DAY 22, 25 JUNE 2017 DAY SUNDAY CORDOBA (2nd FULL DAY)

Very high heat forecasted again and most city landmarks have been visited so we will retrieve the car and head out to  Medina Azahara for a  visit. This amazing place is the ruins of a vast medieval palace-city built by Abn-ar-Rahman III al-Nasir. Caliph of Cordoba. It was the capital of al-Andalus. It was vast and elaborate and magnificent as befitted the ruler of the Muslim  regime in Spain. Their beloved Al-Andalus. Water was supplied through aqueducts and plumbed in to the baths and fountains and pools. It is said it was built as a tribute to his favorite Azahara in the years 961-976. It was built quite quickly but only lasted about 70 or 80 years! That really blows my mind! Civil war erupted and it was sacked in 1010. As often happened in these cases, the materials were used for buildings elsewhere and in the 15^th C San Jeronimo monastery was built with much of the building materials! They only started excavating in 1910 and about 15% has been completed. A fascinating place, we are truly living the history here.

The heat was making us queasy so we did not ride the bus to the excavation site out in the direct sun. Instead we headed back into Cordoba. Paul had a mindset for the pizza stand within the Victoria cooperative. Instead of the prepared flatbreads we opted to choose our preferred toppings and wait for the results after 10-12 minutes. Really quite good. The only seats were available at an interior patio with some misters and fans and an AC breeze from the interior giving relief from the heat. Definitely siesta time this heat is brutal!

We researched the Best Place to Eat in Cordoba trick and settled  on a taxi ride to the Taberna in the middle of town. Turns out it was next to 100 Montaditos. Cold Almond soup and tapas filled the bill. While we were sulking inside during siesta the heat had broken, dropping temperatures to the low 90s. Quite balmy! We decided to walk towards the river and discovered a whole unexplored area,  the business district of Cordoba. Passed a theater where many of the patrons had brought their own chairs. Why? Don’t really know but perhaps they were for guitar players.

As we were strolling past the Mesquita we heard music and had one of those magical bits of luck. There was a choir located in the Patio de los Naranjos. The ladies wore their lace shawls, the gentlemen suits and those fabulous hats with the flat crown and a brim. They were singing all the, what I can only call, traditional Cordoban songs. People were wandering in and sitting down and swaying with the music and applauding enthusiastically. It was a beautiful night, the stars were bright and the music divine, sigh.

We did not visit the Mesquita this time as we have been there often but perhaps Paul will include a photo, it is truly magnificent.

DAY 21, 24 JUNE 2017 DAY SATURDAY CORDOBA (1ST FULL DAY)

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.

DAY 20, 23 JUNE 2017 DAY FRIDAY CADIZ TO CORDOBA TRAVEL DAY

Okay, here is the way this works, we don’t write everyday and thus the purpose of the blog gets a little bit lost. We are busy or lazy or eating or people watching and decide we will do it tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and something else happens to delay the blog by which time we get a bit off track. Now , Paul remembers every meal he eats so, we back track from there. We divide the labor, Paul writes the bullets and Jane fills in the narrative around the food! Works really well until you forget to save your work and then you are up the creek with no paddles! Back to the story.

Cadiz Bridge

We loaded up after the awesomeness that was breakfast at Puerta  Puerta Tierra, got the car loaded  and set out for Cordoba. We programmed the GPSs, two of them to find the huge bridge and out way out onto the highway towards the big C. Neither GPS could find the damn highway nor the bridge, Jane had the Michelin mapbook which helped us to FINALLY exit the city and out onto the highway inland. (Paul’s words!) Somehow the road inland was a toll road so it was 3.70€ to cross that damn bridge out of town and so we stopped for coffee/potty break and then diesel to be on our Way again.(more words of wisdom and frustration from Paul!)

We stopped in transit for lunch at a huge truck stop where everyone was having the Menu del Dia at 10€. Jane ordered Gazpacho only to find they were out of it already for the day. Her second course was eggplant. ( more of Paul, I do not remember what I had for starters).  It is a fairly long drive and I do believe we were led astray by the girls. (GPSs). One avoids all main roads and takes us who knows where and the other, in Spanish is very demanding though polite! Paul now has three females he can ignore! We were following signs when they went away and I told Paul that we were heading towards Seville….wrong way! I got out the road maps and navigated us back in the correct direction. You see, Paul does not like tolls, he will not pay tolls and often the road least travelled is the one we take. Life is an adventure let’s lead it that way!

We found the NH Califa after the GPS had us wind thru the alleyways to reach the front door of the hotel. The young gal gave us room 120 twin beds and off we went, having to back up the one way street the wrong way so that we were headed into the garage to park and unload. The room was very small but I unloaded my stuff and washed out some tops and underwear. Where is Paul you may ask, well after his siesta he apparently was negotiating with the front desk for a bigger room. Now all my laundry is hanging up in the bathroom and after considering moving to the other NH hotel in the center or up to the 3^rd floor we opted for the bigger room on the 3^rd floor. I repacked my suitcase and off we trekked down the elevator along the corridor to the other elevator to the 3^rd floor. Back we went to get the laundry, which is hanging on hangers to bring to the new bigger, better room, we are after all staying 3 days here and murder may have been done in that wee room! There NO room safes in this hotel which I find a little strange. We are very aware of safety and a safe is essential. This NH offers guests the use of a safety deposit box in a small room off of reception, the boxes are NO bigger than a passport sized lockbox. We settled on using my suitcase as a safe , removed the majority of the clothes and stashed the valuables in there. It has a combination lock.

Order De La Carmelitas De La Santa Faz

Along the highway we came upon a collection of domed buildings and so we stop at least for a photo. Turns out that here was the home of alternative Catholic Church. Elaborate digs in which to pray and study. Palmarian Catholic Church -- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We ventured out into the sizzling streets of Cordoba to refresh our memories. It is a bit of a walk into the center and I see taxis in our future! We sat and did some serious people watching over a beer and tinto de verano. I checked out a souvenir shop and sat back down again. This is some serious heat! Do we hear music? We do! Tinny trumpets and drums! Here comes a marching Roman Legion complete with music and camp followers wearing togas, awesome!( too many !s I know, sorry sometimes I cannot help myself.) They must have been doing a loop around because they returned some 20 minutes later. I went off to the Tourist office and Paul saved my seat at the sidewalk café until the band returned just about the same time as me. BTW I did not find the Tourist Office they seem to be as rare as hen’s teeth! I stopped and asked some guys who were hanging with their horses and carriages and they said it’s just up there, yeah right, like an Irish mile. Tomorrow, I will find it tomorrow, all I need is a decent map the one I picked up at reception is not much good.

We ate a varied evening meal of select tapas at the Co-Op marketplace we knew from years past. Good groceries and then a hoof back to the hotel in 100 F temps even though it was 9:30PM. Paul was kind of disappointed because when we were here before they used to do a free Flamenco show in the central Patio. It is no more. Cordoba is absolutely packed with visitors, each speaking a different language and filling the bars and restaurants.  A travel day and each explorer still racked up 8,000 steps!!( Actually Jane racked up nearly 11,000 steps, looking for the tourist office, remember?) We shall sleep well tonight.

DAY 19, 22 JUNE 2017, THURSDAY CADIZ DAY 2 OF 2

The breakfast spread at the Monte Puertatierra was even better  than the parador’s buffet. Multiple waiters were forever, changing out the cold meat trays, baskets of bread of plates of fruit, even the bowls of homemade yogurt were constantly  replenished, nothing was allowed to have less than 50% available before it was rushed to the kitchen to be refreshed. The Jefe of the hotel was continually walking the restaurant asking patrons how they liked the food and service.  Really something to behold firsthand. Nice chap!

We opted to try the Cadiz Hop On and Off Bus and were able to buy single day tickets  at the hotel front desk for 18€ a piece. We struck out for the #4 stop just a block of two down from the hotel along the beachfront. These buses give you a good perspective of the city and besides what is wrong with a rolling history lesson?  Cadiz was founded by the Phoenicians and is the reputedly the oldest, continuously inhabited city (still standing) in Western Europe. 1104 BC  people! That is old! As with most of these cities with ancient beginnings many, tribes, shall we say have had a hand in shaping it. The Phoenicians were first, Carthage , followed by Hannibal and then the Romans. We are still BC here. The Romans hung out here for quite a while and Gades (as it was then) rivaled only by Rome and Padua in the number of wealthy, upper class with digs here. The Romans were overthrown by the Visigoths , then……well who the heck knows? Everyone wanted a piece of this real estate. Moors were driven out by Alphonso X in 1262 and the reconquista had begun.

Columbus sailed from here on his second and fourth voyages (remember he sailed from Sanlucar on his third) It was here that Sir Francis Drake singed the King of Spain’s beard by occupying the harbor for three days , captured six ships and destroyed 31 others. Its history continued to be violent and checkered but also very important. The first Spanish Constitution was signed here in1812 but it was considered too liberal for some! Fascinating place altogether and much more to it than I can write here or you want to read.  The Guadalquivir started silting up in the 18^th century (which answers one of my questions!) and trade with the Americas was transferred from Seville to here.

The bus ride took several hours and we got off at the cathedral for a Bitter Kas and a  wander around. Jane went into the cathedral while Paul scoped out places for lunch. I remembered I had been in here before. It is less elaborate than some and the crypt is large and below sea level. The domed ceilings are flaking a bit and nets have been hung to catch the bits! We passed the new Parador too and were very disappointed with its modern appearance. We should have gone in to check it out but…….

We had 100 Montaditos for lunch and we captured a prime spot under an umbrella and indulged in a little watching. Then we tried to find the same place in the backstreets that Paul wanted  for alubias con gambas, which was unsuccessful and after a lot of aimless wandering  we made our down to Plaza de Espana again to catch the #1 bus back to our digs. Paul was still somewhat hungry so we stopped at the Bar El 12 again for crab salad and a cold one. Really in need of a siesta today!

My Tilley on 3ft square tile!!

I do love the way there is always a Paseo Maritmo next to the Ocean. The beach is lovely and, I discovered, filled in and groomed before the season. There are sea walls along the coast and they have no dunes, just a high wall protecting the land. No tacky beach shops, all local people, so nice. They have restaurants/bars ( chiringitos) right on the beach, not many, just one every few hundred yards. Showers, WCs etc.  We stopped for dinner on the beach. Beautiful temperature and breeze. It was 8.30 and people were still in the water and lying on the beach.  I needed a burger with caramelized onions and goat cheese, it was awesome!

We headed back for a nightcap. Another long day with a lot of walking( nearly 11,000 steps) I really like this city.