Headed to Córdoba to see the Mezquita -- an enormous 8th century mosque that has a 16th century cathedral sitting in the middle of it.
Had reserved a small compact manual car but the Hertz rep upsold me to a larger automatic with GPS, which turned out to be a blessing ... and later a curse.
Orange trees as far as you can see
'Fencing' around an orange grove
Nothing like a fence of cactus to keep orange thieves out!
Cotton fields, ready for picking
Bull rings in many towns though few hold bullfights anymore
Medieval streets of Córdoba. The GPS said to drive down this street - got to this point and the question of 'Why do the side mirrors turn in like big trucks?' was answered. Mirrors turned in and inched through the street, having to stop every foot or so to check on the clearance which was almost impossible to do given I couldn't open the car door. Profusely sweating hands (and armpits), white knuckles, terrified a car would come up behind me and honk for me to move faster than the snail's pace I was at, or worse, come towards and insist that I have to back up ... got to a convurgence of 3 streets where a tavern had half a dozen tables set out.
Great, now I had an audience of locals who appeared to pick this tavern for beer/coffee solely for its entertainment value of watching pathetic tourists such as myself attempt to navigate the ancient donkey cart streets.
No one spoke English to let me know if the hotel was close (hand waving and pointing in various directions depending on who looked at the piece of paper didn't reassure me I was headed in the right direction) and a cursory look down the street the GPS thought I should go in (damned Google street maps and the horse and rider they sent in here to map) and the street GOT NARROWER!
The locals got an entertainment bonus that day -- sat and watched as I attempted to turn around and almost got wedged between the walls. Nope, not a soul got up to direct. I imagine there are still some sitting around a beer retelling the tale of the 'Woman Who Took 1,001 Attempts to Turn Around'.
Back through the goat path I had already driven down, worse the second time as there was a scooter behind me who kept honking for me to go faster.
Finally out and then found a parkade outside of the old town and happily dragged luggage over rough cobblestones streets for 4 blocks to finally reach the hotel.
Making candy
Jamon (cured ham), Iberico ham being the most desired, made from black Iberian pigs that are fed only acorns or olives close to slaughtering time to give the ham a unique flavor. Triangular cups hanging underneath would catch any drippings.
Not a leg hold trap as I first thought and wondered at the gruesomeness of the display, was actually a device to hold the leg of pork for carving.
Potato omelette!
Spanish version of crows
Part of the courtyard of the Mezquita
Ceiling of the gateway entrance
Part of the original mosque, the conquering Christians saw the incredible beauty of the mosque and built their cathedral in the middle of the mosque, rather than destroy it.
The mihrab, like a mosque's version of a church's high altar.
Mezquita covers an area 600 x 400 feet - start of the cathedral at the back
Wealthy people would pay to be buried inside a cathedral/church so they were closer to God.
Pretty much every hilltop had a fortress with walled city - after a dozen in an afternoon, didn't feel like I needed to explore every single one.
Wandered down a side road lined by old trees ...
... led to the Monastery Santa Maria de las Escalonias - formerly the villa of a marquis and now a monastery where you can stay and be fed homegrown meals.
Gateway to one of the multitude of hilltop villages.
Hotel Oromana - grand old dame of a hotel built on a hilltop park in the 1920's.
hotel terrace overlooking the town.
Park forest around the hotel
Part of the aqueduct system below the hotel and still used today to bring water to the town.
Driveway to the hotel.
What do you say when this is the village you are from??
The Atlantic Ocean!
Great end of the day, sipping cerveza and watching the futbol game (Barcelona Vs Manchester) at a tavern terrace