Cordoba Hit and Run

Cordoba, Spain

We took the regional train from Seville to Cordoba and back today. The regional trains do not require reserved seats or a security check for explosives. A four-travel day Spain rail pass cost us about 220 euros or 55 a day. To use the pass on a bullet train costs something extra for a reserved seat. The first day we just bought a ticket to Toledo because the total cost on the bullet train was only 34 euros. With the regional trains, you just jump on and use the pass. Confused? I am. We probably are paying was too much for our five train trips and six days of car rental, but Eurail at least made the planning convenient.

We missed the bull museum with all the famous bull stuffed heads, the museum of medieval torture instruments and the restaurant that serves bull tails for lunch.

Our high school Spanish is coming back…I shout in Spanish “Bring the check, please!” at least five times a day. I know that “jamon” means ham and is pronounced “hamone”.

Here are some shots of the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (Castle of the Christian Kings). It was built in 1328 and used as a palace and fortress. Later it was used by the Inquisition and as a prison. The gardens are lovely.







I spent 30 minutes trying to snap a white pigeon on the wing. This one had beautiful lazer-violet beams from her eyes. I fell in love.





Sometimes, when you sit in a dark area, a playful sunbeam falls on a precious object with interesting results.



The trip to Cordoba and back is about 90 minutes each way. We arrived about 11 and walked for an hour to see the main attraction, a huge Islamic mosque. The original church on the site dates back to the Visigoths. After the Islamic invasion, the martyr church of Saint Vincent was torn down to make room for a huge mosque dating back to 785 A.D.

In 1236, King Ferdinand reconquered Cordoba and the mosque was converted to a huge cathedral. After the mosque, which took hours, we visited a small sinagoga, constructed around 1315.



We have lots of pix, but not much bandwidth or time....I'll post links to more pix when the bandwidth clears up.