Spanish Spree - April 2009
Day 7: Cordoba
Today ended our brief visit to Nerja. I had thought Nerja would be a boring day in the middle of our trip, but it ended up being one of my favorite places in all of Spain. Who knew?
As much as I wanted to stay in Nerja forever, we had bus tickets in the morning to the town of Malaga, where we would transfer to a train to Cordoba.
As much as I wanted to stay in Nerja forever, we had bus tickets in the morning to the town of Malaga, where we would transfer to a train to Cordoba.
The bus ride was quick - 45 minutes - and conveniently, the train station was just across the street from the bus station. A quick walk later, enough time to buy a lemonade, and we were ready to board the train.
We rode on one of the high-speed trains, making the rest of the journey very quick. We were lucky enough to ride in business class - we had a discount that made it cheaper than coach! The seats were spacious, comfortable and it barely felt like we were moving. To top it all off, they were showing a movie...in English. We weren't even on long enough to watch the movie, but before we knew it, we had arrived in Cordoba. We grabbed a cab (only the second of the trip) to our hotel and were there within ten minutes. Check-in was a breeze and we headed out to explore the city.
We rode on one of the high-speed trains, making the rest of the journey very quick. We were lucky enough to ride in business class - we had a discount that made it cheaper than coach! The seats were spacious, comfortable and it barely felt like we were moving. To top it all off, they were showing a movie...in English. We weren't even on long enough to watch the movie, but before we knew it, we had arrived in Cordoba. We grabbed a cab (only the second of the trip) to our hotel and were there within ten minutes. Check-in was a breeze and we headed out to explore the city.
The guidebooks had stronly recommended "getting lost" in La Juderia (the Jewish Quarter) so that's exactly what we set off to do. This area of the city was very pretty. My favorite part was how some of the residents decorated the walls on the outside of their house with potted plants.
After our wanderings and a stop for lunch, we caught a bus that would take us out to Medina Azahara, a Moorish ruins site. It was VERY different from the Alhambra, and we spent about two hours in the very hot sun exploring the site. Somehow, it had gone from 75 degrees and sunny in Nerja to almost 90 in Cordoba! Wow!
We returned to Cordoba and decided that instead of eating dinner, we would go to an Arab-style teahouse. We split a large pot of tea and a pastry sampler platter. Each one of them was so delicious, but very rich. We knew we wouldn't have room for a real dinner!
Since we had such a great time at the flamenco show in Nerja, we decided to see another show in Cordoba. Tonight's show was a more formal show, highly choreagraphed and very touristy. I still enjoyed it, but I much preferred the show in Nerja.
We went straight to bed after the show, taking a few minutes to appreciate the lit-up Mezquita, the main attraction in Cordoba.
We went straight to bed after the show, taking a few minutes to appreciate the lit-up Mezquita, the main attraction in Cordoba.
Continue to Day 8: Cordoba and Madrid