The Plane in Spain

• September 23
• September 24
• September 25
• September 26
• September 27
• September 28
• September 29
• September 30
• October 1
• October 2
• October 3
• October 4

St. Sebastian

September 26

You can see more pictures in my album.

We're on the AVE train headed for Cordoba, then Seville. We're visiting Cordoba for about four hours to see the mosque and cathedral. We'll stay overnight in Seville.

Neither Ron nor Brian like to get up in the morning. So it was my task to get the boys moving this morning. I tried out my brand new alarm clock, which worked flawlessly, and I got us out of the room by 7:45.

Taxi to Atocha Station

We got a cab in front of the Hostal Nuria and drove down the Gran Via, and some of the other grand boulevards (Paseo de Prado) to the Atocha Train Station. We had Eurail passes, but they had to be validated. We passed through security, bought some cafe and frutos, and boarded the train. We are traveling first class today. The train is very comfortable and very fast. Happily, we're also being fed on the train, and I'm reading my Economist, being a happy camper. Hey, they serve breakfast. They gave us a menu, but they are serving us everything. I'm liking this more and more.

Cordoba City Wall

We arrived in Cordoba around 11 a.m. We stashed our luggage in the train station and set off for our second religious experience in two days. We wanted to see the cathedral built inside a mosque. The walk was hot here, 32°C. I glistened a bit. We walked about a mile to the church, through some gardens and about half way around the outside of the old city wall.

Ron entering the wall

After clambering up a passage through the wall, we crossed the road and stood at the plaza separating the fortress (Alcazar) and the mosque compound. After getting our bearings, we went into the mosque courtyard and purchased tickets to go into the cathedral.

In a word, large. This is a very large piece of religious real estate. It started out as a Visigoth church, was torn down and incorporated into a mosque. The mosque was expanded three times, and was one of the most important Islamic religious and cultural centers. In the 1300s, it was conquered by a Christian king, and the Catholics consecrated the mosque as a church and later constructed the cathedral's high altar and choir stall within the much larger mosque. The building is enormous. It is full of hundreds of columns and arches. It would make a wonderful square dance hall. I took lots of pictures.

Inside the Cordoba Cathedral-Mosque

High Altar

Old Town

After seeing the cathedral, we went into the old town and had lunch. Brian and I did our tapas thing, with a nice Spanish wine. The scale in Madrid was close in. In Cordoba, everything is on top of everything. Streets go in every direction. Most of the streets are too narrow for vehicles. After lunch, we returned to the train station and took off for Seville. I recommend first class.

Seville is much larger than Cordoba. It, too, is full of very old Moorish architecture. Its old town is several times larger than Cordoba's. Our hotel is in the old town. Because the streets are so narrow, scooters are very popular. After arriving in an amazing taxi ride from the train station, we rested up a bit at the hotel (Hotel High Tech), then took a long walk around town. We ended up eating a wonderful meal at La Isla. Ron had salmon. Brian and I shared paella. All of it was delicious. We ended up at a gay bar (near the bull ring) for a drink of sangria. Ron and I returned to the hotel for bed. We've left Brian out to fend for himself.

The Window at La Isla