Córdoba's Mezquita

Claire and I walk later that night all through the small alleyways and souks of Tangier, but it isn't nearly as overwhelming as Marrakesh. We are able to stop into stores and have a look around without being hounded by the shop owners. We look at dresses, baboushes and take random turns here and there. Down to the Port to buy (expensive) ferry tickets and then a walk along the boardwalk to find a restaurant for dinner. We have couscous and legumes at a nice resto where the server pours tea from WAYYY up high into this tiny glass- quite impressive, we watch him like it's a spectacle. All goes well until Claire finds a staple in her food- yup, that's right. We have quite a laugh. The guy sitting behind us is from Bahrain and he invites us to his hotel- "Uhhh, no thanks." Sketchy! The taxi driver speaks really rreally bad English and tries to explain the difference in hotels, between "The interconti-mental" and the "enter-konti-mental"- great, thanks for clearing that up. Back at our hotel, or should I say, palace, we have the WHOLE place to ourselves and are so silly. We ask Abdul a few times for mint tea refills and we snuggle under our massive duvet comforter and read into the wee hours of the night. The rain falls outside, but we are so so cozy in our private palace :)
Up early to catch the ferry over to Spain, Tangier to Algeciras, the weather is shit-tastic. So much for sun in Spain (!) We eat at this incredibly sketchy resto in the shit town of Algeciras, nothing much there other than a port. We wait for hours at the train station for our train to Cordoba, which we get in the late afternoon. The train ride is gorgeous and sooo worth it! The landscape changes around every bend on the 3hr ride- from high mountains to valleys, to horse pastures, to small towns built on a hill, to vineyards bursting with Spanish grapes, to old farms, and then a beautiful sunset over the horizon. I love the region of Andalucía.
That night, once we get into our hostel in Cordoba, we walk around a bit in the old part of town. So quiet here! This place is a ghost town, but luckily the two of us feel very safe. We walk around huge ancient Roman walls and old medieval castles. Claire is totally in her element- loves speaking Spanish, loves the culture and loves the food. I know very little about Spanish culture, but this is a great way to start learning .
We find a nice little resto called Bodega Mezquita and order a phenomenal bottle of Cordoban wine, only €5! It was so delicious. Order a bunch of tapas, naturally, including whitefish and peppers, artichokes and garlic, and chorizo. Get a litttttle tipsy off a bottle of wine split between the two of us... but conversation soons opens up about Spanish wine, culture, history, music.
We make our way back to Lucano st. and crash. This morning, we explore the Roman bridge built across the river and the outdoor courtyard of the famous Mezquita. There are orange trees overhead, and inside the cathedral is stunning. Big red and white archways stretch overhead and don't ever seem to end; they are a perfect example of symmetry, design and color. I really love Moorish architecture. But more importantly is the mix of Christianity and Islam, a great building that started as a mosque but was taken over by the Christians, making it a hybrid cathedral and mix of two great cultures. Claire and I explore La Judeíra, the old Jewish quarter with whitewashed streets and winding, twisty cobblestones streets. This leads into the modern part of the city, with shopping centres blah blah I prefer the old!
Off to Sevilla!!