through little tiny backstreets and seemed to weave in and out quite a lot!!

Checked into the hostel and headed out basically straight away to see what I could. As Cordoba was only small I was only planning on spending less than a day there so I was keen to see as much as possible. My first stop while the weather was still good and there was plenty of light was the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (Fortress of the Christian Monarchs) which had some lovely large gardens. Was also the only place that asked to see a passport when I showed my student ID card. As I wasn’t carrying it on me I lied and said I was 26 - as the student price is only for students under 26. The ticket dude didn’t question me any further and I got my discounted entry!!

After wandering around there for some time I headed back into the old town and wandered through the historical quarter. It is a world heritage site and much of the old town is a maze of small streets, alleys, squares and white washed courtyard. The historical centre centres around the Mosque-Cathedral and it was quite nice just wandering around before heading back to the hostel when it got dark.

After putting some washing on I grabbed a quick snack in the hostel café before using the internet, ringing home and doing some reading and having an early night.

SATURDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2009 - SEVILLE

Up early this morning to grab breakfast before heading to the Mosque/ Cathedral. It is only free between 8:30am and 10am so I got there at about 9am and wandered around for a good 45 minutes or so. It was quite impressive - there are a huge number of pillars and archways scattered throughout - and I don’t think I could call it either a mosque or a cathedral! It wasn’t typical of a mosque as you didn’t have to take off your shoes and there wasn’t carpeting etc but it certainly wasn’t a cathedral either because of the Moorish architecture etc.

Anyway after that I went for a wander through the historic town, over the Roman Bridge and along the lake until I found myself back at the hostel. It was only 10:30am so I decided that I had plenty of time to get to the bus station and get the 11:45am bus to Seville.

Bus ride was about two hours and when I arrived I had to find the correct bus and then make sure it was heading in the right direction before following poor instructions on how to get to the hostel. Serves me right for not having printed out a map really. But I did manage in the end even if it took me some time.

Checked into the hostel and had a nice long hot shower (no hot water at the hostel in Cordoba which was pretty average if you ask me!) before going for a walk around the corner to grab some food. There was supposed to be a walking tour leaving the hostel at 4pm, and so I made sure I was there for that. I was the only person from this hostel but she said we would meet some others in the city centre. When her colleague who had gone to the other hostels showed up he only had one person in tow so she asked if it would be ok if we made it the following day. It didn’t bother me and she had already got me into the centre of town so that was a bonus.

I used what was remaining of the afternoon to go into the Alcazar and have a look around. By showing my student card I got in for free which was lovely. The Alcazar was a Muslim and Christian royal residence for many years - initially built in 913 as a Muslim fortress. Because it has been adapted so many times over the years, it was a bit of a mixture of styles but was quite nice to wander around, and the gardens were lovely to.

By the time I finished there it was pretty much dark so I wandered back to the hostel, cooked dinner and hung out in the lovely common area. Opted against going on the pub crawl in favour of an early evening.

SUNDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2009 - SEVILLE

Got up early this morning and had breakfast before realising that it was Sunday it was unlikely that anything would be open before 11am. Ended up grabbing an early lunch at the hostel at midday before even bothering to head out. Made use of morning by doing some reading for uni (so much of it it is impossible to keep up with already!!).

First stop was the Cathedral as I understood that it was free before 12:30pm. The gothic Cathedral was actually built on the site of Seville’s main mosque in the 1400s. Because there was a service underway only a small portion of it was open so after a quick look around I left, deciding to head back after 2:30pm.

In the interim two hours I wandered down to the riverbank and strolled there for a little while before coming across the bullring and looping back into town. Browsed some shops and the Jewish quarter before going back into the Cathedral. Managed to get student price again which was even better. Very glad I paid to go in though as there was heaps that I completely missed out on - a monument to Christopher Columbus and many of the chapels and even some rooms and museum-type displays.

By the time I finished in there it was pretty much time to meet for the walking tour which had been cancelled the day before. Today there ended up being six of us altogether. The free tour guide - an Austrian girl called Sonya - gave us a LOT of history about the city. She spoke about the Cathedral and the Alcazar along with the Jewish quarter and some of the stories that went with it. We also walked down through the parks, past the university (which used to be a tobacco factory) and past other monuments to previous royal families until finishing the tour at the bullring where she told us all about bull fighting (after hearing what happens I never want to see a bull fight or hear about one again). Apparently Seville is the ‘home’ of bull fighting and while there are many avid supporters, increasingly there are people who are trying to get it banned (basically they torture the bull before eventually killing it).

Then it was back to the hostel for dinner and early night.

MONDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2009 - SEVILLE

Up early this morning as I had decided to hire a bike for half a day and wanted to make the most of it. Left the hostel by 9:30am. First stop was Plaza de Espanol which I hadn’t managed to walk to in all my wanderings. Was quite a big plaza and worth the ride - even got to ride through the botanical gardens on the way which was nice as the traffic was a bit too much on the roads.

From there I headed back down to the river and proceeded to ride a fair way up, past the ‘sail’ style bridge, and then all the way back. It was a lovely sunny day so I even stopped a few times and sat in the sun and enjoyed the views.

Got back to the hostel at around 3:30pm or so and basically did nothing for the remainder of the day/ evening. There was a tapas tour that evening but as I did a free one of those in Granada I didn’t want to have to pay 12 euro to do one in Seville!!

TUESDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2009 - SEVILLE TO MADRID

Another early start this morning again, I left the hostel by 9:30am. My plan had been to get the 11am bus to Madrid, which was half the price of a train ticket (although the train took 2.5 hours to the buses 8 hours!!).

Got to the bus station at about 10:15am and while lining up in the queue at the Alsa ticket desk I looked over and noticed that Socibus had a sign on their window saying Madrid for less than 20 euro. This was a saving of 15 euro on the Alsa bus - and Socibus had one leaving at 10:30am. So I jumped queues and bought my ticket.

The bus looked like it was going to be VERY full. However, lady luck was loving me as I had not only managed to score two seats down the back to myself (the whole way) but it was also in the ‘disable’ section - ie/ made for wheel chair users - which meant I also got a stack of leg room. And then - to add to my luck - the bus got in at 4:30am which meant it was cheaper AND quicker than the Alsa one. Bonus.

Found my hostel in Madrid fairly easily. Pretty average place but was only staying for two nights. Ducked out for a walk and to find a supermarket before coming back to hostel and making myself dinner - pasta with a tomate and chilli sauce for something a bit different!! Got chatting to a guy in the kitchen and after dinner we ducked out for a quick drink at a blues bar around the corner. Was a bit of a dive but in a good way.

Then it was back to the hostel, where I had to wait up to midnight so that I could ring a recruitment agency in Australia for a job interview. That finished at about 12:45am and then it was off to bed.

WEDNESDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2009 - MADRID

Got up and had breakfast before decided to have a nap before heading out. Absolutely exhausted at the moment!!

First stop was to the Royal Palace. Didn’t go in though - think I have had enough of Spanish royal palaces!! Lots of statues and monuments outside and watched a small changing of the guards ceremony though. Next door there was a cathedral which I had a quick look in before continuing my walk downhill to one of the old city gates.

From there I jumped on a sightseeing bus which took me to some of the places in Madrid I hadn’t yet seen - Plaza de Espana, Gran Via, several monuments and past several other important cathedrals.

After doing one full circuit I got off near the Reina Sofia museum - a contemporary/ modern art museum. Managed to get in for free by presenting my student card - even though the sign indicated that it should cost three euro. I used the three euro to get an audio guide instead though. The museum was absolutely enormous and I ended up spending a good two hours there. Every time I thought had finished I stumbled across more rooms I didn’t even know were there.

There were quite a few Picasso pieces along with many other artists whose names sounded familiar. Not only were there paintings but also sculptures and audio-visual things and even photographs. Most of it I didn’t really understand (or want to understand) but the audio guide gave me a bit of context anyway.

By the time I finished there it was dark and cold. I got back onto the sightseeing bus to get some night shots and to get back to the area of my hostel.

Got back to the hostel after 8pm absolutely starving - cooked myself dinner and went to bed.

THURSDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2009 - MADRID TO LONDON

Today was check-out day. Got up and showered and ate before packing my bags. Left them in the left luggage room and went for a walk. Bought some souvenirs, found an English language bookshop and wandered through some of the plazas (in the drizzle it wasn’t very pleasant) before finding myself back at the hostel. Made myself some lunch before checking out and heading out to the airport. Got there about half an hour before check in opened.

Flight with Ryanair was on time, so I arrived into Stansted at about 7pm I guess. As I kind of predicted I got an absolute grilling by the border official as to why last time I had entered I had been given a tourist visa rather than just my working holiday one stamped. After a good 5-10 minutes of questioning though he simply stamped my working holiday visa and let me on my way. Confusing!!

Got the Stansted Express and tube to Kings Cross station, found my hostel and checked in before doing some washing and heading to bed in preparation for a busy few days.

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