Cordoba

Realising the diary for March, April and May was filling up fast with visits of friends and family, Michael and I decided to get our visits to to Granada, Sevilla and Cordoba booked and din the diary! By the time we arrived for our 3 night stay in Cordoba at the beginning of May, we had already paid 3 visits - one with Jon and Jen, Dad and Les then Sam and Sarah so we were beginning to feel we were getting to know the place pretty well but such a city is deserving of many visits. We had also timed our visit to coincide with the Patios Festival so there was a lot more to explore. (See separate posting for the patios.)

We were under the misguided illusion that locating our hotel would be straightforward - a little gem with its Mudejar architecture with the typical Andalucian courtyard giving it a wonderful oriental atmosphere - 4 poster bed draped in vibrantly coloured silks, richly coloured walls and gentle lighting - the perfect place to relax after a long day sightseeing. However, the reality was like finding our way (or not!) into the centre of a maze! Memories of Seville flooding back when we were completely lost driving up yet another narrow street and coming out onto a wide open plaza criss-crossed with tramlines and not a car in sight - no, don't think this is a car zone!! A policeman spotted us and sympathetically wagged a finger at us and having told us "Tom Tom mal" (though we'd long given up on Sat Nav!) gave us directions which lead us to our hotel. Cordoba appears to be a city under 'work in progress' in many areas at present and we found ourselves hampered by major roadworks which restricted traffic on the main ring road to one-way as well as various areas within the labyrinthine streets of the old quarter being blocked due to minor roadworks! How Michael kept his cool navigating around those tight, narrow little streets full of pedestrians milling about and the wares of the little shops spilling out on the streets I will never know! It seemed there was a little saucy fella somewhere up ahead playing a game with us and placing these bright yellow barriers across the street we were heading for just ahead of us! At a point where we had just about given up in complete despair and wondered if anyone would notice an abandoned Brit reg BMW wedged up the little street, M spotted a taxi driver in his cab - in no time we were heading off behind this most helpful taxi driver out of the city - we followed anxiously as we appeared to be going a long way in completely the opposite direction of our hotel but as we wove behind him through those little streets he brought us to the door of our hotel - to the immense relief of bus both and our very very grateful thanks - even more so when we discovered secure parking directly opposite the hotel - I hadn't dared let myself dwell on the prospect of having unloaded the car, driving off to find a car park! And so it was, we started our stay in Cordoba.

Cordoba has a more intimate feel than Sevilla - rather like a small provincial town. It sits alongside the River Guadalquivir and is dominated by the Mezquita. We had visited the Mezquita on two previous visits and this deserves a slot all on its own (see separate posting).

Exploring the sprawling Jewish Quarter with its labyrinth of charming narrow streets with flower-filled balconies is relaxing and fun.


Then there's the Alcazar (fortress) with its lovely gardens (another separate posting!). This is a city to stroll around and soak up the atmosphere and we spent time relaxing over a coffee or a leisurely drink and obligatory tapas in one of the intimate little plazas or by contrast the much larger plazas with their markets and shops sheltering under the arcades. There was a lovely intimate little plaza just a few hundred yards from our hotel where we enjoyed breakfast in the sunshine each morning before heading off to explore or find some more patios.

They take their dominoes very seriously:


As it's only just over an hour's drive from here I feel sure we shall return many times - to do nothing than just relax, stroll through the streets and enjoy a walk along the river.

Mezquita by night: