INTERESTING TIMES
(in Spain, Portugal and UK)
Cordoba to Granada
Sunday 19th May, 2019
Monday 20th May, 2019
Sunday 19th May, 2019
Cordoba Street Outside our Hotel
t appears the Libs have won the election, although how they can say that with less than 75% of the vote counted I don't know.
We had an unexpected fillip this morning at breakfast, a little brush with fame. Michael Portillo, the TV personality who takes rail journeys everywhere with his 1913 Bradshaw arrived in the breakfast room at the same time as us. Several people asked for photos and he was happy to oblige. Mac shook his hand and said how much he enjoyed the programmes and he was very gracious. I noticed he drank champagne with his breakfast!
Mac Outside our Room, Cordoba
e had our courtyard to ourselves while breakfast was going on so took some photos. It is so lovely, Moorish style with arches and wrought iron gates. Our ground floor room has a window with an iron grille and shutters, which we opened for photos. The walls outside are ivied and very picturesque. We are going to see if we can tour the extensive Roman ruins under the floor of the salon.
Corduba Patio
e went out with Christine to look at some of the "patios" of Cordoba. It is like an Open Garden scheme but they are not really gardens, but inner courtyards highly decorated with plants, shrubs, flowers and water features. They are really beautiful but require constant watering in that climate. The householders compete with each other for the most popular patio and raise money for local causes.
Another Patio, Cordoba
e saw three before we lost touch with the group so we found our way to Christopher Columbus Plaza with its lovely park and fountains and bought a sandwich and coke to eat on a park bench. Then we went back to the hotel and learned how to snap and send a postcard - to Lorraine and Anne. At 1500 we have a group look at the Roman remains, then a walking tour of Old Cordoba. Don't think there is much new Cordoba.
Later:
Underground Ruins at Hotel, Cordoba
Rosemary in the Ruins, Cordoba
t 1500 a group of us gathered to go down to the Roman remains. These were fascinating and really well preserved. It was great that the hotel people had kept and enhanced them so well. Lots of mosaic pieces, columns and carving and displayed and lit so they could be seen from above.
Crowds outside Cordoba Cathedral
hen we joined Christine and the rest of the group for our walking tour of Cordoba. We walked through what seemed like lots of tiny twisty streets all the same until we got to the Cathedral which was built inside a wonderful mosque.
Cordoba Cathedral
t was slightly incongruous but a beautiful mishmash of cultures and I was so pleased that Charles V (Holy Roman Hapsburg) had decreed not to demolish it but to colonise it.
In the Jewish Quarter, Cordoba
t was a wonderful building but I was getting very tired. We seem to have walked a lot more than my pedometer says - it is still on Sydney time and we can't remember how to change it.
fter the Cathedral/Mosque we toured the old Jewish Quarter with a really good guide, but then opted to get a cab back and eat in the hotel. We are both very tired, it is quite hot during the day.
Later still:
Cordoba Hotel Ceiling
e finally finished up with dinner a deux on the hotel terrace, (our courtyard).We were too tired to go out and find somewhere cheaper. It was very nice, Mac had wild pig stew and I had baby lamb, yum!
This hotel is another unique experience, the high tech toilet has to be seen to be believed. It has a light emitting toilet bowl and a remote control for what purpose we could only guess at. Our room has shutters opening onto the terrace, doves cooing all over the place and supported by ivy and bougainvillea. Gorgeous!
Monday 20th May, 2019
The Olive Oil Factory
ff today for Granada. Our first stop was at a fairly new factory for olive oil production. It was very clean and shiny and only produces Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Ancient Olive Tree
t has won prizes as the best in the world (but I have seen other claims to that!) We had a tasting and a tour of the factory and olive groves, quite interesting, but more for Mac (the automated machinery) than for me.
Lunchtime in Prego da Cordoba
e stopped for lunch at a very pretty small town called Prego da Cordoba, where we ate at a small table under shady trees in a park and had a lovely cheap lunch. I had caesar salad with chicken and Mac and Wendy had a toasted ham, egg and vege sandwich with chips. Very nice too.
Rosemary among the Flowers
he café was next door to the Town Hall (or whatever the Spanish equivalent is) which was very attractive with colourful displays of early summer flowers. A very pleasant stop.
The Distant Sierra Nevada
ack on the bus we set off for Granada with the Sierra Nevada gradually growing in the distance, still with some snow on the top peaks.
The hotel in Granada was changed at the last minute, due to a flood or something, and is really not up to the standard of APT, we have been so spoiled up until now. The worst thing, I think, is that it is quite far off the tourist hotspots of the old town, where all our hotels have been so far, because the historic centres are what I have come to see, and the accident has made it more difficult to get around. There is nothing really wrong with the hotel, just the locality.
Later:
e were taken to a "gypsy cave" tonight for dinner and a Flamenco show. This was quite uncomfortable for me (because of having to twist around to see the show, the place was very crowded) and the show did not impress Mac who labelled it "medieval rap". Very, very loud stamping and very aggressive, more like apache dancing than the elegance which I prefer, with flounces and castanets. But, it was an experience.
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