In lovely (but very touristy) Cordoba

Yesterday afternoon I was delighted to go down to the bar next to my hostal and see three women, obviously walkers, sitting there. Thinking that my days of walking alone might be coming to an end, we started talking. How bummed was I to learn that the single Spanish woman had been injured and was taking a bus tomorrow, and that the two Finnish women were stopping today in Córdoba. Maybe I’m destined to walk alone for a while.

The 27 km into Córdoba—did someone say olives? But wait, there were also gorgeous green fields and wildflowers. And when I was about 10 km from the city, the olive trees disappeared altogether. Oh but the walk into town. I saw the city at least 10 km away—HUGE and sprawling. But the agricultural track was serpentine, weaving around with no clear direction into town. But finally when I got really close I was very happy to find that the camino deposited us in a residential section very close to the mosque. I going my cheap hotel, showered and washed clothes, and found a non-touristy highly rated Italian restaurant. Splurged a little and had an excellent meal.

By 3:30 I was back in tourist central, eager to visit the mosque. The guy in the ticket office told me that things would be much quieter if I came back around 5:30. So I did my grocery shopping and wandered around bumping into a first century Roman temple and a very nice plaza.

Then back to the mezquita. Though the superimposition of Catholic renaissance architecture is kind of jarring, at least they left stuff standing. Unlike the Moors, who tore down the Visigothic temples, or the Visigoths, who tore down the Roman temples. All here in many layers. Once the groups are all gone, it’s an amazingly lovely place to sit and contemplate.

Long walk tomorrow so I should go rest up!Read more