Cordoba, where the Moorish and Christian history of Andalucia comes together..

We pulled into the train station in Cordoba in the early afternoon and immediately set out on foot to find our hotel.  We hoped that we had left the rain behind in Seville because we had a lot of exploring to do.  From the maps it looked like our hotel, across from the Mezquita de Cordoba was easy walking distance which, after wandering around the narrow, winding streets, turned out to be true.

Our timing was perfect.  We checked in at the lovely Hotel Eurostars Maimonides, were impressed by our room and stepped outside into a pouring rain.  Marilyn returned to our room to collect our umbrella while I waited outside and had a smoke.  I was immediately accosted by a woman suckling a baby asking for money.  When I shook my head she asked for a cigarette which, I will admit, appalled me.

There are gangs of these women with babies that may or may not be theirs who beg around the Cordoba Mezquita.  It is supposedly illegal but unless there is a disturbance, the authorities don’t do anything about it.  We have been told stories that these “Roma” women are sent out to make money by their husbands and are beaten if they don’t return home with a sufficient amount of money.  In any case it is best to lower your eyes, shake your head and move away from these people.

Our first item on the agenda was the beautiful Roman Bridge upon which is a famous statue of San Rafael and from which one can see the ancient water mill in the river Guadalquivir that was built to transport water to the emir’s palace.  From the far side of the river we were treated to an incredible view of the Mezquita and the spires of the cathedral.

I must pause here and state for those who might not know that the entire city of Cordoba has been designated a world heritage site and there is at least 2,000 years of history in this fascinating place.  We only had two days and could not possibly see half of the points of interest that we wanted to.  Luckily, many of the “must see” places are centered around the Mezquita and would not require a lot of travel (walking) time.

We entered the massive Mezquita and purchased our 8 euro tickets and began to wander the impressive outer courtyard looking for the best place to begin.  Little did we know that it really didn’t matter where you started; the place is just that big. 

When we finally entered the Mezquita we were quite simply astonished.  It seemed that there were miles and miles of marble and porphyry columns with red and white painted arches.  This mosque is so large that an entire Christian cathedral was constructed inside it and you cannot see it from the entrance.

We spent hours wandering this amazing place noticing how the Muslim and Christian architecture had been built upon each other and blended together. 

The cathedral is really quite beautiful, once you find it and there are artifacts that date back to Roman times kept here.

 This city was also the home of the Spanish Inquisition and Christianity also has a very rich history here.

Being tired and hungry after several hours in the Mezquita (believe me it didn’t seem like we took that long) we decided to eat and make an early night of it hoping that the pouring rain would give us a break on the next day.

It wasn’t raining but it was threatening when we stepped out the next morning and we had a busy agenda.  We had both recently read a work of historical fiction titled “The Hand of Fatima” by Ildefonso Falcones (fabulous by the way) and were eager to see some of the places referred to however, this day would start with a tour of the Alcazar or Castle of the Christian Monarchs. 

Once again this fascinating place held our attention so completely that a couple of hours passed before we knew it and the sun had come out by the time we wandered into the gardens.

Built in the 13^th century on the ruins of the Caliphal Palace it also has Roman and Visigoth ruins within it. 

There are artifacts preserved that are hundreds and even thousands of years old.  This rebuilt castle or fortress has fulfilled many purposes over the years including serving and the headquarters of the Inquisition.

 If there are three “must see” places in Cordoba they would be the Mezquita, the Alcazar and the Medina Azahara which we were going to miss on this trip due to its’ distance from our location.

Leaving the Alcazar we headed over to the Royal Stables and subsequently, because we love to see and imagine old city walls, to the Almodovar and Sevilla gates, two of the best preserved city gates.

  In fact, the Almodovar gate is the only surviving gate of nine built by Abd al-Rahman. 

A stroll through the Alcazar Viejo completed our morning activities and we turned towards our centrally located hotel to have a little lunch, check out and tour our way to the bus station to catch our late afternoon bus to Granada.

After lunch we set off in another direction completely which led us to the Plaza del Potro which was featured prominently in the novel and we soon found ourselves in the Plaza de Espana (like we said earlier; every Spanish city has one). 

We exited this plaza on a smallish road and after a couple of hundred yards we noticed something very strange. 

On one side of a very busy intersection there were a dozen or so free standing Roman columns.  The site was fenced off because there was some kind of archeological excavation going on. 

Peering through the fence you could see where modern apartment buildings had been built on one layer of ruins after another.  It’s hard to imagine the time frames.  An excavation of a complete Roman temple right in the middle of a metropolitan Spanish city, surrounded by high rises that sit on layers of history that will forever be the cultural foundation of this part of the country.

Exhausted, we headed to the bus station realizing that we had short-changed Cordoba and needed to come back for several more days to really explore this world heritage site.

Sevilla Spain, a quick trip into some wonderful history.

Home in Granada for a couple of days and back on the road.  The month was suddenly a very busy one and the time until we left for Uruguay seemed very short.  We didn’t have time to do all the things we wanted to do in Andalucia let alone in Spain.  At times we wondered if we were doing the right thing by traveling to Uruguay in November but we decided to stick to the plan.

Early on a rainy Tuesday morning, with nothing more than we could fit in our backpacks we started the 30 minute walk to the train station from our house in the Sacramonte.  We arrived in plenty of time for the 8 o’clock train to Sevilla.  The train, on a regular economy class ticket was surprisingly comfortable with plenty of legroom and space for carry-on luggage.

The train did stop several times but deposited us in Sevilla between 11:00 and 11:30.  The tickets cost us about 28 euros each (the autobus cost about 18 euro but took more than an hour longer), purchased at the station that morning, and it proved to be a relaxing, quiet and roomy experience.  Hungry by the time we arrived we gave in to Mike’s craving for a “real” hamburger and stopped at the McDonalds for lunch.

Marilyn had found a quaint little hotel called the Hotel Murillo ideally located in the old Jewish quarter of Sevilla known as Santa Cruz which turned out to be only a 20 minute walk from the train station.  They allowed us to check in early and we immediately headed out to explore the city.

First stop, of course, was the Casa Placido Bar for a beer for Mike and a glass of wine for Marilyn as we broke out the map to plan the best route to take that afternoon. 

First stop, the Plaza de Espana. 

When we arrived we were simply amazed at the size of this incredible place and snapped photo after photo.

  It took us nearly an hour and a half to wander through the plaza and the huge Parque de Maria Luisa attached to it and by no means did we explore all of it.

We had one or one and a half days in Sevilla at most so did not take the amount of time to explore that we would have liked to.

Then, it was down to the Guadalquiver river to see what historically, has been Spain’s most commercially important river. 

A few hundred years ago this river was navigable all the way to Sevilla making the city the country’s primary seaport on the Atlantic Ocean even though it was miles inland.  Later, when the river silted up the Spanish commerce and Armada moved their operations to Cadiz on the coast.

Walking along the river we visited the Torre del Oro and the nautical museum and a beautiful building we can not remember the name of, with its’ statues of famous Sevillanos and intricate façade.

  Even though this October day started out rainy it was 32 degrees Centigrade by mid-afternoon in Sevilla.  It seems like it is always hotter in Sevilla than anywhere else in Spain.  After wandering the city for four hours in the heat and before we tackled the cathedral we decided to stop for a glass of wine at a marvelous little place called Bodegon Torre del Oro (what else?) on one of Sevilla’s small streets. 

We enjoyed talking to the gregarious waiter as we watched other tourist pass by in horse drawn carts.  The wine was really, really good and re-confirmed our belief that Spanish wines are some of the best in the world.

Dodging the horse carriages and crossing a major bus and inter-city train stop we found ourselves at the entrance of Sevilla’s very baroque cathedral. 

It was remarkably beautiful, as cathedrals tend to be but we found the stained glass and worked stone to be particularly special here. 

Sevilla’s cathedral claims to possess the mausoleum of Christopher Columbus

(a common claim around Andalucia) and features the Giralda Tower which is reached by climbing up 44 flights of stairs.

Taking pictures all the way of course, especially the magnificent views of the city available from the top.

Leaving the cathedral we were hungry and decided, as is our newfound habit, to stop at a street-side café, Gusto Ristobar for some nourishment, people watching and of course, Spanish refreshment. 

Our next stop, the Alcazaba turned out to be closed which was disappointing 

We enjoyed wandering the narrow streets of the Santa Cruz neighborhood on the way back to our hotel for a late afternoon siesta. 

Waking refreshed we searched the barrio for a really nice restaurant for tapas and were a little disappointed in what we could find.  Being a little tired we stopped at an inoffensive little place and after having a couple of inoffensive tapas we decided to retire for the evening.

The next morning brought the threat of rain so, after a late morning coffee and sweet, we packed up, checked out and walked back to the train station to catch the train to Cordoba, knowing that we would need to come back to Sevilla again.  We just missed the regular train and didn’t want to take the SuperExpress that left in 15 minutes which was twice the cost so we had an hour to kill before our train.  The trip to Cordoba took only 45 minutes and we arrived in a pouring rain.

Another Irish Pub,,,,,not in Ireland

Okay.  We were there so we have to do it.  In Moriara, a very beautiful town on the Costa Blanca there is an Irish themed pub called The Tower.  At first, the place looks perfect in fact we waited for half an hour until they opened because we were so interested.  There are two small but comfortable tables on the sidewalk in front of the pub and the exterior looks very, very Irish.  What could be more perfect?

The interior of the pub is finished in dark polished wood, there is a long bar filled with bottles and glasses, booths line one wall and there are barrels serving as tables in the open areas.  All of the signs, advertisements and knick-knacks are Irish style and sporting events are shown on the several flat screen televisions

.

Our excitement evaporated when we were told, in Spanish by the Spanish bartender that they only had English ale on tap and while they did have Guinness, it came in a bottle.  For shame!  There was Irish whiskey but the menu was more English than Irish when it wasn’t Spanish.  Disappointing.

The place is really very nice and we highly recommend you stop in if you’re looking for this type of ambiance and speak Spanish and want to drink whiskey.  Skip it if you are thirsty for an Irish stout, cider or ale from the tap or hunkering for a bacon sandwich.

We have to give The Tower 3 points for ambience although the name could use a little work.  The Spanish bartender, while being helpful in a typically Spanish manner generates 0 points as does the lack of anything Irish on tap.  The menu was primarily Spanish and because the kitchen was not open we are unable to award any points in this area.  The entertainment consists of sporting events on the televisions and there were several so one can watch from any seat in the house.  Since they were the proper type of events we give The Tower 2 points here for a grand total of 5 points which places it in a tie for third with International Brewery Bringas in Madrid.  

Costa Blanca, fabulous weather all year round.

Suddenly, it was October and there were still so many things we wanted to do.  One of those was to visit our new friends Mike and Pam who live in the Costa Blanca region of south eastern Spain. 

We scheduled a week in early October and after a 7 hour bus ride, met them in the very strange coastal city of Benidorm.  They city is strange because it appears to have been built to be an apartment/hotel community for the Germans and Brits to flock to in the winter.  It was full of expats so I guess the strategy paid off.  We wandered the surprisingly crowded streets before settling in for a nice glass of wine and tapas (Mike had a Belgian beer).  We immediately realized why everyone was out, the prices for a drink and a tapa were absolutely unbelievably low.  We were told that many of the hotel and apartment packages include all three meals a day and that for some Germans and Brits it is actually cheaper to come to Benidorm on a package for the coldest months of winter than it is to heat their houses at home.  (Not being either we can’t vouch for this but Mike and Pam are both Brits and assured us it was possible.) 

Later we traveled to a really quaint Chinese restaurant where Mike and Pam were obviously regulars so we let them order.  We filled up on some very good Chinese food and drank our fill of wine (except for the other Mike who was driving) and were surprised at the incredibly low cost of around 30 euros for the four of us.  Each meal came with appetizers, soup or salad, egg rolls, a main dish, desert and a half a bottle of wine (your choice, red or white) for between 6 and 8 euros per person.  The food was great so we were left to wonder….how the heck do they make any money?

Then it was off to Mike’s very large, multi-story, recently remodeled home for bed. He bought the place years ago as a ruin.  Over the last several years he has transformed it into a showplace. 

It was beautiful in every way, with a large garden and  a swimming pool, huge terraces with outdoor cooking facilities, 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 salons, a huge dining room and an office.

  He can completely close off the top from the bottom level and sometimes rents out the bottom to vacationers from….yep, you guessed it…Germany or the UK.

In the morning it was off to explore the area a bit, we headed for Denia and had lovely views on the drive over.  These small towns are dotted all along this stretch of the coast between Alicante and Valencia, the areas has beautiful hills going right down to the beaches and the slopes are planted in grapes, oranges and olives.  After Denia we headed inland a bit to Orba where Pam has her lovely home high on a hillside covered with gardens abundant with all kinds of different flowers.  Spectacular views from the windows and terraces made a simple lunch feel like a special treat.

In the afternoon back over to Mike’s place in Benissa where we relaxed at home for a while and Mike cooked up a fresh fish pie for dinner.  Thursday morning we were off to see the coastline.  First stop, a fry up (British style fried eggs, potatoes, bacon, etc.) at a lovely little place right out on the water in Calp.

The weather was perfect and the Mediterranean was inviting but the water is a bit chilly in October for us poor Arizonans, so we settled for a stroll along the boardwalk, with a little bit of a stop for a champagne pick me up at the far end.

Next along the coast was a stop at Moraira where there is a lovely marina area where we found…an Irish pub…such as it was.  Then on to Xabia for a great view of the rocky point jutting out into the Med with the fishing harbor tucked right in underneath it. 

Fresh seafood of all kinds readily available for reasonable prices and great views in every direction, what more could you want?

In the afternoon we headed to Benissa for a wine tasting event that Mike was in charge of, we tasted several lovely Spanish wines all available for prices unheard of in the states.  This wine tasting club has a special charter, they only work with vineyards that have wine to sell at 4 euros a bottle or less.  Believe it or not, in Spain it is very possible to find excellent wines in this price range.

After a quick recovery nap in the afternoon we headed off to a lovely restaurant that over looked the valley below Mike’s place, they had a mouth-watering menu and some of the best food we have eaten in Spain.  Appetizer, salad, main course, desert and half a bottle of wine for 12-15 euros per person included great service and a chat with the chef.

Early Friday we were up and headed to Benidorm to catch our bus for the 7 hour ride back home to Granada.  Costa Blanca was lovely, thanks Mike and Pam for your warm hospitality and delightful company.