Cordoba

We took the fast Ave train from Seville to Cordoba right after our morning breakfast on the terrace at the Amadeus. They say it is only about a ten minute walk to the train station, but with our group we decided it was best to take two taxis (we had too many people for one). We sat in rush hour traffic for some time.

We did not want to wear them out before we got to the awesome Mezquita and just taxi to train seemed like a long haul to our elders who are not used to walking like everyone does here in Europe. (Or some octogenarians in the U.S like my mom and eighty two year old step dad who are walking, golfing, exercising fanatics who can out do most forty year olds). Their shoes bothered them too.

I hear some young kids have trouble keeping up, but Mozart must take after Grandma (or dad) as her energy is endless so she is a great walker. I am the slowest in our immediate family with my bad knee and excess weight. Not to mention my constant picture taking which slows me down. Still I do enjoy our days of walking in Europe as I have long been a walker too.

The Ave trains are just great. Our elders had recently taken some trips on Amtrak and could not help but compare how superior this train was to anything they had taken in the States. That was sad to hear as oil is running out, so it seems more important than ever to have a good rail system. DaVinci also loved it because it was so much easier than other places where we had taken trains. It was a lovely efficient service in every way in our experience.

We only had time for the highlights of Cordoba so we will have to come back for deeper exploration, but we are glad that we got a nice taste. We feel a little biased towards it because it is the boyhood home of our good friend in Malaga.We saw mostly the old quarter which has a similar feel to the white villages. I also like that it has a history of Jews, Christians and Arabs living an integrated life together for many years .

It is a city that goes back to Roman times and was the birthplace of Seneca (and three other famous philosophers). In the tenth century, when the rest of Europe was in the dark ages, Cordoba was a great city, the grandest city of the Western world. It had libraries, paved streets, baths and a world renown university with great mathematicians, philosophers and scientists. I found it a mysterious place in our short visit and look forward to learning more about it.