10 October - Cordoba

Cordoba is definitely the most 'Moorish' place we have been to so far.  It is a myriad of alleys and plazas, just as we have seen in Morocco. After settling into the Hostal yesterday we went out for some lunch in a nearby restaurant, it was OK, I has small fried fish as a main course, but they weren't as tasty as white bait I have had in England.  John had a plate of the same large shrimps which he had had in La Antilla on Sunday, but said that these were nicer, just lightly grilled.  Later in the evening we had a glass of wine and a couple of small tapas dishes sitting in an alley way.  They were very tasty, we tried the local speciality of salmorejo, a gazpacho type dip with Iberian ham and hard-boiled eggs added.
The way that the time zone and the hours of daylight works is that the whole day seems to have been shifted forward a couple of hours, and as we are only here for a couple of weeks we have got time to adjust our bodies clocks, eating and sleeping habits.  As it isn't light until 08.30, nothing much happens before 10 or even 11, such as museums,, shops etc, opening.  Then lunch is from 13.00 to 16.00,  and everywhere closes down again for siesta until about 17.00 or even 18.00.  It is almost impossible to get anything to eat before 20.00, maybe just one or two back street bars might serve a few cold tapas. The heat may have something to do with this as well, it really is not possible to be outside in the sun between 15.00 and 18.00, even sitting in the shade is scarcely bearable.  It is much hotter than we had expected for coming up to mid August. The actual temperatures in Cordoba seem to be in the low 30s, so I think the humidity mist be quite high.  I don't know how contributory it is, but every square, every street has fountains, and I really mean fountains, great jets of gushing water.  We have also seen several enormous troughs of water in the streets, like family sized baths.  We haven't seen evidence of street dwellers, but if there are any then they certainly have lots of opportunities for bathing, in the dead of night.
We saw our first beggars today, Roma women with children going round the cafe tables.  They didn't seem to be very well refused and in fact where chased off if seen by the cafe proprietors.  I don't know if there are any provisions or a programme for Roma peoples here.
We spent this morning in the Mezquita, truly a magnificent building still, despite the alterations which have taken place in order to convert the original mosque into a Catholic Cathedral.  The design of numbers of arches forming walkways in so many directions has been preserved.  It is a great shame that the entire centre is dominated by the construction of the current cathedral.  In places it is still possible to see the original frescoes and elaborate Moorish decorations.
Next we went to The Alcazar, which was probably equally as good as the one in Seville.  There is much evidence of Roman occupation in Cordoba, we saw the remains of bath houses in the Alcazar, and they must extend much further than has been excavated.  When we arrived and put the car in an underground car-park we had to negotiate around quite a large area of cordoned off remains of a Roman construction.  Strolling around parts of the old city before we had lunch we saw Roman walls and structures which had been incorporated into modern buildings.
We are still talking about the financial situation in Spain.  Everywhere we have been has been clean, tidy and well maintained, with investment in infrastructure and monuments.  We have seen so many Spanish speaking people, so we have assumed they are Spaniards walking around with I pads, snapping away to get their photographs.  Once again cafes and restaurants are full and money is being spent.  There are more non-Spanish tourists here than we have seen anywhere else, the largest number, or maybe just the most vocal seem to be the French, but the majority are still Spanish.
We are leaving Cordoba tomorrow and, taking in a trip to The Medina on the way, heading Northwest and up into the Sierra Morena  for at least three nights, we haven't yet decided where to spend our last couple of days.  We hope it will be cooler and fresher as we climb up.