Hotel Los Omeyas Córdoba

Hey there!
I've heard that people have actually been reading this blog! Thank you! So to continue, I thought that I would write about my first excursions within Cordoba. Cordoba is actually both a city and province. It's comparable to LA - there is a "county" of Cordoba, which includes the city of Cordoba. One day in September, our host famliy (well only Araceli and Ara) decided to take us up to Priega, a little village in the hillsides of the province. Amanda and I ...

I need to post my photos from the Alcazar. And I now need to post photos from the Mezquita in Cordoba. Both were awesome. Beyond words. They require pictures. But, I am too lazy to post them right now. However, I have a 3.5 hour ride to Granada tomorrow. So hopefully I will get a bit more organized during that trip and post when I arrive at the oasis... no, the hostel is actually called Oasis. :)

Hasta luego mis amigos!

We got up at 11am and drove to the old city of Toledo for a tour of the Cathedral. The cathedral was built in 1226 and took 267 years to complete. It was soooo beautiful. Shae was a trooper again. She hung in her stroller for our walking tour of the cathedral (over an hour). We headed up the mountain side so Mike could get a large format shot with the big dog camera. I hope the pictures turn out!

We left Toledo and headed out on our 3 ...

We went to visit the beautiful city of Cordoba about 1.5hrs. from Sevilla. We saw the Mezquita (Mosque), The Ancient Synagogue and The Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos. I absolutely love the architecture of the buildings here in Spain, I have never seen anything like it. There is such a mix of Jewish, Islamic and Christian influences that it looks ...

... has a beautiful inner courtyard with a fern draped fountain as center piece. Second floor balconies are supplied with beautiful iron work, vintage sofa overlooking the courtyard, old dressing mirrors and religeous figurines. So Spanish. The Alhambra palace at Granada, of course, is synonymous with the architectural wonders left by the Moor, Northern African monarchs who once controled much of what is now Southern Spain. These Islamic flavored palaces are richly decorated with carvings ...

... drink then caught the bus to our hotel. After we checked in I decided to have a bath, except when I went into the bathroom it was a half sized bath! Not one to be deterred I decided I was going to have a bath anyway......... it looked like "Attack of the 50ft woman"! After shoe-horning myself out of the bath I went in search of a laundry and to check out the local shops. I came ...

... wonderful cooking again. Now, here we are in Spain. We had 5 days in Portugal first, and had the pleasure of tasting Port in Porto. Nice.... very nice. The cellars there give tastings the size we get wine tastings in the Hunter Valley back home. The 20 year old vintage tasting was my favourite. Smooooooth. Lisbon was good. Not a huge amount to see, but a nice city to hang out in. Heidi wasnt really well, so a few slower days was well timed. From there we had a 7 hour bus ...

... and a half after leaving we pulled into Córdoba station. Our next accommodations were the Hostal la Fuente, about a mile's walk from the station. Central Córdoba seems to have much more of the traditional Spanish look. Most sets of buildings surround a central "patio" that will have a fountain and sometimes a gate into the street. Most of the buildings are 4-5 stories tall. Thanks to the GPS (Garmin 76CSx) and ...

... and yes, despite academic political correctness, I do call them dark ages) and superstition prevailed. Witches were slain, heretics burned at the stake, and the catholic church was all powerful. Here, in this little gem of a city far away on the Iberian peninsula...citizens enjoyed illuminated streets, running water courtesy of an old roman aqueduct, a *plethora* of libraries and translated texts straight from Greek and Roman antiquity. Sanitation and public baths were enjoyed ...

... the Muslims and reclaimed Cordoba & most of Spain. As a whole, it is a combination of all of the styles of the 16th and 17th centuries, including Hispano-Flemish vaults and arches, Renaissance cupolas and an early Baroque chancel vault and high altar. The work, which concluded at the beginning of the 17th century, was directed by the local architect Hernan Ruiz I." Wow...that was quite a spill. I hope that you were all able to make your way through that. Like I stated earlier ...