Camino Mozarabe Day 9: Rest day in Cordoba

Day 9: Rest day in Cordoba.

We had a lazy start to the day, relaxing after breakfast and reading the paper, we managed to get WiFi at last and downloaded the 'Telegraph'. It was 9am when we got out and a little chilly, but it promised to be another nice warm day. The first thing we did when we left the hotel was head for the Cathedral.

It cost E8 each to visit the mosque that had been converted to a Cathedral. It was breathtaking as soon as we entered. The inside was very like the mosque we had been to in Casablanca with a huge central area that was just a mass of columns and archways. When it was taken over as a Christian Cathedral the area between the columns  around the walls had been converted into separate chapels with much statuary, paintings and religious decoration which is abhorrent to the Islam Faith. The centre of the floor area and been built into a typical Spanish type altar with lots of gold and elaborate decoration. The carvings of the choir stalls and on the ceilings were particularly impressive. A lot of the carvings had been restored and may be quite modern but examples of the remains of the originals were on display in museum cases. We spent well over a hour there and it was certainly worth the visit.

While in the Cathedral we spoke to a man from Sweden who told us that the gardens were worth seeing, they were free to pensioners. Unfortunately we couldn't find the gardens he was referring to, the ones running down the length of the city walls weren't particularly exciting and were free anyway. Instead we decided to trace the route for leaving the city tomorrow. We checked at two different tourist offices but they weren't any help not knowing anything about the Camino. I asked for directions to the Avenida Blas Infante where Cicerone says the waymarking begins again; they didn't know where the road was and had to check on the computer, the conclusion was that it was way off the edge of the city street map. Instead we decided to start at the Camino Mozarabe de Santiago sign we had seen high on the wall of the Cathedral just over the Roman bridge we crossed yesterday. 

It turned out that the route was well marked. We followed the signs to where we saw others last night near the Iglesia de Santiago. From there they directed us along narrow streets to the Iglesia San Lorenzo then it was up to a busy street, Ronda del Marrubial. Now we turned into a small street and were off the map. By now we were quite happy that the route was well marked and there were now road signs directing traffic to the N432 which was on our route, so we turned back. First we had a break for a coffee at a nearby cafe and checked the map. I found that there was a more direct route to where we were if we took the major avenues round the outside of the inner city. We decide to return to Hostal Alcazar that way.

When we reached Ronda del Marrubial again we turned in the other direction meeting  Avenida de las Ollerias a busy tree lined thoroughfare. That then took us to the Avenida de America where we strolled through tree lined gardens before turning down more street gardens on Avenida Servantes. These garden walks led all the way to the city walls where we were earlier this morning. On the way we saw a Chinese restaurant offering a 'menu del dia' for E6.50. I don't 

actually like Chinese food but decided to give it a try. It was very good, we both had the same, spring roll and salad to start, then duck with rice, and finishing with iced cream, there was also a beer to wash it all down. While we were walking along these shopping areas we were on the lookout for an ironmonger's or hardware shop. We found one and asked for a Camping Gaz cyclinder for our cooker, we even had the burner attachment to show what we required. He didn't have any but a customer who was there marked on our map the street with a shop that he thought might have them. As it was after 1am and siesta time we reckoned it would be closed so decided to go later this afternoon. In the meantime we headed back to the hotel for a break and a rest. The conclusion after our route research was the main Avenida option was much longer and we would be better to stick to following the signs tomorrow.

We spent a couple of hours in the cool of our room until 4:30 pm relaxing and reading today's newspaper which Moira had downloaded. When we went out it had cooled down and was a pleasant evening as we made our way to find the shop, that the man had marked on our map, for a Gaz cylinder. It was up near the Iglesia San Lorenzo where we had walked this morning following the Camino signs but this time we took a more direct route, more or less straight up from the river. On the way we came across another ironmonger's and he had the small puncture type Gaz containers in the window, but it was still siesta time. We went to a bench to sit and wait the 1 minute until 5 pm his opening time expecting it to be 10. But, surprise, surprise, we were hardly sat down and there he was opening up. Our joy evaporated when he gave us a blank look when Moira showed him the burner attachment and all he could offer was the puncture type we saw in the window which we were under the impression were now illegal for safety reasons.

We continued on our way to the spot marked on our map. It was only a short distance from the San Lorenzo church and we remembered seeing a truck delivering large gas canisters there this morning. Not now holding out much hope we found the shop and in the window it had gas appliances of all shapes and sizes so we might be lucky. But it was closed, it's hours were from 9am to 2pm then closed for the rest of the day. We decided as tomorrow was a short walk, only 18 km we would leave later and get here for it opening at 9am. Not yet giving up on our quest for gas we headed for a shopping mall near the river that had the Eroski supermarket sign on top. The thought was that there may be a Decathlon sports shop there and they sell Camping Gaz equipment.

Rather than take the main road to the river we made our way through the narrow quiet lanes with overhanging balconies, typically Spanish. They were mostly traffic free but occasionally we had to press our bodies against the wall to allow a car to pass. At the mall we had no joy finding a Decathlon so decided to do some shopping at Eroski before heading back to the hotel. It was more a hypermarket then a supermarket and we looked at the sports section only to find a shelf with Gaz cyclinders of all sizes, at last we got what we were looking for. We did our other shopping, bread, milk, etc then headed for the hotel.

When we reached the Roman bridge we cut up past the Cathedral and through the town. I was looking for the Spanish Inquisition museum; an American that was staying at our hotel told me last night he had visited it and found it gruesome, it was in amongst the trashy souvenir shops. There was a passageway with suits of armour on display and stories about the Inquisition on information boards but the main exhibition was in six rooms costing E3 each to go in. We didn't bother. Instead we continued our walk round and went up a lane to the Synagogue. There was a signpost directing us up this lane but nothing on the buildings indicating which one was the Synagogue, everything was closed anyway. From there we came to the city walls and returned through the gardens to our hotel.

We had a snack of bread and cheese with some wine then settled down to read. The Internet signal was good and we were able to listen to the radio. It was budget day in the UK which was the main news with the Chancellor giving us a little help by increasing our tax free allowance. Later we listened to the quiz, 'Brain of Britain'. Before going to bed Moira managed to get us booked into an hotel in Cerro Muriano where we finish tomorrow's section.