The second stop on our Andalucía trip was Córdoba. I remember seeing pictures of La Mezquita (Córdoba's giant Mosque-Cathedral) back in a Spanish lesson in year 8. Then while I was working at the Museo Sorolla here in Madrid one of the staff told me about the huge flower festival that takes place there in May and I was desperate to go!
After only a two hour bus journey from Granada, Chris and I arrived and found our new home for the next couple of days. It was just a family house but had a lovely patio of its own and a sweet little old Spanish lady to show us in.
We were starving so headed out for some food. Following a small procession and the smell of incense through the streets from the small church at the end of our road we came across a Roman Temple...
...and its resident cats:
The streets around the temple are full of little bars and we had a lovely evening that ended in a Jazz Café on the way home.
The next morning the search for Patios began! La Fiesta de los Patios lasts for several weeks throughout May and is one of the prettiest festivals around. Families fill the patios of their houses with as many flowers as they can fit in and set water features and flamenco soundtracks going ready for the public. This was the first one we saw, complete with terrapins intent on escape...
The next one we found is definitely one of my favourites from the whole two days:
Next stop that morning was La Mezquita which is down in the old jewish quarter of the city.
The building has been in turns a Mosque and a Cathedral and then both. Nowadays it serves as a Catholic Cathedral and the moorish architecture blends seamlessly into the Christian half.
After La Mezquita we hopped over the Guadalquivir river and across the Puente Romano or "Roman Bridge" for a quick drink in the shade.
After lunch we headed to the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos which is just a little way along from the Mezquita.
You can also go underground to see the Arabic baths:
The view from the roof takes in the Caballerizas Reales or Royal Stables and the Alcázar's gardens.
We popped into the stables a little later and saw them exercising the horses:
The gardens of the Alcazár are just like all gardens in Andalucía in May; absolutely lovely:
That evening we just wandered about and went for a meal of roast lamb at a restaurant called El Rubio. The sun was setting and the city looked beautiful in the dusk.
There were lots of happy geckos scampering about the restaurant's lamps:
I'm so glad I was able to make it to Córdoba for the festival as I've been desperate to go for months. The city is typically Spanish; all cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings with coloured shutters and tiny churches. If you go anywhere in Spain next year make it Córdoba in May - you won't regret it!
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