Courtney and I took a trip to Córdoba on our own. It was nice to get away from the city, see some countryside, and escape from the American scene that we always seem to get trapped into in Granada.
We bought our bus tickets online and were happy to discover that traveling by bus is easy and inexpensive. We got to the bus station with only 5 minutes to spare...our trip could have easily been over before it even began. Basically our commute to the bus station involved an urban bus strike, a very confusing taxi service, a bus ride after all, and almost not getting off at the right stop...I can't tell you how relieved I was to finally be on the bus to Córdoba.
We visited La Mezquita - a mosque built in the 8th century. The structure is a beautiful, elaborate mixture of Islamic and Catholic heritage. This tower was originally the mosque's minaret but was later turned into a bell tower.
Many of the arches and pillars were originally part of Roman and Visigoth buildings but were taken and used by the Moors to construct the mosque. There are more than 850 columns in La Mezquita.
The Mihrab is a small cutout in the wall that used to hold a copy of the Koran and was used for prayer.
La Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) is the main cathedral (there are many throughout the building). It was built right in the middle of the mosque during the reconquest.
Courtney and I also walked across La Puente Romana - a bridge built by the Romans over the Guadalquivir river.
We found a rope jungle gym and spent a good chunk of the afternoon climbing it and later just sitting in it reading a book. It was the biggest jungle gym I've ever seen - probably 20 feet tall. If I wrote my own guidebook the jungle gym would be second best to La Mezquita.
Here's a link to more pictures:
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