Husa Santo Domingo Córdoba

To all those who know me somewhat well, you will recall that I am scared of heights, a bit, well more than that a bit actually, more like complete meltdowns have happened a anything above 2 meters! Really!

But that wasn't on my mind as we headed north of Malaga towards Antequera an then beyond to see the stone forest of El Torcal

Antequera is a typical Spanish village, inland, and a complete contrast to the touristy towns of Costa del Sol ...

... towns, there’s a real mix of architecture: Roman on the bottom, Moorish on top of that, and Christian/Renaissance on top of that. Or, if you’re lucky, all three together. Cordoba was also big in the Islamic occupation of 800 years. We’ll visit the 'Caliph’s Cathedral’ tomorrow – the palaces & gardens take up about ½ of that old quarter downtown.

Today’s ...

Yesterday I was able to walk into town without my toes strapped together for the first time in days. So later that afternoon Jon skidded down the mountain and twisted/sprained his ankle. It took him 3 hours to hobble back to the house with the aid of a large branch. I was going frantic and on the point of calling the Guardia Civil but I didn't know which walk Jon ...

... their fingers upon mentioning the name of its grand Mosque. This is the place to watch and touch time. Time frozen in elegant pensions decorated with elegant ceremics, their lush inner courtyard covered with sunshade during day time. Time dissolved in the arabic bath, where bathers stare at star shaped windows from the huge communal pool in between rounds at the fragrant steam room. Time trickling by gently in the forgoten plaza lined by old buildings,orange trees, and a casual bar ...

... of the girls were very flashy and skin-tight traditional dresses. The men were relatively less eager to get in touch with tradition, but we still saw a lot of men dressed up as caballeros, complete with horses under them. At the fair, one would have the choice of going to the western half, which was meant for children and which had all the rides and accoutrements which one would expect from an amusement park. Bright lights and an abundance of junk foods based on sugar means ...

Granada was a two hour drive through the Spanish countryside. All along the road we were flanked by rows and rows of olive trees. They were perfectly spaced and ran over the hills as far out to the horizon as I could see. These gently rolling hills are the ones I saw from my plane. They're like waves frozen in time. I wanted to park the car and just run through these olive trees, up and down these hills, run and run. They have to end ...

... where you just wanted to take photo after photo. There are more than 850 columns of granite, jasper and marble supporting the roof, creating a dazzling visual effect. Various features of both the mosque and cathedral co-exist in the current Mezquita. The Mihrab is a richly ornamented prayer niche which holds a gilt copy of the Koran. More than 7000 men would kneel facing the Mihrab during the Mezquita´s prime. The Mihrab reflects the wealth of Cordoba at the time. Three thousand ...

... one was just down the street on the left and gave us the name. I warned my wife that translated instructions rarely pan out as you hoped. After not finding the place, we asked again and he said go to the END of the street and turn left and you'll see a big sign. Well sure enough at the end of the street to the left was a big sign with the name...about a mile away, on a mall. Well it turns out that the mall only ...

... evening. Oh well, I guess that will just have to wait until tomorrow. Four drinks and my "dinner" had cost me just 7.65-euro. At this point, what I clearly needed was some Guinness, so off I went hoping I remembered the way to the Irish pub. As I turned the corner I was stopped cold. There in front of me was a huge sign that I had certainly walked by the day before when looking for Granada Diez, but this sign (topped by the word Discothèque, which may be why I blocked it out ...

Saturday we set off though the olive groves for Spain and, by some extraordinary means, found our villa on top of a mountain near, I am told, a place called Antequera (thing is, I was driving the vehicle). There were olive groves rampant. It was very charming. We enjoyed a meal of tapas in a nearby town. The farm dogs barked all night. On Sunday we went through the olive groves to Ronda and ...