We both slept pretty poorly as we struggled to get synched with local time. Got up around 9:00 am and headed off for coffees at Tendillas Plaza. Neil's normal coffee drink is a mocha, but no one in Spain seems to know what a mocha is (or we can't figure out its Spanish equivalent). Neil ordered a Cafe Bombon, which was very sweet.
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| Mezquita |
Our plan was to get to the Mezquita by 10 am because entrance is free up until that time. We cut it too short and then blew it when we realized we didn't have our camera. By the time we went back to the hotel and got to the Mezquita it was a bit after ten o'clock (which we knew because, at 10, the call to prayer is broadcast on loud speakers all through the city). We got an audio tour, which we couldn't have gotten if we had gotten there before ten o'clock anyway. We spent 2-2.5 hours looking through the Mezquita. We found the self guided audioguide difficult to deal with. It was especially hard to figure out where the included map was telling us to stand before playing the appropriate audio description. On top of all that, the headsets were kind of heavy. In the end, Neil and I agreed that just taking the whole thing in without distraction was the best course for first contact. We preferred the darker, earlier built sections. The arches and color and the way the light was filtered were very pleasing. There was a mass with music going on when we entered, but it ended before we recorded any of it on our minicamcorder. The place was crawling with tour groups. The brochure put out by the cathedral was amusingly defensive about their part in the history of the Mezquita. (Upon the reconquest, the Christian rulers of Spain built a cathedral right smack in the middle of the Mezquita, which was a huge mosque.)
Upon leaving the Mezquita, we wandered along parallel to the river, acclimatizing to the light and heat and looking for something to eat. We found a place called Taverna de los Palcos ( = box / balcony) and had salads for lunch.
After lunch, we walked back to the hotel and had a nap until about 5:30 pm. Headed back to the Plaza de las Tendillas where Neil had another chocolate frappe. I went on by myself down the street toward the Mezquita into a modern commercial area. The stores had just reopened for the evening and my mission was to buy a bra. I was a little nervous because this was my first all Spanish interaction on my own. All went well!
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| Plaza Corredera |
We decided to check out the Museo de Belles Artes - the Fine Arts Museum. We plotted a route in the heat of late afternoon (42 degrees centigrade) that took us past an excavation of big Roman columns which were part of a temple built in the first century AD. We then found the Plaza Corredera, a huge square completely bounded by apartments and markets. We had read that courts of the Inquisition and bullfights had taken place there. As we walked on the back streets we saw lots of costumed children headed with their parents for some performance. During the entire afternoon and evening we also saw many priests, all carrying briefcases. Life is full of mysteries!
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| Garden Plaza in front of the Fine Arts Museum |
The list of things we did not understand kept growing. We got to the Fine Arts museum, which adjoined another museum around a pretty little square. The ticket office for the Fine Arts museum was empty and the museum appeared to be closed. There were signs posted that indicated that the museum was closed for renovation. The confusion mounted as we sat in the square, taking in the view and resting from the heat. People walked out of the door to the museum! When we went to the doors, we found that they automatically opened onto a desk with a guard. Upon trying to communicate with the guard, Neil thought that the guard told us that the museum was closed until next year. So..back out to the square we went and, as we sat there, more people came and went through the door! Finally, we went back in and talked to the guard again. He let us in (no charge) if we agreed that we were British! This is what I think was going on. The adjoining museum was, indeed, closed for renovation. The Fine Arts museum was open and free to citizens of the EU but, since the ticket office was unmanned, it was impossible to sell tickets to non-EU'ers. This is why the guard wouldn't let us through at first. Finally, realizing that we weren't going away and it was no big deal, he let us in as ersatz EU people.
The museum had a collection of art by locals. We thought from the tour book that there were El Greco's there, but no. Many other paintings described in the book were also not there. Upon further reading of Frommer, we found that the descriptions for the Fine Arts museums in Cordoba and Seville were identical. Since the description for the museum in Cordoba was incorrect, someone should tell Mr.Frommer.
After the museum, we walked along the river and then headed back to town along a different route. It was about 10:00 pm, still light, and about 90 degrees farenheit. We wandered from plaza to plaza looking for an inviting place for drinks and nibbles and ended up at the very busy Plaza San Miguel near our hotel. We adventurously ordered "higaditos de pollo", guessing it was a dish with figs and chicken. It turned out to be chicken livers.
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| Eating Late in Plaza San Miguel |
We finally stumbled back to our room after our long day. Before going to bed, I made my first attempt at handwashing our quick dry clothes in the sink and hanging them on the clothesline I strung across the bathroom. I thought I was semi-successful.
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