Cordoba

After going back through the hub of Madrid, we settled in for the 6 hour bus trip to Cordoba. Luckily we had our chess set and some scenery to keep us occupied. The terrain is relatively low key, but there are the old white windmills from Don Quixote next to the new energy producing windmills of today. We also spent time gawking at the sheer vastness of the olive tree orchards. Once we entered the state of Jaen we were surrounded by olive trees for as far as we could see in any direction for at least 3 hours of bus time. This one state produces 10% of the world's olive oil (let that sink in for a minute) and it is apparent. As an aside, we have discovered that we really like Spanish olive oil.

We got to Cordoba pretty late and called it an early night to get the most of the sites the next day. Sure, Europe has less room that the US and we were prepared for this. Living spaces are smaller and baths are more modest but we were not prepared for what our room had in store for us. We could barely get into the shower and close the sliding doors much less bathe normally. To compound this, the toilet was situated in such a way that when we managed to wedge our way in and sit down, our chins rested on the sink basin. It is funny in retrospect and the rest of the hostel was great especially the staff. The night guy gave us a tip that if we went to the Mezquita real early we could get in for free.

The next morning we got up early and headed for the Mezquita. It was a mosque that was turned into a church. A lot of the features of when it was a mosque are still preserved and this really makes it unique when this is combined with all the Christian relics. They were having mass in another part of the church, but we were free to wander in the other parts. Almost nobody was there and it was dark and peaceful. This combined with the incense and the occasional Latin we heard from mass really gave a special atmosphere to the place. We think this was one of the most magnificient structures we have ever seen. The Muslims don't use iconagraphy to decorate their places of worship, but instead carve and paint intricate geometrical designs. The Islamic arches also added to the exotic character. We were absolutely mesmerized by this place. After more people started filtering in and the bulbs started flashing the reverie was broken and we headed outside to the courtyard which was full of lemon and orange trees.

After a little second breakfast of chocolate and churros, we went to the Alcazar, the palace of the kings. The gardens were beautiful and still kept in great shape. Lots of flowing water which is a common feature in Islamic architecture. The palace was in great shape and is still used to host official functions one of which was going on when we were there.

It rained most of the rest of the day but we managed to walk around the old quarter a bit which is not without it's charm. We saw another small museum later in the day which houses Cordoba's most celebrated artist Romero Torres. He was a portrait painter who was popular in his lifetime and with his humble, melancholic and sometimes sexual portrayls of his subjects he really captured the essence of Andalucia and Spain.

We got some more local specialities and of course some olives and hung out on our terrace ready for our foray further into the heart of Andalucia.