Day 4: Cordoba and Seville

We started the day off with a walking tour of old town Cordoba. Old town is still encircled by the original Roman wall. The whole setting was beautiful- palm trees, stonework, and flowers everywhere. We started off in the Jewish sector of the city and saw another converted mosque/synagogue. The streets of Cordoba were narrow and wound around just like in Toledo. Our guide informed us this was in part to protect the city, but also because more shade kept the buildings cool. We slowly wound our way through the streets and ended up in the center of the town where the Catedral Cordoba was standing majestically.

Outside the Roman wall

Creepin

Loved all of the doors

This is why my feet were dead

Pretty Cordoba

Old people can't quite figure out pictures on the Iphone

 The building is HUGE. It has a bell tower that used to be a minaret, since the first original use was a mosque. When the Spanish monarchy won Spain back from the Muslim rulers they decided to convert the building into a Catholic cathedral. The cathedral is literally in the middle of the old mosque- they knocked out the middle of the building and built their own church inside- it is one of the prettiest things I have ever seen.

Mosque arches

There is a huge culture clash in the middle of the building- brick and stucco arches turn into carvings of angels and gold plating. There is one area of the building where the Catholic rulers inexplicably left the religious symbols for the Muslim religion- in all of the other mosques across the country anything religious to Muslims was destroyed. It was awesome to see 2 of the major religions in Spain housed within the same building. The building was overwhelming- it was full of detail and beautiful architecture- pictures cannot do it justice.

Cathedral in the middle of the Mosque

The ceilings were incredible

Muslim religious site still standing

Awesome tomb in the floor- literally walking on dead people the whole time

The divide between Muslim and Catholic

The beginning of my love affair of stained glass

BEAUTIFUL organ

 After the tour we went shopping and got a lot of stuff- family: most of your presents come from Cordoba. We decided to stop in a little outdoor cafe and get some lunch. The cafes are one of my favorite things from Spain. Little local run places in the middle of the street with all sorts of different kinds of foods, outdoor seating, local entertainment- I wish we had more things like that here. Unfortunately, I ordered the second nastiest meal of the whole trip here (first place still goes to the first dinner in Madrid, seafood paella...shudder...) I assumed a 4 cheese pizza would be a safe choice. Now I knew that cheese was sharper over there than I was used to, but thus far it had been a positive experience. This was because I had yet to experience Spanish blue cheese. Guys, it is terrible. Awful. Inedible. I could not eat it. I tried to pick pieces that didn't have any blue cheese, but unfortunately they had spread a full layer underneath all the other cheeses. I had crusts for lunch that day. Alex loved my pizza and graciously finished it off for me. (A gelato run happened immediately after lunch...a girls gotta eat something!!)

Cops on horseback in Cordoba

The first gatita I saw in Spain

After lunch we boarded the bus once again and drove the last hour to Seville. We changed and set off to explore downtown. In order to get there, we had to ride the Metro. I have missed jetting around on the Metros so it was pretty nostalgic. The only difference between the Seville Metro and the Washington DC Metro was the language barrier. It took us a little bit to figure out how to purchase a ticket and which direction we really needed to go, but other than that it was all the same. We made it to the city center just in time for a downpour. The heavens opened up and we were SOAKED. Ha but we were only in Seville for 2 days, so we just carried on (the dulce de leche gelato definitely helped...yes 2 gelatos in one day- don't judge until you've tried it!!) We walked down to the edge of the river and found the Torre del Oro- a guard tower that was built in the 1200s that is still standing. It was used to guard the river and used to hold a chain that stretched to the other bank for boat traffic regulation. The chain and corresponding bank tower are long gone and the tower now houses a naval museum. After looking through all the artifacts, we climbed to the top of the tower and were rewarded with a beautiful birds eye view of Seville. The city of Seville is full of gardens and trees and flowers and it is beautiful. It was worth braving the wind and the rain.

Rainsoaked selfie

Torre del Oro

Replication of the Santa Maria

View from the first floor

View from the top

Windy day

Cool building found on the walk

Winddddyyyy

We followed the river down for a while and found ourselves in the Maria Luisa Park. This is the prettiest public park I have ever been to. It was HUGE. It was originally the palace gardens for the Palace of San Telmo but it was donated to the city of Seville to use as a public park. There were Banyan trees, rose gardens, sculptures, fountains, jungle book flowers, and Alex's favorite purple flowering trees. We wandered through and kept wishing we had one of these in Logan. I would probably be there every day after work with a good book. It was beautiful.

Alex LOVED these trees

Jungle book flowers!!

Yep still raining

We went to a Spanish-Italian restaurant for dinner and it was one of my favorite dinners of the trip. Shishkabobs and asparagus and mashed potatoes in a red pepper (unfortunately the potatoes were mixed with cod so I got a nasty surprise in my huge first bite). We did a little shopping after dinner so I would have something to wear- I had to buy long sleeve shirts! Good thing they have cute close and there was pretty good shopping nearby! 

Seville's home stadium