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Published: September 12th 2006
Well we have finally found an internet cafe! Today has been loong, we actually siesta´d with the rest of the would over here. I´m taking over the blogging duties for today (it´s Cathy).
We said goodbye to Cordoba yesterday at noon. You will all be happy to know that we didnt get half as lost going back to the train station as we did when we left it the first time. The Mezquita Cordoba was fantastic, it´s a mosque that was first built by Christians over a thousand years ago, then was taken over by Muslims who made many beautiful additions to the original building. Later when the Christians took it over again they added a Chapel, so the entire building it kind of a mish mash of Muslim, Christian and Spanish influences. There were shrines for every saint, I think the most popular one over here is San Antonio. I actually recognized a few more names too. Our hostel the second night in Cordoba was maybe 2 blocks from the Mezquita, it´s amazing that so much history is right on these people´s doorsteps.
We took a cute little train that looked exactly like a c-train ´from Cordoba to Babadillo, where we had an hour long stopover. I actually managed to order 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, an orange juice and a diet coke all in Spanish. Jess can now order water, coffee and ask where the train station is, so between the 2 of us... we´re basically helpless unfortunately (just kidding, we´re doing pretty good). We arrived in Granada and didn´t get lost... Jess is a great navigator! Making our way through the cobblestoned, windy and skinny streets here wasn´t easy, but we were kind of grateful that the walk to the hostel took us through a couple of smaller neighborhoods, because we got to see how beautiful this city is. The red roofs and high apartment-style buildings with houses in the hills behind us are exactly what we expected Spain to look like.
There was a slight problem when we got to our hostel - they didnñt get our reservation and they were completely full. I think we must have looked extra pathetic because the reception guy took pity on us and let us stay in their tv room for the night - they had a pull out couch that we shared, and we just used the main room bathroom. For 2 spoiled Canadians it was definitely an adventure. We made reservations for a different hostal for tonight, so this morning we got up bright and early and dropped off our backpacks at the reception desk, then enjoyed a delicious cafe con leche (coffee with milk) before wandering over to the cathedral. There´s not as much touristy stuff here in Granada, mostly we´re excited to see the Alhambra tomorrow, which is another building built by the Muslims a bazillion years ago.
We´ve spent the rest of the day wandering and shopping, and siestaing. We both can´t believe we´ve been gone for only a week, we´ve seen so much already!! I think we both definitely feel like we´re on vacation, the pace is nice and slow and we´re not trying to cram too much into each day which is great.
So tomorrow is the Alhambra, then tomorrow night we´re taking a sleeper train to Barcelona which I think is 12 hours away from here. Then there´s more shopping, the Dali museum, and the Guggenheim to look forward to!!
Talk to you all later,
Cathy and Jess
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Phyllis
non-member comment
It was great to hear from you today. You adventure in Spain makes me want to see it too. Please let me know which are the priority places to see on your trip. It is interesting that the hostels are so booked. Is this Spain's high tourist season. I would have thought that the fall would be a slower time for tourists. Just to let you know that the weather has been great here in Calgary. They are saying that we might have snow this weekend. I hope their wrong. Take care of yourselves. I can hardly wait to see your pictures. Love Phyllis (Punkin')