Showing posts with label Cordoba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cordoba. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Virtual Tour of Spain: Day Five: Cordoba (May 12, 2020)

Welcome to our "Virtual Tour of Spain" May 8 to 22, 2020!
Day Five: Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Day Exploring Cordoba
Mezquita, Hamam, Arab, Jewish, Catholic History
Cordoba Mezquita Photo By Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA - Cordoba-32, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79565051

Good evening everyone!  On our fifth day of our Virtual Tour of Spain, we've had a bit of rain this morning in Cordoba but our temperatures today and tomorrow are pleasant -- 68 is the high and 51 is the low. We are staying at the Lofts Trigo 13, cute loft apartments about half a mile east of the Mezquita-Catedral.  For a splurge, we highly recommend Las Casa de la Juderia, with its haunting sense of the Jewish heritage of Cordoba.

Cordoba's history blends three distinct influences: the Arab/Muslim culture of Islam (756AD to 1236AD), Jewish Sephardic tradition, and Christian. 

Wikipedia provides a rich history of Cordoba.  Here's a bit of background from  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juder%C3%ADa_de_C%C3%B3rdoba

"Córdoba went through a period when three peoples (Christian, Jewish and Muslim) and their respective religions lived together, albeit, the non-Muslim population living subjugated under Islamic Law with Jews having their own court system. Walking through the Jewish Quarter, along the Calle de los Judíos (Jewish Street), visitors can now find a magnificent bronze statue dedicated to Maimónides, the great Jewish philosopher and doctor from Córdoba.

 "During this period, the majority of the Jewish people lived under the rule of Islam. During the four years of Umayyad hegemony, cultural, artistic and commercial Muslim activities turned Al-Ándalus (Muslim Spain) into the most cultured country in Europe. Historians talk of Córdoba with admiration, the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, which turned into a magnificent cultural centre with its lakes and parks, amazing palaces and mosques. The court attracted and exercised its patronage over poets and philosophers, men of literature and science.

 "During the 10th century, Córdoba was the largest economic and cultural centre of the Western world.

 "In 756 AD, the Umayyad Abd-al-Rahman I, turned Córdoba into the capital of Muslim Spain and during the following 250 years it turned into one of the largest commercial and intellectual centres in the world. In 929 AD, Abd-al-Rahman III, proclaimed the caliphate and the city reached its highest splendour, rivalling Damascus and Baghdad, centres of great economic and intellectual prosperity. From the 11th century, due to the disintegration of Muslim power in Spain, part of the cultural success of Córdoba was lost, although it remained a centre for people of literature and scholars. In the 12th century, the actions of philosophers Averroes and Maimónides stand out. In 1236, Fernando III el Santo (The Saint) took the city and integrated it into the Kingdom of Castile."

Today is a walking day through the streets and history of Cordoba.  We're off very early to the Mezquita in time for its 8:30am to 9:30am "admission-free" hour ... most special because its the best time to feel like you are not crowded in your visit.  For our virtual tour, we have three YouTube videos to enjoy. The first is an excellent walk-through the Mezquita and the most interesting parts of Cordoba.  To me the most important value of this first YouTube video is the rich visual view of the town:


Up next, a very different viewpoint from the perspective of an Islamic pilgrim to Muslim Cordoba,  Samran Ghazi:


Finally, a review of the spirit of Al-Andalus:


Orientation Map
Now, we are ready for our walking tour of Cordoba.  To set the stage, here is the Google Maps view of the town, in our starting view our map is centered on the Mezquita. Use fingers or mouse to navigate. Like we have presented over the past several days, you can navigate by zooming in with the + control on lower right, and then use two fingers to swipe left or right, or up or down to navigate position:


Several treats in store for today.  We set an appointment for the Hammam al Andalus Cordoba (located at Calle Corregidor Luis de la Cerda, 51, just three minutes walk from the Mezquita), for hot and cold baths and a rubdown on a stone slab.  Just the thing to get you into the spirit of Al-Andalus times.


Up next, we go back in time through a PBS YouTube video looking at the Jewish heritage of Cordoba:


And finally, a video without narrative, a walk through the Juderia ... the Jewish quarter of Cordoba:


Tech notes about navigating in Google Street Views: When viewing the "Virtual Tour of Spain" daily entries on a phone, you may find that you can get "stuck" within a Google Street View while you are swiping up or down on the page. That's because the Google Street View image is live and responds to your finger swiping. Just swipe up or down on the LEFT or RIGHT MARGINS (outside of the Street View image), and your navigation up or down the page continues normally.

Virtual Walk Through Cordoba
We'll conclude our day in Cordoba with YOUR OWN walks through the town, beginning in the Jewish quarter, at Las Casas de la Juderia.  Navigate virtually through the town as we have over the past four days: tap or click in the center of the Google Street View Map, below, to move ahead, and use your finger (or mouse) to drag left or right or up or down to navigate through the Street View. To navigate up or down this page without moving the Google Street View, use your finger navigate along the left and right edges of the Street View image (in the left or right margin), avoiding the Street View image itself:


We'll leave you with the Google Street View from yesterday's arrival in Cordoba ... very close to the Mezquita.



That's our DAY FIVE!  Enjoy your evening! Tomorrow we'll take an early train from Cordoba to Sevilla where we'll spend a good deal of time in the old quarter and enjoying the flamenco heritage of Spain! Ole!

Abrazos
--Don

UP NEXT TOMORROW:  Exploring Sevilla

Links to prior days of our Virtual Tour of Spain:

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Monday, May 11, 2020

Virtual Tour of Spain: Day Four: Chocolate & Churros, Toledo, Cordoba (May 11, 2020)

Welcome to our "Virtual Tour of Spain" May 8 to 22, 2020!
Day Four: Monday, May 11, 2020
1) Chocolate and Churros!
2) Train to Toledo and back to Madrid
3) Train to Cordoba!

Good evening everyone!  On our fourth day of our Virtual Tour of Spain, I'm posting this late night from Cordoba after a long day of travel today that included a town walk in beautiful Toledo this morning and through the mid-afternoon.  This morning was chilly in Madrid ... about 60 degrees and warming up to 68 as the day progressed.  It had rained overnight so the streets glistened as we looked out this morning and began our walk.

After our last full day in Madrid yesterday (Sunday) and with memories in our head of the great talk given by Prado's Head of the Department of Prints and Drawings, Jose Manuel Matilla, we could NOT miss one of the special treats of Madrid, Chocolate and Churros at Chocolateria San Gines, very near Plaza Major (at Pasadizo de San Ginés, 5). So, knowing that we had some brisk walking ahead (about 2 miles total) to get to Madrid's Atocha rail station for our 9:20am train to Toledo this morning, bags were packed and ready by 6am, and we checked out of our hotel at 6:15am, walked to get our Chocolate and Churros, to make it to Atocha by 7:30am.

Here's our orientation map for today.  The plan is to go to Chocolateria San Gines by 6:30am, to have a leisurely Hot Chocolate and Churros, then leave by 7am for the 30 minute walk to Atocha.  We'll store our roller bags at the baggage lockers in Atocha (for a fee), take the train to Toledo, return to Madrid on the 4:18pm train, retrieve our bags, and then make the 6pm AVE train for Cordoba, arriving at 7:43pm.  We also planned (and succeeded!) to get ALL our Spain rail tickets, and the Tarjeta Dorada for our 25%-40% discount, in Atocha before boarding our train to Toleda.  Ambitious day!!  Here's our map:

Today's Walking Map for Orientation
Our walk today takes us from our hotel in center city south to Chocolateria San Gines, and then to Atocha rail station.  Total walking distance is about two miles:


Off to Chocolateria San Gines!
It's only about 12 minutes walk from our hotel to the mecca for Chocolate and Churros -- the Chocolateria San Gines.  We're there by 6:30am.  This is no ordinary chocolate place ... it's been here since 1894 and is open 24-hours.  This is also no ordinary hot chocolate either ... it's like a hot, thick chocolate pudding.  The "churros" are long rods that look like fried donuts ... infinite length, hot, crusty, and ready for dipping into our thick chocolate.  Take a look at the two YouTube videos below and you'll get NEARLY everything about this experience except for the hypnotic smell and taste!  Oh, my!

First YouTube video is just shy of three minutes, and is really well done.


Now, it's all about what happens in the cup in front of you ... here's an awesome 23 seconds YouTube video of the magic in the cup!


OK!!  We've soaked in the ambiance of San Gines, and now it's 7:00am, time to get to Atocha rail station to get our full complement of tickets for the next ten days' travel in Spain, as well as our "tarjeta dorada" -- the "Gold Card" for senior discount rail tickets. Our walk takes 30 minutes and, with passport in hand, we purchase our tarjeta dorada and all eight tickets we'll need for today and the next ten days.

Our AVANT train departs Atoche at 9:20am, and arrives into Toledo rail station at 9:53am. Here we are about to board ...


and on board for the 30-minute trip ...


When we arrived into Toledo we took the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus just outside the train station.  There's a ticket seller just inside the station.  The bus whisks us off to an incredible vantage point across from the town of Toledo for a classic photo, then goes into the center of town to drop us off for our walking tour through Toledo.  Remember Ruben who took us through El Rastro on Sunday?  Well we're lucky to have Ruben as host on his YouTube video visit to Toledo for our virtual tour today:


A bit of rain starts to fall in the afternoon, but we can't get enough of this charming town with crazy hills and ancient cobblestone streets.  Here's an orientation map ... zoom in (with the PLUS tool on the lower right) to see all the streets in the town, hold two fingers on the image and move to left or right to navigate:


Virtual Walk Through Toledo
Now, here's a real treat: Navigate virtually through the town as we have over the past three days: tap or click in the center of the Google Street View Map, below, to move ahead, and use your finger (or mouse) to drag left or right or up or down to navigate through the Street View:

It's getting time to return to Madrid: We'll depart Toledo by train aboard the 4:18pm AVANT-08163, arriving into Madrid Atocha station at 4:51pm. We make a bee-line for the lockers, gather our bags, then board our train from Madrid to Cordoba, departing Madrid at 6pm aboard AVE–02180, arriving Cordoba at 7:43pm tonight

In Cordoba!
We'll leave you with another Google Street View to navigate a bit in Cordoba ... very close to the Mezquita, not too far of a walk southeast from the rail station.  Explore and see whether you can get to the Mezquita!  Don't worry if you get lost!  We'll be doing a lot more exploring tomorrow.  We'll also give you more detail about where we are staying tonight and tomorrow night.  But for now, it's been a long day ... time for a snack and to sleep!

Wander through Cordoba ... more tomorrow!



That's our DAY FOUR!  Enjoy your evening! Tomorrow is our early exploration of Cordoba and our entry to Mezquita before regular opening times ... we'll explain!

Abrazos
--Don

UP NEXT TOMORROW:  Exploring Cordoba

Links to prior days of our Virtual Tour of Spain:
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