Cordoba..knocks you off your feet

5 March:
Literally I am afraid as I started the day with a close encounter of the very hardest kind. Overtired, slightly distracted and very clumsy, I wound on my nose in the middle of the road beside the Mezquita. They don`t actually allow Muslims to prostrate themselves at the Mosque so I may have started a new tradition. It was a bit painful and very embarrassing. The policeman, one of many, in the area guarding the meeting of the EU ministers did not even blink as I fell at his feet. I feel like the whole day was an anti climax after that. We were wondering why there were so many police around... too many politicians but at least it wasn`t suspected terrorism or clumsy Canadians.

The Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos

We spent few hours looking around this ancient
castle at the end of the Judaria ( Jewish quarters).

Here we are sitting in front of a fountain at the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, the castle of the Christian monarchs built in the 13th century.

The gardens are supposed to be very lovely at the Alcazar but in winter they are not at their best. Lots of gardeners working hard to get them ready. Lovely water features though.

There is also an old Arabic bathhouse which was challenging to find and I think the guard thought I was loco after I asked him directions 3 times.




This is part of the royal gardens, a pool that seems to go on forever. The Moors loved fountains and water in their gardens, probably because they were used to living in a dessert and when they came to Spain ( as we can attest) they found lots of water.




We ate a typical Cordoban meal similar to what we had the day before. The salmorejo is a cold tomato based gazpacho soup that is unbelievably good. We also had some kind of veal and ham rolled up in a deep fried crust. Can't tell you the name of that one. There is also an unlimited supply of crusty bread that is delicious. Can't have a meal in Spain without a good glass of wine and there are many to choose from.

Bob was tickled by the bathroom (see photo). See how many rolls of toilet paper you can store on this one. Its a man's idea of heaven!


We had wanted to go to a restaurant that we had found the day before, but after wondering around in the maze of old Cordoba we gave up and ate at this one. Of course it was inevitable we would walk into the one we wanted just as we were about to head back t the hotel. Who would have remembered it was tucked in behind a gift shop. Such is the way of Cordoba!