(My first Spain post was A few comments on visiting Spain, with lots of Seville photos plus Carmen's work site)
After a few days in Sevilla we hopped the high-speed north to Cordoba - once a Roman city - to spend a couple of days there. Unlike Seville, Cordoba is a normal city which happens to have a couple of must-see attractions - mainly the Mosque - the Mesquita, which has an amazing history.
Largest (ex-) mosque in the Western world. Can not capture its magnificence with a camera:
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More Cordoba pics and comments, with food, below the fold -
Train station - took high-speed from Seville to Cordoba. Very comfortable. Go First Class - it's not expensive.
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Nice hotel about a 25-minute walk to the river. It's a converted old convent, bought from the RC Church. Has good gardens with swimming pools and Jacuzzis:
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The breakfast room has a glass floor so you can see the Roman floor mosaics underneath. Cool. Hotel breakfast buffets in Spain are incredibly varied and wonderful:
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Cordoba is a normal small city, not a tourist town except for a small part around the mosque area. Here are some small streets:
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Gotta stop for a cafe con leche and some water occasionally to keep the spirits up:
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Stroll along the river - the Guadalquivir again
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Big mosque. That's it, on the right, as far as you can see. Construction began in the 700s, but it had expansions. Lots of recycled Roman columns inside:
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In the 16th C, a baroque cathedral was plopped into the middle of it. Strange. The King thought it was terrible to mess up such an amazing structure, but the Moslems were long gone.
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The vast courtyard of the mosque is delightful. Mostly citrus and some palms. Some fountains for hand- and foot-washing before entering. The usual Spanish-Muslim cobbles:
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The old minaret, now revised into a bell-tower:
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We climbed it to see how the cathedral had been plopped in there:
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A tapas stop. Fat fried taters:
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A cafe sign. Who knew there were so many kinds of paella? All rather dull to eat.
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Later we strolled over to look at the Alcazar - Alcázar de los Reyes Cristiano. That place has a cool history, including having been the HQ of the Inquisition and, later, a prison. Splendid gardens to look at:
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A typical parish church in Cordoba
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One afternoon we stopped by the Royal Stables
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We saw some Andalusian horses preparing for a dressage competition. That's the Vienna-Spain horse connection - Hapsburgs.
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We watched horse-training in their beautiful indoor ring for quite a while. Dressage. I took some video but I can't find it.