Today we decided to take the Hop on Hop off bus. We have
walked the old part many times but not really explored the rest of Cordoba. Opposite
the bus stop is the Mercado Victoria an old wrought iron turn of the century looking
building. We will not discover the surprise inside until later!!
We waited nearly an hour for the Hop On and Off bus. Ramon said that he was the only bus
running as the other had broken down. It is the weekend so the routes will all
be slow moving. It was quite an old double decker and many of the earphone
connections did not work, or if they did you got Italian on every channel! A
very interesting ride into the rest of Cordoba. They have lovely parks with
lots of water features. Of course this is the legacy of the Moors, being a
desert people they cherished water and it flowed everywhere, in pools and fountains
and channels. Lovely, very soothing and cooling and it does get super hot here.
We got off close to the old Alcazar. The Alcazar de los
Reyes Cristianos is medieval and served as one of the main residences of Isabel
and Ferdinand. In effect it is a
fortified palace with gardens that reflect the Mudejar style. Lots of pools,
fountains and soothing green shrubs and trees. As in most of these sites in
Spain, it all started with the Visigoths! Then came the powerful Moors. It was
a place where Moors, Jews and Christians lived in harmony. Now I am not saying
there was complete equality but there was harmony. It became an important
political and cultural center and had the largest Library in the West. It was
full of scholars, philosophers and doctors. Then came 1236 and the reconquista
and Christians took over. It still retains much of its Mudejar style. The main
tower became the focus of the Inquisition and was used as torture and
interrogation chambers. Ugh! Cannot bear to even think of the supreme cruelty
of those times. Anyway it is a very impressive structure and man was it getting
hot! Walk a few yards, sit in the shade and draw breath, walk a few more steps,
find a fountain and gaze at the water, move on to the pool where the fish think
you are going to feed them! So it went until we decided a siesta was in order.
Next to the Alcazar are the Royal Stables where they keep
these wonderful Andalusian Horses. They have shows but by this time it was
close to 105 F and there was no way we were going without A/C for much longer!
On the way back to the hotel we found a little Mom and Pop
bar that served food so in we went to cool off and have a bite to eat and
really was just a bite. It was too damn hot for anything else. Refreshed,
replenished and carrying and ice cream cone we made it back to the hotel and
promptly collapsed!
Paul wanted to find out what the old iron Victorian building
contained that was opposite the bus stop from this morning. Turns out to be a
consolidated co-op of tapas bars and drinks. Probably about 25 different tastes
and drinks on offer. We had a tapa and a drink and then hailed a cab for dinner
and a flamenco show in town, next to the Mesquita. After the sun went down, the
temperature dropped to an acceptable 95F so we sat in the patio while 3 chaps
entertained us with guitar, dancing, and song while we ate garlic shrimp,
swordfish with iced cold gazpacho not to mention the Rosé wine. It was very
pleasant .A short walk about then hailed a cab for the NH Califa again. Had a
nightcap under the trees in the lovely patio before turning in.
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