Toledo to Cordoba (Tuesday, October 14th)

At 9 am we headed off to the Toledo railway station for our journey to Cordoba, in Andalusia. Thankfully, as we were walking, it stayed dry, the train to Madrid was on time and we had no trouble making our connection to Cordoba. The train to Cordoba was on the AVE system and covered the journey in an hour and 40 minutes, at speeds up to 299 Km/h....the fastest that I have travelled when not in an airplane!

It was fine when we arrived in Cordoba, so we set off walking the 2 Km to our apartment, via a hotel where we had to pick up the keys. About 1/2 Km into the walk the skies opened up and the rain poured down on us, but that was the only rain all day (just our luck). 

The apartment has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and kitchen....real food again and tea in a big cup whenever we want. Luxury!

Cordoba was settled by the Romans but by the 8th century it was under Muslim control, when they built the Mesquita (mosque), it was the capital of Muslim Spain and reached a population of 900,000. By the 10th century the Christians had arrived and turned the mosque into a cathedral. In 1315 the Jews built a synagogue, but after the Jews were expelled from Spain it was converted into a Catholic chapel. The city has been devastated by successive groups over the centuries and only traces of its former glory remain. 

After settling in and buying groceries we went on an orientation walk in the old town, especially along Calle Flores in the Jewish quarter. 

Cute statue and wall decoration 

Cordoba is known for its elaborate courtyards, and I snapped this photo of one that caught my eye. 

Calle Flores is a narrow and winding little street that dead-ended in a small plaza. The photo below is the view from the plaza with the top of the Mesquita visible in the background. 

Keeping up my study of knockers, the best pair today were a Jewish set in Calle Flores. 

Tomorrow we plan on doing all the tourist stuff in town in more detail. Until then....