Cordoba

CORDOBA We put our faith in “Sarah” (our GPS voice) and she came good again! Leaving Seville we headed for Cordoba with a stop along the way at Ecija (no, we don’t know how to pronounce it either). Ecija is nicknamed “the frying pan of Andalusia” owing to its famously hot climate. Thankfully it was overcast and a light breeze was blowing so we barely had the “warm toaster”. The town has 11 Baroque church steeples and although we didn’t see them all we saw enough to satisfy us.

Church bells rang out a number of times and Gail started all ‘aquivering as she sensed weddings going on …. and ….. as is her want ….. she went looking for them. So we sat outside a large church for about 20 minutes along with the beautifully dressed guests (tails for men, swisho dresses and fancy hats for women) before she relented and allowed us to leave – the bride had still not arrived and we obv had NO idea when she was due. I hope they managed to have a decent wedding without our being present! Actually, I just hope the bride turned up! We located our hotel in Cordoba without any hassles and soon discovered why it was so cheap. Despite having free secure parking and being quite near the old city (about 1km walk which is fine) it is pretty basic. Dumping our gear (which wasn’t easy as space in the room was at a premium) we trooped off into the old city especially to visit the MEZQUITA. The Mezquita is Cordoba’s Great Mosque dating back 12 centuries (built between 785 – 787) although many additions etc were added esp during the 10th century. After the Muslims were defeated and Christianity restored, a cathedral was built in its centre in the 16th century but much of the original building remains and it is a fantastic place. We marveled at the simplicity and cleanness of the building’s architecture and thought the Christian additions seemed garish and rather ugly in comparison. There are over 850 columns which support the roof creating a stunning visual effect. The bell tower is built on the site of the original minaret and can be seen from all over Cordoba – quite an impressive sight!
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Sunday, we decided to get out of town and see some of the surrounding countryside and a few “sights” which Gail had trawled up from our trusty “guide book”. Off we tootled with Sarah in charge – well, she had the town name and an address, but when she directed us in the opposite direction to what we thought was the Moorish fortress on a hill (we could bloody-well see it!) we weren’t sure ….. but …. As she had been pretty reliable in recent days we put our faith in her calm voice and headed for the hills. The hills, it turned out, were the Sierra’s (mountain range) surrounded by National Park. Almost 2 hours later, after a nerve wracking drive around tight, twisty mountain roads, barely wide enough to pass oncoming cars, she informed us in her best voice, that we were at our “destination”. We were on the side of a steep mountain road – there was not a building, shack or even humpy in sight – in fact we hadn’t seen anything for ages! Sarah’s parentage was discussed and questioned but we really had no bloody choice but to go as there was no-where to stop let alone turn around. Eventually we found our way out and lunched in a small town where I had the local dish of bulls’ tail (it was OK too). We are pretty sure the bar owner ripped us off but with our Spanish being so poor we couldn’t really be sure or even discuss the matter so, we paid up and drove on. We did finally see the Moorish fortress, and, yes it was the one we had seen 3.5 hours earlier! Surprisingly enough we were in pretty good humour the whole way – we figured there was nothing we could do to alter the situation so we may as well make the most of it but …. I’ve DEFINITELY had enough mountain driving for a while!


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