Day 8: Cordoba

We took the train to Codoba for the day.

In the Middle Ages, at the height of the Muslim empire, Spain was ruled by the Moors. I don’t remember all of the details (my Spanish history class was a long time ago…), but it was a very wealthy empire and Spain was the western capital. They built a huge palace in Grenada (the Alhambra), a palace in Seville (the Alcazar) and a giant mosque in Cordoba (the Misquita). It was expanded twice more and you can see the differences in the construction of you’re paying attention (or if you have a guide…). When King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel took over Spain and kicked out the Moors, they recaptured all of these sites. They built a huge cathedral inside of the Misquita, yet the Misquita is so big that you can’t hardly see the cathedral until you start looking for it.

So naturally, we had to visit.

While Pat and I bought tickets, the boys played in the courtyard.

Then the bells went off in the clocktower, which Josy loved. He found the bells fascinating, watching them go around and around.

Then we went inside.

If it was just Pat and I, we would have gotten the audio guides and spent hours listening to every thing we could. But with real little boys, that just want practical. So we had to rely on what I could remember from being here last time.

I loved the Misquita. Everything about it is beautiful. And the simplicity of the striped arches, contrasted with the intricacies of the walls and the elaborate cathedral is just amazing.

Then we stopped for lunch and Gabe stole my phone to take pictures of everyone. Some were happier about this than others.

Then we took the train back to Seville.

Once back in Seville, we went to dinner and then the boys decided to hang out in this window while Pat figured out how to find the ice cream shop he was looking for. These two are just so adorable!!!