Cordoba was a lot smaller than Sevilla, not to mention a lot quieter. We threw our stuff in our hotel—which was amazingly cute—and then headed straight to the Mezquita, which was 20 yards away from our front door.
We were welcomed by yet more orange groves in the courtyard and a beautiful sun. I just stood around a while so I could enjoy it. As soon as I entered the building I was frozen. I’ve decided all old buildings are freezing. I am so glad I didn’t live then—I’m a wuss when it come to cold. But the mosque/cathedral was awesome. I definitely enjoyed the Moorish part more than the Christian.
This building was originally a Muslim Mosque. They had created something unique in the world with the forest of candy-cane arches—which are famous around the world. It was absolutely incredible. The mosque itself is huge. It really is an incredibly massive building. And I think in Moorish times, the entire thing was filled with these arches—that would have been absolutely incredible to see. But then, the Christians conquered everything and built a cathedral in the middle of the mosque. It is really weird. It’s a complete clash of architectural styles and not in a good way. Sometimes things can clash and it will look good. This is not the case. You can see a very precise line where Muslim ends and Christian begins. It was just bizarre, and I liked the Moorish portion better.
After the mosque/cathedral we went exploring around Cordoba. We found the “old” Roman bridge, which had just finished a renovation. We talked to a native there and he told us that a lot of people were really mad when they finished the bridge. They had changed it completely and taken away everything ancient about it. I agree with them. It was a cool bridge, but it was a new bridge, over a rather pathetic river (Spain is in a drought).
We then spent the next four hours wandering around looking for something to do. We had several ideas, but each one was closed or not there anymore. So we just walked around the city. When we got back, everyone was planning a movie night. So, about 25 girls were piled into a room and they watched a chick flick. By this point, I was definitely not feeling so well, so I just went to bed.
Next day brought La Calle de Flores. It’s a little picturesque street lined with flowers with a view of the bell tower. It was really rather pretty, but there were so many people trying to get to it that you couldn’t get a clear shot. Oh, well, the pictures are still pretty cool.
We were welcomed by yet more orange groves in the courtyard and a beautiful sun. I just stood around a while so I could enjoy it. As soon as I entered the building I was frozen. I’ve decided all old buildings are freezing. I am so glad I didn’t live then—I’m a wuss when it come to cold. But the mosque/cathedral was awesome. I definitely enjoyed the Moorish part more than the Christian.
This building was originally a Muslim Mosque. They had created something unique in the world with the forest of candy-cane arches—which are famous around the world. It was absolutely incredible. The mosque itself is huge. It really is an incredibly massive building. And I think in Moorish times, the entire thing was filled with these arches—that would have been absolutely incredible to see. But then, the Christians conquered everything and built a cathedral in the middle of the mosque. It is really weird. It’s a complete clash of architectural styles and not in a good way. Sometimes things can clash and it will look good. This is not the case. You can see a very precise line where Muslim ends and Christian begins. It was just bizarre, and I liked the Moorish portion better.
After the mosque/cathedral we went exploring around Cordoba. We found the “old” Roman bridge, which had just finished a renovation. We talked to a native there and he told us that a lot of people were really mad when they finished the bridge. They had changed it completely and taken away everything ancient about it. I agree with them. It was a cool bridge, but it was a new bridge, over a rather pathetic river (Spain is in a drought).We then spent the next four hours wandering around looking for something to do. We had several ideas, but each one was closed or not there anymore. So we just walked around the city. When we got back, everyone was planning a movie night. So, about 25 girls were piled into a room and they watched a chick flick. By this point, I was definitely not feeling so well, so I just went to bed.
Next day brought La Calle de Flores. It’s a little picturesque street lined with flowers with a view of the bell tower. It was really rather pretty, but there were so many people trying to get to it that you couldn’t get a clear shot. Oh, well, the pictures are still pretty cool. 
Next was the Alcazar. The gardens were my favorite part. Even in winter, they were absolutely gorgeous. The fountains and trees were beautiful and I loved being there. For some reason (I think it’s a BYU thing) people in our group have decided to take mock engagement pictures on several of our trips. We only have four boys, so they just get recycled. This spot was no exception. And I 
really can’t blame them here, it was really beautiful. We didn’t fully explore the castle. We went up to the towers and walked along the walls—that was fun. We even found the Inquisition tower where they would execute the “guilty”.Then we had to rush back so we didn’t miss our bus to our next stop. . . Granada.
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