Portugal and Spain trip day 4: Cordoba to Grenada

 We had time this morning to wander through the old city of Cordoba, getting slightly lost in the Jewish Quarter's narrow, winding streets - whatever did people do before GPS and Google Maps?

We also visited the Mosque-Cathedral located directly across from our hotel on a very narrow street. So narrow that the early morning food and beverage delivery vans blocked the sidewalk (itself barely wide enough for one person) and most of the street. 

The Mosque-Cathedral is built on a site of a Visigothic Christian basilica. The Muslims who conquered this area in the 8th century built the mosque in 785, and it was expanded throughout the years into the 19th century. It was converted to a cathedral in 1236 when Cordoba was captured by Christians and reconstruction continues today.

The outside walls are virtually unchanged, and the inside retains beautiful mosque features along with the Christian cathedral that was built in the middle of the mosque. Many of the inside walls are lined with ornately designed small chapels.

doors to the Christian part of the building

one of the small ornate chapels

We left Cordoba about noon, riding out of the city toward Grenada under cloudy skies that threatened rain.

Almost the entire 120 mile ride today was through rolling hills covered with olive trees.

We continue to see walled castles on top of several high hills, and stopped in one - Baena - for coffee. 

Uwe, our motorcycle group tour leader, is a pro at navigating his way through the narrow, winding, and often very steep streets of these small towns before we get back on the 2-lane paved highways that wind through the increasingly mountainous countryside.

We were amazed at the number of olive trees and olive oil production facilities we saw until we learned that Spain is the largest producer of olive oil in the world. Every lunch and dinner we've had so far in Spain includes small dishes of olives brought to the table for appetizers and a bottle of olive oil to sprinkle over the meal.

We've had just about perfect motorcycle riding weather with temperatures in the high 60's into the high 70's. Although the overcast skies today meant that we couldn't see the higher mountain peaks in the distance, we really enjoyed riding on the curving roads up and down the hills and valleys.

We stopped under a bridge right before lunch to put on raingear, and it continued to rain off and on until we reached Grenada. We're staying here for 2 nights so that we can explore the Alhambra, the largest political and aristocratic center in the western Muslim world in the 13th-15th centuries, and the old city center of town tomorrow.

Portugal/Spain trip day 3: from Monsaraz Portugal to Cordoba Spain

 Before we left the rustic inn with low doorways and stone floors, I took a few minutes to walk through the lush gardens with orange trees and a variety of flowers.

We could see Spain across the Ria Guadiana from our hotel in Monsaraz, and it wasn't long before we rode across the long bridge and entered Spain.

Once in Spain we rode on quiet, curving 2-lane roads through agricultural areas with sheep, pigs, goats and cows around just about every corner.

We stopped for a photo opportunity outside Jerez de los Caballeros where a Moorish wall with 6 gates surrounds the inner city. Fun fact I just learned writing this blog: the explorers de Soto (Yucatan Peninsula and South America)  and Balboa (first European to cross Panama from the Atlantic to the Pacific) are both from this town.

A short ride later we stopped in Fregenal de la Sierra for coffee, and were pleasantly surprised to see several stork nests on the towers of the Templar castle, and storks flying overhead.

riding into town through narrow, brick-lined streets

look closely to see the storks!

Celtic ruins have been found in the town area, and the Muslims controlled much of Spain until the late 1200's when the Templar Knights took back this town. 

We went into the castle built in the mid-13th century, and walked around the top of the walls surrounding the bullring (added in the 18th century) in the center of the compound.

We had amazing views of the tiled roofs in the town from the castle walls.

Today's ride was about 200 miles, so we stopped for a quick lunch and then continued on a busier 2-lane highway up and down through low mountains. We passed larger agricultural areas that reminded us of the large farms in rolling hills of western New York state - complete with a big John Deere tractor store.

Riding into busy Cordoba, a city of about 322,000 people, was a bit challenging, especially with many tourists here for the upcoming Easter holiday. As we turned into the historic part of town, we rode down narrow, brick paved streets filled with people. Our hotel is directly across from the Great Mosque and a short walk to the Roman bridge across the river so after dinner (at 8:30pm which is early for the Spanish but late for us) we visited both.

Tomorrow morning our motorcycle group is visiting the inside of the Great Mosque before we get on the motorcycles to ride a couple of hours to Granada. We're looking forward to seeing more of Spain over the next few days.