Today is our day of rest and Rich and I definitely need it! Poor guy, he's been complaining about his sore bum from our first day of cycling, but he's hung in there and ridden the entire route each day. As for me, my thighs are definitely talking to me. I'm so glad we're able to spend our day off in Córdoba, one of my favorite Spanish towns. Becky and I were here almost 20 years ago with Paul and Morgan's high school Spanish class and, although a lot has changed in that time, a lot has remained the same.
Córdoba was originally a Roman town and the bridge across the Guadalquivir River still retains its ancient Roman foundations. In the sixth century, early Christians built the church of San Vincente. When the Moors conquered Córdoba in the eighth century they built their magnificent mosque (the Mezquita) on the site of the early church. In 1236 Christians reconquered the city and the Mezquita was converted back to a church. Today it retains its Moorish charm and is unlike any other Catholic Church I have ever seen.
Bell Tower/Minaret
Interior view of church
Mihrab - the mosque equivalent of a high altar
Besides visiting the Mezquita this morning, we took time to get our laundry done (so nice to have clean clothes again), wandered through the Alcazar and Patios areas of the old town, shared tapas for lunch, and then went to a Turkish bath for a soak, scrub and massage (just what my sore muscles needed!). We had dinner at an outdoor restaurant on Plaza de las Tendillas and again shared tapas. Jerry ordered a "mountain of potatoes with gulas" and when it came out, it looked like the mountain was covered by silver worms. Lee maintained the gulas were baby eels. They looked horrible and Rich (who won't eat squash, cooked carrots, avocado, whole wheat, or anything made with cinnamon) was the only one to eat them. Further internet investigation revealed that gulas are mock angulas and are not really baby eel, but are made with pollock.Guess we should have tried them.
Tomorrow we start riding again!
On Calle de las Flores
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