Cordoba - Day 2

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What a great feeling waking up on the first full day of your holiday knowing there are 17 more days of adventures ahead!

We aren’t normally ones for going inside churches when abroad preferring looking at the outside architecture, but the reason we came to Córdoba was to visit one of the most accomplished monuments of Moorish architecture the great Mosque of Córdoba. It has such an interesting history.

We walked about ten minutes from our apartment at the edge of the new town into the cobbled streets of the old. Weather was quite cool around 19 degrees just before 9 and was cloudy with sun due to break through mid morning. We had a delicious breakfast at Cafe Roma and were in the queue to get tickets for doors opening into the Mosque at 10am. Eagle eyed Stewart noticed that there were machines rolling out tickets so we got these and then joined the very small queue at the gates.

As the massive bell struck 10 we were one of the first in and walked awestruck of the Beauty of this massive building. I must say I was overcome by how stunning it was. And to walk through these arches made of jasper, onyx, marble, granite and porphyry, without a babble of people all around you was a memory I won’t forget. And there are 856 of these columns! We stayed for almost 1.5 hours marvelling at the intricate Islamic artwork the coloured mosaics and the tiles.

The gardens outside the Mosque, within the walls are lovely too and we sat for a while in the sunshine and had a snack and a chat about our experience inside.

Next stop was lunch, and found a restaurant around 20 minutes walk away through little cobbled streets which would then Open up to a Plaza with the obligatory fountain with a small statue on top and overlooked by balconies with brightly colouredflowers tumbling down the sides. Plaza del Potro being one of my favourites today.

There is a two week Patios Festival going on and everywhere you go flowers dominate the scenery. It’s beautiful!

We had a fantastic lunch in Taberna Salinas of melon and ham, Spanish omelette and dishes with pork and stew - can’t remember the name but it was all delicious. Good choice!

More wandering, temps up to around 25 - so perfect for me!

We stopped for a breather in one of the big central squares of Córdoba _ the Plaza de las Tendillas, with the clock in the middle sounding the chimes with a flamenco guitar! Cool!

Coffee time then back to the apartment for a chill out before going back out for Tapas. We went back to the old town and sat in Cafe Roma and had tasty potato croquettes, something with chicken and a nice fresh drink.

Wandering round the ancient walls of the Mesquita later on and smelling the scent of the tumbling jasmine down a staircase I felt so happy to be in the beautiful city.