Cordoba

During our time in Sevilla we took a day trip to Cordoba. Convenient train connections make this a fairly simple undertaking. Our main goal was seeing the mosque-cathedral of the city. Unlike the cathedral in Seville where almost all of the preceding mosque was destroyed, this mezquita in Córdoba is a remarkable building. A Catholic church built inside the existing mosque. It is a clash of architecture unlike I’ve ever seen! (And to top it off some of the materials are from a prior Roman building!).

The scale of the building is enormous. There are seemingly acres and acres of of floor space, with the roof supported by hundreds of columns capped by candy-striped arches. You can wander around the entire structure, and you feel like an explorer. It’s truly stunning.

The children were less impressed by both the church and the nearby old town and Roman bridge (rebuilt). They did enjoy the Subway for lunch though!

We walked a bit around the city exploring the Christmas Market in a square where we had some lemon donuts (looked like apple cider donuts in color, texture and sugar coating). Apparently a holiday treat here. (And yummy!). With time to kill before our train back we found a playground with an enormous climbing structure that was high even for our kids!