Córdoba: Mizquite, Alcazar and the Roman Bridge
Córdoba is a wonderfully exotic city. In the Jewish Quarter the scorching sun is dissipated by the high buildings overshadowing the narrow cobbled streets giving welcome shelter from the stifling heat. The Moorish patios, which you get glimpses of as you turn and twist around corner after corner, shuffling as quickly as you can from one shaded spot to anther, have tinkling trickling fountains and brightly coloured pots stuffed with verdant plants giving a cooling effect and drawing you in, offering respite.
I could wax lyrical about Cordoba forever as it stole my heart but I’d better stick to the facts or I’ll never get to the end of this blog!
We arrived in Córdoba on a baking hot Friday afternoon, it was a municipal campsite so you couldn’t prebook, it had taken 5/6 hours to get there from Lisbon and we had forgotten about the time difference between Portugal and Spain, so we were an hour later than planned and worried that there’d be a ‘no room at the inn’ type response.
The guy on reception had obviously undertaken the Fawlty Towers school of customer service training! On arrival he said something like, “You Mr can move the vehicle whilst you Mrs can stay and do the paper work.” I said that I normally drove, his reply was, “He can do it now.” With a long list of what we weren’t supposed to do – like talk after midnight, play music, keep lights on, etc, etc, etc, I eventually got through check in. I then went to find where ‘Mr’ had parked the moho. It wasn’t a bad space, in some shade and next to the stream and not overlooked by anyone, so we were happy.
We weren’t quite so happy when we visited the facilities, at first I thought a number of ladies had had an attack of diarrhoea as the smell when you entered the wash block was a bit high. After 5 days there I realised that it was the bad drains. We were paying the most we’d paid so far at €32.50 per night but we didn’t expect much as we were warned about the site when we researched it, however, it’s the only site in Córdoba, or in fact within 30 miles of Córdoba, so beggars, etc!
Having said all that it was on a bus route, with the stop just outside and only a 10 min journey into the city then another 10 minute walk to the old Jewish Quarter with it’s narrow cobbled labyrinth like streets (I’ll stop now – see first paragraph) which led to the Mizquite, Alcazar and the Roman Bridge.
It was a 15 min walk from the bus stop in the main shopping area to the old town. A we were walking along the winding pathways and could hear a guitar being played with a melancholy male voice accompanying, so we followed the sound into a patio bar, and spent a very pleasant half hour nibbling on tapas, drinking sangria and listening to his performance.
Later that day same thing happened, only this time it was a female singer with accompanist. We ended up having lunch there that day. Neither of the singers were employed by the bar/restaurant it seems that the musicians go round and sit down order a coffee then just start performing. The bar gets more custom, the artist go round with a hat, customers are entertained and willing to part with a few euros. Job done!
We especially wanted to see La Mezquita so we queued up for a hour for our tickets, then queued again for the audio guide, then queued again to actually get in! Us and hundreds of others!
It’s totally surrounded by high walls and keeps. You enter through the vast wooden studded gates and it’s like stepping back in time, the open courtyard is filled with orange trees, which must smell amazing when they’re in flower, there is a covered walkway and high walls are around and keeps at each corner.
The crowds were enormous and I wondered if it would be too busy by the time we got in but was amazed at the size.
It can hold 9,000 people and smack in the middle is a 16th century Cathedral, it is absolutely amazing and although it was busy it didn’t feel full, some parts felt quite quiet (obviously these were the parts where stupid people weren’t taking selfies! Grrr.)
Although with all the beautifully decorated arches, pillars, frescos and side chapels it wasn’t surprising that people wanted to take pictures. I must admit I took loads!
After a few hours we stumbled back out into the sunshine, went for lunch then later made our way to the Roman Bridge and Archway where we sat and took in the late afternoon sun and did some people watching.
Then trudged back to the bus stop. We later found out that it had been circa 38’ that day so no wonder we were hot!!
The next day was a Monday so we knew most places would be closed so we had a day off and snoozed (as well as doing the chores). Tues found us bright and early on the bus to the Alcazar, we joined another queue (much shorter this time) and spent a good few hours enjoying the gardens and water fountains.
We stopped for lunch at a small hidden taverna (or whatever they’re called in Spain). The food was not too expensive and the presentation was lovely. We ate our tapas and sipped on our Sangria with real enjoyment. Thinking back to our first night when we’d arrived late and had gone for a walk and stopped at a McDonalds for a bite to eat …. never again (even if 2 meals with beer only came to £7.50)
As it was still in the mid 30’s we decided to go back to the moho and have a siesta so we’d be rested in time for the shows in the evening.
We had seen a small restaurant which had a Flamenco show on, so we went there first. Got chatting to the manager who was really nice and helpful, suggesting places we could visit on our way up to Toledo. The dancers were really good but we had to cut our enjoyment short as we’d booked tickets to the Light and Sound show at the Alcazar.
The Sound and Light Show started with a video explaining the rich history of Cordoba (well we guessed it did as it was in Spanish with no subtitles). We got the idea.
We were taken down through the first part of the gardens to the water garden, where the show really started.
Piped classical music accompanied the dazzling illuminated water fountains perfectly.
The finale was a huge fan shaped fountain where they projected photos of famous places in and around Cordoba it was really good but didn’t come out well on the photos.
So pleased we booked that show, it was really good, the pictures really don’t do it justice and a little bit of spray helped to cool us down! We got a taxi back to the campsite and on the way passing various Pharmacist shops the green cross signs were showing us it was 24 degrees at nearly midnight. Phew!
Córdoba was ‘hot’ in so many ways, we loved it and would go back in a flash. Next is Toledo, will it stand up to comparison. We’ll see.
I think this is my favourite posting yet. I love your love of Cordoba – the place looks absolutely beautiful! I was highly entertained by your account of the Fawlty Towers arrival at the campsite. Loved the descriptions of La Mezquita and the shows you went to. Now I so want to go to Cordoba!
I think if you went you’d fall under its spell too. The shimmering heat, the little patios offering shade and every corner promised something different. Here I go again! Haha. We were walking along and could hear a guitar being played with a melancholy male voice accompanying, so we followed the sound into a patio bar, and spent a very pleasant half hour eating tapas, drinking sangria and listening to his performance. The following day same thing, only this time it was a female singer with a male guitarist. Ended up having lunch there that day. None of them were employed by the bar/restaurant it seems that the musicians go round and sit down order a coffee then just start performing. The bar gets more custom, the artist go round with a hat. Punters are entertained and willing to part with a few euros. I forgot to add that to the blog.