Spain trip - Córdoba

After the whirl that was Madrid it was nice to slow things down just a tad with the AVE train (pun intended) to Córdoba.  

Charles caught an early train south (he really has not needed to worry with being early on this trip!), arriving before 9 am. There was nothing indicating a "hop-on-off" bus was nearby so he took a taxi to the gates of the old city and waited (never his strong suit) for the bus to arrive. Taking the bus to get an overview was a good idea before striking out on his own to see what could be seen in this amazing place.

Córdoba is everything you might imagine in a medieval town: everything is packed together and bustling. It reminded Charles of Venice in that while tourists might flock here for the ambiance, it is still a thriving community where people live, work, and raise families.

To summarize what Charles saw (he lost his camera so this is coming largely from memory):

Iglesia de San LorenzoIglesia de San Pedro

Iglesia de San Francisco y San Eulogio de la Axerquia

Museo Julio Romero de Torres - Home-town artistic genius
Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts)

Parroquia de San Andrés Apóstol

Temple Romano (1st c. BC) - Evidence of Rome's presence is everywhere

Capilla Mudejar & San Barthlomew - Christian worship space during the time of the Muslim Caliphs
Central Flamenco Fosforito - Everything you ever wanted to know about Flamenco!
Museo Taurino - A shrine/hall of fame to everything connected to bull fighting (except the smell)
Sinagoga of Cordoba - all that remains of a once thriving Jewish community.
Alcazar de los Reyes Christianos - the palace of the Spanish kings during the era of the reconquest 
Merquita/Cathedral of Cordoba - This is everything you'd imagine from a medieval mosque-turned-cathedral and so much more. Each of the side chapels is a work of art and the building along could fill books with descriptions of the arches.

Tally Museums: six today (eleven total); Churches: seven today (sixteen total)

Other than a lost camera in the cab ride back to the train station, today was pretty amazing. After checking into a quirky hotel in Seville, it was time to enjoy Charles' first tapas meal in Spain at the hotel and then a quick foray to a store to get a new camera.