Cordoba!

The next day we were off to Cordoba to visit the "cathedral within a mosque". Monique was already ruminating as I sat down to have breakfast and by this point I was so fed up of her and her witterings that I had to say something. As she sat down opposite me she immediately started in on whatever the hell was bothering her this morning so I told her that (a) at this point I'm full of cold and can't hear her as she was mumbling, and (b) would she mind giving me 15 minutes to have breakfast in peace because whatever was "wrong" - well I'm sure we could sort it out easily enough a bit later on. Pretty rude of course, but by this time I was really starting to have a belly full of her!

After that we headed out to Cordoba, where the main attraction was the "cathedral within a mosque". As I was about to get off the bus I put sunscreen on my arms because apparently we were in for another scorcher. At this point Motormouth asked if she could have some of the sunscreen so I handed it over to her - at which point Monique said that I shouldn't let her have any because it was up to her to bring her own. I mean, seriously???? When will she ever mind her own goddamn business???? We were given about an hour to ourselves when we first got there and after a little wander five of us sat down in the main square for a drink. I happened to notice that someone had left a parcel at an empty table next to ours so decided to take it into the bar and leave it with them for whenever its owner came back looking for it (a young woman came back about 15 minutes later). While I was in there I paid for the round of drinks, after which Monique tapped me on the arm and said that "on these trips people paid for their own drinks", to which I replied that €13 wasn't going to break the bank and in any case it was my pleasure to pay for a round". All of that earned me "oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, can I carry your bag, can I buy you a drink later"! I tell you, it was like this all bloody week and what I really wanted her to do was to back off and leave me in peace for a few bloody hours. (Oh, and it actually got even worse after this - and since we've been back in France - but I'm guessing that will come out in due course)!

Before heading to the mosque we had what turned out to be the best lunch of the trip. One thing we all agreed on was that the cold tomato soup was so very very good indeed. It's called salmorejo and is not gazpacho (can't stand the stuff) so I looked up the recipe when I got home and will be making it sometime this week as it could be a hit at our next board game evening. You can find the recipe here.

Salmorejo!

At lunch I ended up sitting next to Motormouth's mother and she turned out to be quite pleasant and good company (a) if you remembered to look at her when you spoke so that she could lip read and (b) if her bloody daughter would just leave her alone for five minutes straight. When I asked her if she would like some wine, she said just a drop - at which point her daughter chimed in that "non maman, I don't want you to have wine". So I asked her if she was on any medication that meant she shouldn't drink and she said no, it was just that her daughter thought she ruled the world and everyone in it - so I poured her less than an inch of wine in the bottom of her glass and she gave me a big smile as we clinked glasses! Apparently there is another daughter who is just as bad as Motormouth so I'm guessing life's not exactly a laugh a minute for this poor lady!

After lunch we headed out to the old town of Cordoba, which had once been the capital of what is now Spain during the Roman empire. The site of the mosque had originally been a Christian basilica, then the mosque was built on top of it and later a cathedral was built inside the mosque in the 16th century. As a result of all this, the cathedral within a mosque has the most unusual architecture I think I have ever seen - and all of it very beautiful, even if I do tend to prefer the Arab style when all's said and done

The town also has a "fiesta de los patios" where people compete to see who can create the most beautiful patios, which are open to the public to admire on that one day only!

This patio couldn't compete because
there are only small businesses here,
and no private homes!

After our visit we took a short walk around the Jewish quarter - again very interesting with amazing architecture - before heading back to our bus!

I can't remember this gent's name but despite his clothing style he was actually a Jewish man who made great advances in the treatment of eye ailments (I know, I know, that's probably a very bastardized explanation for the work of a man who was most likely a genius - sorry about that)!

After that it was just a matter of crossing the Roman bridge - which was apparently the only bridge into the old town for over 20 centuries! While we were waiting for our bus, Motormouth's mom raised her walking stick to point to something and the lower part of it flew off, just missing one of the men in our group. I must admit at this point if it had knocked Monique speechless for a while I can't say I would have minded but luckily, no-one was hurt!

The Roman Bridge!

When we got back to the hotel I got chatting to a couple of Scottish scaffolders, one of whom had burned to a fetching reddish colour somewhat akin to that of the salmorejo soup mentioned above. Monique started to wander over but as I made no attempt to include her in our conversation (they didn't speak French of course) she actually left me alone for one whole evening, so thank you lads, and I hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay!