Trip to Spain - Cordoba

Spain has excellent highways, with a speed limit of 120 Km/hr in most of the areas. We breezed through without much trouble to Cordoba. Driving in to Cordoba, I felt that it looked like any other city, there was nothing to ooh and aah about the place, but all that changed when we drove closer to our hotel… it definitely started looking like a place steeped in history. If Cordoba were in the United States, the exit we needed to take would’ve been called “Historic district” or “Historic Downtown”. Our hotel was smack in front of the mezquita cathedral – the main attraction of Cordoba, which was so damn cool. However, getting our car in to the street was bit of a challenge, as the road was blocked to regular traffic. So we had to call the hotel and they had to let us in.

We got beautiful rooms, one with the view of the Mezquita and the other looked down to the beautiful courtyard of the hotel.

Here’s a shot of the Mezquita entrance from our friend's room.

We went out for dinner to a home run restaurant near by and had some good wine and food and dessert liqueur.

We smile.....

... when we see booze!

The sumptuous dinner helped us regain some energy and strolled around the town. K captured these wonderful shots. We later found out that the walk we went on that night was marked as the “historical walk” of Cordoba and a suggested activity for tourists.

Our agenda for the morning after was to tour inside the Mezquita Cathedral and get back on the road. We got out of the hotel at about 10 that morning and headed straight to the Cathedral and found that it was closed until 1 p.m. With all the time on our hands, we decided to explore the town some more. I’ll let the pictures do the talking now ;)

We took some quintessential pictures.....

... and got lost on the way....



.... and then finally reached the synagogue, which was exploited by the Moorish invaders!

We got to the Mezquita a little earlier than 1; afraid we might run in to long lines. I had no idea what to expect when I walked in… and it proved to be one of the most intriguing and magnificent buildings that I have ever seen. One minute I felt I was in a Cathedral and I turn around to find myself in an ostentatious palace of a Muslim ruler. I’ve never seen such contrasts inside the same place! My words won’t do any justice in describing this place. These pictures might do a better job, but you have to see it to believe it!

The arches inside the Mezquita Cathedral

Contrasts!

Muslim or Christian?

V was turned off by the ostentatious-ness of the whole place, but all that changed when he saw the pictures. His words upon seeing the pictures were “WOW! This place looks beautiful!”

After the tour, we headed for lunch at a very cute restaurant. We had the best-est beef stew! I had a dish that was really artery clogging; it was a battered deep-fried sausage and I believe that was Cordoba’s specialty.

I leave you with this picture of our friends who I think looked really cute in this picture... and that's because I was handling the camera * thank you thank you *

Soon, we set off on our drive to Seville.