Mezquita and Music

Late start, feeling under the weather. Went to lunch - fried eggplant (like hot Kumara chips), mushrooms with garlic (meh) and fried anchovies (yum, best in Spain so far). Then visited the Mezquita, a mosque cathedral.

This was originally a church, and then a mosque, and then a bigger mosque, and then finally a cathedral (the tower of which was essentially built in the middle of everything else). An interesting example of different cultures melding - although this may or may not be as true as has been suggested (certainly there were a lot of years full of religious persecution so who knows). And the Catholic Church has banned Muslims from holding services in the mosque cathedral to this day - so maybe not quite a multi religious paradise.

But politics aside, it was a nice building. Lots of red and white arches and then the very elaborate Christian trappings inside. Unusual and worth a visit (didn't go up the tower due to sore knees).

After that, a walk across the Roman bridge towards the Calahorra tower. But it wasn't particularly exciting so we turned back early. And glad we did as we stumbled across two young women playing Coldplay on violin and cello to a backing speaker underneath a ancient triumphal arch. They were amazing and proceeded to reel off a number of popular songs as played on their instruments (Hallelujah, Pirates of Carribean, Despacito and even Mamma Mia). Stayed there for about 30 minutes with a small crowd as was quite nice just standing in the sun listening to great music. Even bought their CD!

Then on to some more wandering, checked out the Street of the Flowers - a popular Instagram spot apparently. It was pretty cute with the whitewashed buildings and many flower pots. Then onward back home to rest up and turkish for dinner. Internet a bit slow so watched a web series (vlog format) on YouTube based on a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice - surprisingly good.Read more