Cordoba re-visited

Yesterday's highlight was a bus trip to Estacion Ferrocarril Maria Zambrano, to obtain a tarjeta dorada 40% OAP discount fare card for Clare and to book tickets for today's outing to Cordoba. We made sure to get to bed early last night to be sure of enough sleep before an early start for a day trip to Cordoba. A number three bus from outside the apartment just after eight took us directly to the station, so we were half an hour early for the high speed stopping train journey of 158km, taking just 65 minutes.

We walked from the station down to the Old Town to visit first the Mezquita/Catedral, which I first visited two years ago. This time, the ticket office and entrance queues were much shorter, although the entrance price has done up from €8 to €10. We spent an hour in there, walking right around the vast interior four times before leaving to hunt for a coffee and slice of Millehoja pastel. 

The day had started quite chilly in Cordoba, but the temperate rose in the afternoon to a pleasant 29C, warmer than Malaga in fact. We wandered around the streets in the vicinity of the Mezquita in search of the Jewish quarter. Sadly, the historic mediaeval synagogue is closed for repairs at the moment, but the Sephardi Jewish house across the narrow street from it, was still open to visitors. But first, where to have lunch in this barrio, with such a choice of cuisine available?

We settled for nearby Casa Mazal, specialising in Sephardi dishes. It's set in a quiet courtyard off the street, and offered an unusual range of kosher recipes, using nuts and dried fruit, couscous, fish, meat or vegetarian. We weren't disappointed, rather delighted with our chance discovery.

The Casa Sepharad is a showcase of Jewish culture and history. Sephardi were the original Spanish Jews  from ancient times with their own hybrid language, like Yiddish among the Ashkenazi Jews. Persecution from early on led to them settling all around the Mediterreanean, but in Spain under Arab rule they flourished and played a key part in intellectual life, especially in the origins of Renaissance thought in Spain.

The museum explains all this with engaging clarity, and also tells the stories of the part played by Muslims in protecting Jews from nazi persecution in the 20th century. I found this place during my previous visit to Cordoba, but had no time to do justice to what it presented. I was very glad to have been able to keep this particular promise to myself.

We walked the streets some more, crossed the first century Roman bridge over the rio Guadalquivir to see the Old Town from a different perspective, then slowly headed back towards the train station for the journey home, as tiredness set in from so much walking. By half past eight we were back at the apartment again, having supper and thinking about early bed-time yet again. So glad to have had the opportunity to share with Clare this remarkable unique city, once the capital of El Andalus, and now a World Heritage Site magnet for global tourism. You can see my photos here.