The Mezquita

Trip Start Aug 23, 1996
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Spain and Canary Islands  , Andalusia,
Sunday, November 30, 2008

Ahhhh the credit crunch, you gotta love it in all its forms. As prices go down, including petrol, Ryanair being the way they are, act in accordance, so the prices go up !!! But still, there are places to go, so we reached into our pockets, dug out the money, and booked another flight.
 
The Plan
 
There is something special that we love about Spain, and that is the Moors. The sites we have seen over the years have been great, but there was one we had not been to see, so Córdoba was our destination, as we needed to see the Mezquita, and whatever else was there.
 
Córdoba
 
Once there, we dumped our bags and headed for the Mezquita. From outside, there was a couryard with orange trees and a tower. It reminded me of the cathedral in Seville. The Cathedral was quite big as well. We bought the tickets and headed in. Once inside, the place was a sea of horseshoe columns. It was very impressive. We made our way over to the Mirhab, and in all honestly, it was the best one I think I've ever seen. It was encrusted with semi-precious gems, I'd never seen anything like it. In the centre was the Catholic section. It was ok, but I prefered the Mezquita part. So the story goes, that there once was a church, then the Moors came in and knocked it down. After the Moors were moved on, the Catholics built in the centre !!! So, do two wrongs make a right? Don't really know, but I thinked they fucked it !!!
 
Back out in the streets, we walked into Jewsville and headed for the Synagogue. Amazingly in Spain, there are only three, or so the sign said, and as we had been to two in Toledo, the set was beckoning !!! It was only tiny, not much really to see, but we ticked it off, and moved on.
 
Past some walls, and down to the river, and there it was, the restored Roman Bridge. I couldn't see which bit was Roman, maybe the design !!! At the other end was a tower, but it was locked up, so we didn't get a look.
 
As the night rolled on, much Rioja was consumed, which is to be expected as we were in Spain.
 
Without a headache, we hit the streets again. Now maybe my Jewdar wasn't working, especially as I had spent a shitload getting to Bhutan, but when we arrived at the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, we noticed that it had been free yesterday !!! Inside was a little fort type thing with various rooms and some mosaics. There was also a nice garden, which we ran around in. The whole place was ok, nothing special, just ok !!!
 
We ran around a little bit more, until it was time to jump in the car and go somewhere else, and that was 8K's away.
 
Madinat Al-Zahra
 
Basically a set of Moorish ruins, set on a hill. There had been various attempts at restoration over the last ninety years. They were kind of different, loads of arches, god knows why, maybe they had the old plans !!! There were the remain of a Mosques, and some gardens which had been laid out in the 60's. Down the back was the Salón Rico, more arches, most probably the best part of the Madinat Al-Zahra. Actually, I got pretty bored of it quite quickly, so we jumped back in the car and headed away to ou next destination
 
Granada
 
We had been here before, so we weren't to interested in seeing the sites, just wanted to drink Rioja, as this is the done thing. The beauty of Granada is that everytime you order a drink, you get food. We had done the food hall of fame previously, so we attempted another run
 
1) Ham and Cheese bagel
2) Some shit that looked and tasted like dog food
3) Tortilla in a roll
4) Stick of meat in a roll
 
We moved onto another bar, drinking more Rioja until we finally died !!!
 
Trust me, as much as we have our dodgy GPS, it wouldn't let us leave Granada. Maybe it wanted us to see more, but we had to leave as a plane was awaiting.
 
And Finally
 
Was the Mezquita worth the wait? Oh yeah. Was it good to be drinking Rioja? Oh yeah. Was it good to be back in Spain? Oh yeah. And still we need to go back as there is still loads to see.

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001 Our Car, Cordoba 001 Our Car, Cordoba 002 Hostel Courtyard, Cordoba 002 Hostel Courtyard, Cordoba 003 Walls, Cordoba 003 Walls, Cordoba 004 Gateway, Cordoba 004 Gateway, Cordoba
005 Statue, Cordoba 005 Statue, Cordoba 006 Jewish Tile, Cordoba 006 Jewish Tile, Cordoba 007 Tile, Cordoba 007 Tile, Cordoba 008 Door, Cordoba 008 Door, Cordoba
009 Mezquita, Cordoba 009 Mezquita, Cordoba 010 Mezquita, Cordoba 010 Mezquita, Cordoba 011 Oranges, Cordoba 011 Oranges, Cordoba 012 Mezquita, Cordoba 012 Mezquita, Cordoba
013 Mezquita, Cordoba 013 Mezquita, Cordoba 014 Mezquita, Cordoba 014 Mezquita, Cordoba 015 Mezquita, Cordoba 015 Mezquita, Cordoba 016 Mezquita, Cordoba 016 Mezquita, Cordoba
017 Mezquita, Cordoba 017 Mezquita, Cordoba 018 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 018 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 019 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 019 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 020 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 020 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba
021 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 021 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 022 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 022 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 023 Mezquita, Cordoba 023 Mezquita, Cordoba 024 Mezquita, Cordoba 024 Mezquita, Cordoba
025 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 025 Mihrab in the Mezquita, Cordoba 026 Mezquita, Cordoba 026 Mezquita, Cordoba 027 Mezquita, Cordoba 027 Mezquita, Cordoba 028 Mezquita, Cordoba 028 Mezquita, Cordoba
029 Mezquita, Cordoba 029 Mezquita, Cordoba 030 Mezquita, Cordoba 030 Mezquita, Cordoba 031 Mezquita, Cordoba 031 Mezquita, Cordoba 032 Mezquita, Cordoba 032 Mezquita, Cordoba
033 Mezquita, Cordoba 033 Mezquita, Cordoba 034 Mezquita, Cordoba 034 Mezquita, Cordoba 035 Mezquita, Cordoba 035 Mezquita, Cordoba 036 Mezquita, Cordoba 036 Mezquita, Cordoba
037 Mezquita, Cordoba 037 Mezquita, Cordoba 038 Mezquita, Cordoba 038 Mezquita, Cordoba 039 Mezquita, Cordoba 039 Mezquita, Cordoba 040 Mezquita, Cordoba 040 Mezquita, Cordoba
041 Mezquita, Cordoba 041 Mezquita, Cordoba 042 Koranic Script, Mezquita, Cordoba 042 Koranic Script, Mezquita, Cordoba 043 Mezquita, Cordoba 043 Mezquita, Cordoba 044 Two Oranges, Cordoba 044 Two Oranges, Cordoba
045 Mezquita, Cordoba 045 Mezquita, Cordoba 046 Hebrew Script, Cordoba 046 Hebrew Script, Cordoba 047 Synagogue, Cordoba 047 Synagogue, Cordoba 048 Jewish Candle Holder, Cordoba 048 Jewish Candle Holder, Cordoba
049 Tower, Cordoba 049 Tower, Cordoba 050 Roman Bridge, Cordoba 050 Roman Bridge, Cordoba 051 Gateway, Cordoba 051 Gateway, Cordoba 052 Roman Bridge, Cordoba 052 Roman Bridge, Cordoba
053 Sunset, Cordoba 053 Sunset, Cordoba 054 Tower, Cordoba 054 Tower, Cordoba 055 Tower, Cordoba 055 Tower, Cordoba 056 Roman Bridge, Cordoba 056 Roman Bridge, Cordoba
057 Cordoba 057 Cordoba 058 Tile, Cordoba 058 Tile, Cordoba 059 Tile, Cordoba 059 Tile, Cordoba 060 Balcony, Cordoba 060 Balcony, Cordoba
061 Tile, Cordoba 061 Tile, Cordoba 062 Church & Tower, Cordoba 062 Church & Tower, Cordoba 063 Tower, Cordoba 063 Tower, Cordoba 064 Building, Cordoba 064 Building, Cordoba
065 Statue, Cordoba 065 Statue, Cordoba 066 Mosaic, Cordoba 066 Mosaic, Cordoba 067 Mosaic, Cordoba 067 Mosaic, Cordoba 068 Mosaic, Cordoba 068 Mosaic, Cordoba
069 Fountain, Cordoba 069 Fountain, Cordoba 070 Fountain, Cordoba 070 Fountain, Cordoba 071 Three Statues, Cordoba 071 Three Statues, Cordoba 072 Three Statues, Cordoba 072 Three Statues, Cordoba
073 Flower & Fountain, Cordoba 073 Flower & Fountain, Cordoba 074 Row of Hedges, Cordoba 074 Row of Hedges, Cordoba 075 Statue, Cordoba 075 Statue, Cordoba 076 Grapefruit, Cordoba 076 Grapefruit, Cordoba
077 Oranges, Cordoba 077 Oranges, Cordoba 078 Painting, Cordoba 078 Painting, Cordoba 079 Mezquita, Cordoba 079 Mezquita, Cordoba 080 Mezquita, Cordoba 080 Mezquita, Cordoba
081 Mezquita, Cordoba 081 Mezquita, Cordoba 082 Mezquita, Cordoba 082 Mezquita, Cordoba 083 Arab Baths, Cordoba 083 Arab Baths, Cordoba 084 Arab Baths, Cordoba 084 Arab Baths, Cordoba
085 Tile, Cordoba 085 Tile, Cordoba 086 Flower Pots, Cordoba 086 Flower Pots, Cordoba 087 Mezquita, Cordoba 087 Mezquita, Cordoba 088 Mezquita, Cordoba 088 Mezquita, Cordoba
089 Mezquita, Cordoba 089 Mezquita, Cordoba 090 Mezquita, Cordoba 090 Mezquita, Cordoba 091 Gateway, Cordoba 091 Gateway, Cordoba 092 Wall, Cordoba 092 Wall, Cordoba
093 Wall, Cordoba 093 Wall, Cordoba 094 Wall, Cordoba 094 Wall, Cordoba 095 Tile, Cordoba 095 Tile, Cordoba 096 Beer Sign, Cordoba 096 Beer Sign, Cordoba
097 Wall, Madinat Al-Zahra 097 Wall, Madinat Al-Zahra 098 Toilet, Madinat Al-Zahra 098 Toilet, Madinat Al-Zahra 099 Small Berries, Madinat Al-Zahra 099 Small Berries, Madinat Al-Zahra 100 Wall, Madinat Al-Zahra 100 Wall, Madinat Al-Zahra
101 Wall, Madinat Al-Zahra 101 Wall, Madinat Al-Zahra 102 Archway, Madinat Al-Zahra 102 Archway, Madinat Al-Zahra 103 Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra 103 Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra 104 Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra 104 Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra
105 Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra 105 Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra 106 Lucy in the Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra 106 Lucy in the Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra 107 Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra 107 Salón Rico, Madinat Al-Zahra
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