A Year Abroad: Cordoba.

I chose Cordoba over Granada. Granada is a much bigger city, but I liked the sound of Cordoba. It sounded familiar. I remembered later that I think missionaries who had once visited my church in Australia were living in Cordoba.

It was quite a small town, but steeped in history. And it was beautiful to look at. A hotel there was the same price as a hostel, so we had a private room (which made it so much harder to go back to sharing room space with others).

Despite the fire on our last train, Renfe trains are pretty comfy and clean. It's kind of like the equivalent of travelling on the Indian Pacific, not that I've ever done that before... But what I imagine it would be like. Headphones are given out before you leave and a movie plays on screens around the carriage.

It was soooooo hot when we arrived (38 degrees). But we went out exploring. We walked across a bridge to the other side of the river and discovered an amazing view of the town. We then crossed back through the arc de triomphe and headed to the Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs. Built in the 1300's, it was once the home of several kings and queens. It was amazing to look through. Super old, but super beautiful inside and out. The gardens were probably the most impressive I've ever seen. The ticket we bought also allowed us to go back in at night and see a light and water show, which was cool too!

After we left, to escape the heat, we headed to an Arab tea house for some refreshing melocoton ice tea.

After the light show that night, we headed to the main square for drinks.

The next morning, we got up early and headed to the Mosque Cathedral in the centre of old town. For an hour every morning it's free entry. It's 8 euros every other time, so we just decided to cop the early morning and go. Unfortunately, you can't get in with bare shoulders, so Nat waited outside while I ran inside before free time ended. It was so cool that we decided to go back the next morning too, wearing appropriate attire!

After shopping that afternoon, we siestaed for a while and then headed to Hammam for an Arab bath. THIS WAS AMAZING! I have no photos of it as you're not allowed to take any inside, but we paid for baths and a massage. There are four baths inside, each a different temperature. One is like ice, the second is a large pool of luke warm water. The third is like boiling water. And the fourth is a steam room. As it's based on a traditional arab bath house, the interior was beautifully tiled in arabic patterns, etc. A guy did my massage, which was super relaxing!

The night Nat tried the local dish of Bull's tail, while I went for eggplant and honey. Both delish!

DAY ONE