In His Footsteps: The Places I've Seen: Cordoba

I had an early morning train from Seville to Cordoba, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the deal the travel agent found for me was in business class! It was a lovely smooth ride for 40 mins, wide seats and music playing. Perfect for catching up on sleep.

Tara Pringle had arranged for me to stay with family friends of theirs, and I found the Anderson’s apartment with no trouble. After dropping my things and saying hello I headed into the city. It was raining lightly and a bit windy, so I was glad again for my umbrella purchase.

View of the city from the Puente Romano

My first stop was the Mezquita. It was originally a mosque built in stages by three successive Moorish kings, but was converted into a church after Isabel the Catholic drove the Muslims out of Spain. Its most distinctive feature is the many red and beige striped arches supported by marble columns. Because of the Catholic altarpiece in the middle and choir stalls, it’s an odd mixture of culture and style.

The tower which used to be the mosque's minaret

Forest of pillars and arches

One of the two massive pipe organs

After leaving the Mezquita I got lost in the maze of streets that is the Juderia, or old Jewish quarter. It’s funny how the Jewish quarters have retained the most character in both Seville and Cordoba. There were lots of quaint shops (all selling the same things, but still cute), and restaurants advertising Tapas. It was also neat to see the names of prominent Jews in streets or plazas or on statues that I recognized from the Jewish history my mum read to us when I was in high school.

Makes me want to start my own flowerpot collection
when I get back!

Bright colors!

Mimonides, a great Jewish philosopher

Artisans court, shops selling items handmade from silver and pottery

Anyone out there read "Little House on the Prairie"?
Think there's a connection to Almanzo's name?

By mid afternoon I was getting hungry and it was raining harder so I headed back to the Andersons. Jenn fed me a delicious lunch and I curled up on their couch for a bit checking emails for the first time since I left Malaga. As much has some hostels can be nice, there’s something very relaxing about a real home. I was also able to do some reading about the history and traditions of Semana Santa, which was interesting.

There was supposed to be another procession in the evening, but unfortunately this one was also canceled because it was raining.

Hans had told me that the Castle of the Christian Kings was open for free at 8:30am, which sounded perfect to me. I had breakfast at a little café, and then had the castle almost to myself for the better part of an hour. It was super cool!