Cordoba
Very early flight from Liverpool then picked up a hire car at Malaga airport. Smooth journey up to Cordoba, found the flat easily and managed to park very nearby. All very straightforward!
Still tired out though. We managed a short walk and stopped for a beer.
.. by a busy main road with an airplane on the roundabout behind us.. 😁
Couldn't find anywhere to eat so we went to the supermarket to buy bits and pieces for a lovely evening meal. And that was as much as we managed!
The orange trees on the road near us were absolutely bursting with fruit - looks like they may be picking them tomorrow!
Early night after a €2.99 bottle of (nice for the price!) red wine.. 😋🍷
Thursday 27 February
Cordoba
It seems like the bars around us are only open during the day time - not many evening tourists in February I suppose. But the bar next door was open for breakfast.. 😋
So
We walked to the old part of the city and went first to the Mosque-Cathedral.
This beautiful building was originally a mosque but was converted to a Catholic cathedral in 1236 after being conquered by King Ferdinand III of Castile.
There are about 1250 double arched columns of various heights and materials - all of them different as they were reused from other buildings! The light and colours were just stunning.
Old door from the mosque.
Enterprising kids playing (very well!) for the tourists. They are all off school this week - thought there were a lot of them about!
Chatted to a Spanish man and his daughter whilst queuing for tickets - he was most excited when he found we were from Manchester and started asking if we knew the band New Order. I said yes. Seems he had some connection with them (drums?) and chatted for ages about them, Tony Wilson and the Hacienda.
A quick look in the caliphate baths - just because they were there lol.
Then we stopped for lunch in a lovely, sunny little spot (about 19⁰) but didn't ask what the fish was when I ordered - turns out it was whitebait. I don't like whitebait! Mike had some local dish meat, jamon etc rolled up, breadcrumbed and fried - not too nice either. But we enjoyed the beer and the chance for a sit down!
A wander along through the Jewish quarter via the old synagogue to the Cordoba patios with all their plants. Pretty now but must be stunning later on in the year.
A walk back along the river past the old roman bridge.
We looked down the road with the orange trees on our way back - and the oranges were gone. So it was definitely orange culling day today.. 👍
Saw torrijas (bread covered in sugar and cinnamon and fried, eaten at Easter) in the bread shop. Bought one honeyed and one sugared - they were delicious.
Friday 28 February
Cordoba
A fast/slow year with no Siobhan..💕
Three wise monkeys.. 🥰
As Mike and I started our day we decided that we didn't want any breakfast. That lasted until we saw a churreria with loads of people sitting outside eating huge piles of delicious smelling fresh churros.. so we sat down.. 😋
Hot chocolate thick enough for the spoon to stand up in ✔️
Delicious fresh churros for dipping ✔️
We were very happy.
They also served jeringos which translates to home made syringes! Not as textured as churros but still tasty. An Andalusian variation which also known here as tejaringos - the batter is usually fried in a big circle then cut into pieces. The same as porras (batons) in Cuenca.
Loads of people about and many shops and businesses closed early. Public holiday..
Roman bridge.
It started to rain before we reached the Alcazar - which was closing early due to the public holiday.
Queue for the tower - didn't bother, went to the gardens instead.
Pretty even with no sunshine.
The rain stopped.
Mosaic room
Sat outside for lunch - in the rain under a parasol.
Some traditional dishes - cold almond soup with honey (delicious!) and a thick cold tomato based soup made with tomatoes and thickened with bread - also delicious but nothing like gazpacho.
Toast for Siobhan.
Lovely meal. Then a wander with the brollies.
Quite by chance we found the little restaurant I'd meant to go to originally for lunch. It was on the site of another old bath house with some of the original rooms and pillars.
Earthquake.. didn't feel a thing!.. 🤷
Saturday 1 March
Cordoba
Some trees still had oranges - although the majority had been picked.
Spanish dolls house.
The Palacio de Viana was originally a 14th century palace and is now a museum - with 12 patios and many original pieces in the rooms.
Stables with wedding coach and livery.
Some of the rooms - seen from the outside - no entry without a guided tour.
A meander through the streets.. and the sun came out!
Paella for lunch.. 😋
Evening walk to the Roman bridge.
Sunday 2 March
Seville
First stop was Almodóvar del Río in the rain. Had a delicious breakfast in a tiny little bar - tostada with tomato and oil - but with jamon too! Never had it with ham before but it was really nice!
We could see a castle in the distance on top of the only little hill for miles - turned out that this was where we were headed.
The castle was rebuilt in the last hundred years on 14c ruins. It is supposed to be quite impressive with great views but it was very rainy and damp so we walked up to it - and then walked back down.
It was also the Highgarden family home in Game of Thrones apparently.. 🤷
Nice wall art though.
We drove on to Ecíja - a beautiful city with 11 bell towers! Once again it was raining so we saw about 4 of them from under our umbrellas. No churches visited as it was Sunday.
Popped into a bar for a coffee and ended up with raciones of rice (like paella), chorizo in red wine - and a local dish called volcán de cordoniz - literally quail volcano. Turned out to be some sort of potato dish with herbs and spices - with a fried egg and ham on on top. No quail. But very delicious. All three dishes were.
So good we forgot to take a pic.. 🤣🤣🤣
We were parked round the corner from Calle John Lennon.
Did a Google search but couldn't find any connection with the city - but he and Yoko Ono were married in Gibraltar and I think the Beatles recorded or at least wrote whilst living in Andalusia so maybe he visited here.
Arrived at our apartment in Seville and the rain stopped. We had a short walk to buy milk and beer and that was as far as we managed.
Monday 3 March
Seville
A wet start to the day so our first stop was for breakfast.
Fab little bar with jamones hanging from the ceiling.
Plaza de España.
The Hispano American exposition committee launched a competition in 1911 to create a design for exhibition halls and pavilions for the display of various artworks and trades. The project was won by the architect Archibal Gonzalez who built most of the components between 1914 and 1926.
A slow meander back by the river before the rain started again.
We decided that we didn't need cakes - then we saw the pasteles de nata shop and in we went.. 🙄😁
A quiet evening eating in to avoid the rain!
Tuesday 4 March
Seville
Long walk today.
First stop 'El secreto de la calle verde' - Secret of green street.
Casa de Pilatos. 15th century private residence.
Shame we couldn't get to the upper floor - lots of renovations being done.
Beautiful tiles - lots of iridescence.
Next.. Setas de Sevilla. Designed in wood and concrete to mimic the shapes in Seville cathedral and house a market and restaurants - but it soon became known as the Mushrooms of Seville.
This reminded me of my beautiful Spanish friend Amparo who I first met in 1976!
Palacio de las Dueñas. 15th century Renaissance style palace which now belongs to the House of Alba.
This painting looked a bit like a Spanish Beryl Cook 🤣
Alameda de Hercules.
Basilica de la Macarena.
Nearly 8 miles walked today.. quite enough!!. 🤪
Wednesday 5 March
Seville
Decided to walk to the Alcazar (only 10 mins walk from our accommodation) but ended up in the University instead. And very nice it is too.. 😁
Found the ticket office for the Alcazar but counter tickets had already sold out for the day. Didn't think we'd need an online booking out of season but there you go - came back to order online for tomorrow.
Popped in to look at a little church round the corner from us - Santa Maria la Blanca. A tiny church but it had the most incredible plaster reliefs all over the ceiling.
Meal out in the evening on our way to look at the Setas light display.
Underwhelming light display - in the pouring rain.. 😁
So many people still out and about despite the on/off heavy/light rain showers. Even sitting outside under the parasols with their coats on to have a drink!
Thursday 6 March
Seville
Up and out early to walk to the Fine Arts museum. Left Mike in bed.
Housed in a former convent with a huge collection of Spanish painters from Spanish Golden Age.
Wonderful ceilings.
Lovely walk in the sunshine - all a bonus as it was supposed to be rainy and thundery by now.
Then off to the Triana market over the river..
Then back over the river to the Alcazar.
Out in the evening to La Carboneria - a very rustic bar space which puts on live flamenco dancing in the evening. No photos allowed.
A fitting end to our time in Seville.
No comments:
Post a Comment