Recently returned from 2 weeks in Spain with my mother. Our trip was a combination of tourism, visiting Spanish friends, and an opportunity for me to take some flamenco dancing classes in Seville, having been taking classes in France and now Belgium (where I live) for the last few years.

Our itinerary:
Seville- 7 nights
Cordoba - 1 night
Toledo - 2 nights
Madrid - 3 nights

<b>Travel and transport</b>
We flew into Seville and out of Madrid. Me with SN Brussels, mother with Iberia.

Took the AVE from Seville to Cordoba and Cordoba to Madrid. Purchased tickets from a travel agent on arrival in Seville. We then had to change our reservations in order to travel on a later train, which we were able to do easily at the RENFE office in Seville on Calle Zaragoza.

Hired car to drive from Madrid to Toledo and back. Picked up car at Europcar office, Atocha station. Had a nightmare getting out of Madrid as there were roadworks on much of the ringroad, the M30, leading to massive confusion re. signposting, lanes, etc.

Within Seville we used the bus network regularly: we purchased a 10-journey bus ticket (<i>Bonobus</i from a tobacconist's shop (<i>estanco</i which we then had to validate in a machine next to the driver upon boarding the bus.

In Madrid, we walked and used taxis (cheap and plentiful), buses and metro (again buying a 10-journey card, this time from the machine at Goya metro station).


<b>Accommodation</b>

<b>Seville </b>
We stayed with old family friends (who are from Seville), who live in an apartment in the north-east of city, near Maria Luisa park and the so-called Estrella district. This was a residential area, mainly apartment blocks and also an older quarter of lovely old villas with patios and leafy gardens, jasmine tumbling over the railings and orange trees beginning to come into fruit. Definitely not a touristy area, and not one I’d recommend for tourists as it was a bit far out (had to get the bus into the centre), although perfectly pleasant with good connections and some decent restaurants and bars.

<b>Cordoba: Hostal Lineros 38</b> www. Hostallineros38.com
Wonderful, atmospheric hostal built and decorated in beautiful Moorish style. Had Suite for 2 (room 8) which was gorgeously decorated with Moroccan fabrics, painted furniture etc. Huge 4 poster double bed and 2 divans made up as beds, arorned with richly coloured cushions. No exterior window – suite looks onto inner courtyard (lovely moorish arched windows though). Creaky doors and a bit of noise coming up from inner courtyard, but nothing unbearable. The room had an air con unit, so I assume it would be nice and cool in the summer.

Bathroom d&eacute;cor was a bit spartan, but the room was large, with a lovely big corner bath with bubble jets.

The hostal was well located on a quiet street in the old city centre, pleasant 10 minute walk to cathedral. Taxi from train station – approx 8 euros.
Staff: incredibly pleasant and helpful. Managed to get us a table at the upmarket restaurant on the same street, despite the restaurant initially claiming that they were full.

No breakfast but plenty of caf&eacute;s a couple of minutes walk away, serving full spanish breakfast.

<b>Toledo: Parador</b>
Hard to find – we had to drive round the most confusing and dangerous looking roundabout I’ve ever seen! We should have printed out a good map of the location instead of assuming we’d just find it based on signposting.

Room (no 49 – standard room) had large terrace (bigger than the rooms on either side) and view of pool and surrounding countryside. Partial view of Toledo city but room didn’t overlook the town/river directly.
Nice size room with twin beds and large bathroom.

Reception staff were excellent and efficient, but there simply weren’t enough staff in the bar/restaurant to deal with the number of people. We were there on a holiday weekend, and the terrace bar with its stunning views of Toledo, and the restaurant, were very busy with hotel residents and non-residents alike. The staff were very friendly but simply seemed run off their feet. One evening there was clearly a conference at the hotel and again, the restaurant staff in the evening seemed unable to cope, and had run out of many dishes before we came down to dinner at 9 pm, which is early by Spanish standards. I imagine this wouldn’t be a problem on non-holiday weekends though.

<b>Madrid: Apartamentos Goya 75</b>
We wanted an aparthotel for the Madrid portion of our trip as we wanted to be able to prepare our own food some days, and to have 2 bedrooms (or rather, bedroom and sitting room with sofa-bed). Found this place on the internet and booked through Softguide.com (http://www.softguides.com/madrid_gui...75_Madrid.html). My mother knows Madrid well, having lived, studied and worked there on various occasions when she was younger. She thought that the location, just off Calle Goya, would be perfect and felt staying in the more touristy area round Puerta del Sol would not be as pleasant.

We couldn’t have been happier with the location, as Goya is one of the major, more upmarket shopping streets in Madrid, well served by metro (three stops away from the Paseo del Prado) and a stone’s throw from all the designer stores on Serrano (we love to shop )

The apartment itself was in a large block that was a mix of residential and serviced apartments. It had a medium-sized sitting room with kitchenette, fold out sofa bed, table and chairs, and small TV. The bedroom was small but pleasant, with 2 twins, and adjoining bathroom with bath/shower. Our only problem was that the place was boiling hot, with the radiators on full blast, despite the fact that it was not cold outside. Within minutes I felt like I was in an oven, and tried to turn the radiators down. Unfortunately the one in the living room was missing the control button and would have required pliers to adjust.

We also noticed that one of the plug sockets behind the sofa, where the TV was connected, was half broken and coming out of the wall. We mentioned these problems that evening to the person at reception, and the next day somebody came round and turned the heating off and fitted a new plug socket. I thought they were very efficient. The apartment was cleaned everyday, with new towels provided, which I wasn’t expecting.

Overall perfectly satisfied, although this was a functional, comfortable place to stay and certainly couldn’t be described as charming.

<i>Next: Food and sightseeing</i>

Hola

Thanks for the info. We were in Spain in June this year and your notes bring back great memories. BTW - how much did you pay per night at Hostal Lineros 38?

Gracias

Worldinabag, the rate at Hostal Lineros was approx 96 euros for the room, including tax.
Which reminds me, I should have included the rates for the other hotels.
Parador rate was approx 130 euros, room only, plus 11 euros for breakfast.
Apartamentos Goya was approx 100 euros per night.

Nice report, hanl. Was in the Madrid area last June, and so I am enjoying reading about your trip. Keep posting!

<b>Food</b>

I lived in Spain (Granada) for about 6 months in 1995, but apart from a few tapas, I don't remember the food being particularly memorable.
(Although this may have been due to me prefering to spend my student budget on beer rather than expensive restaurants!!)

Anyway, in the 10 years that have gone by since then (6 of which I spent living in France), I have become a bit of a foodie, and I love preparing various tapas, gazpacho, tortilla de patatas, etc. at home.

So I was looking forward to tucking into lots of Spanish treats, and hopefully picking up a few ideas for meals to recreate at home.

And I certainly wasn't disappointed!!

Seville:
As we were staying with friends, we didn't eat out for every meal. Instead we had the chance to enjoy some Spanish home cooking (fortunately our hostess was an excellent cook) and taste things we wouldn't find in restaurants and might not think to try otherwise.

Breakfasts: When I visited Madrid for the first time, aged 4, one of the few memories I have was of cakes and sweet biscuits for breakfast. As breakfast in my Scottish home consisted of toast and cereal or eggs + bacon, cakes being for birthdays and Sunday afternoons, you can imagine my excitement.

Now, 27 years later, although my tastebuds have evolved somewhat, I must admit I was secretly rather pleased to be &quot;allowed&quot; to eat all sorts of sugary treats at breakfast time. Our hosts left us a choice of goodies before they went off to work every morning, including:

<i>Rosquillas</i> - a kind of small sugary donut flavoured with aniseed
<i>Tortas de aceite</i> - large, flat, almost wafer thin biscuits flavoured with sesame and (I think) caraway
<i>Palmeras</i> - palm hearts shaped from sweet, flaky pastry
<i>Magdalenas</i> - small cakes, aka Madeleines (found everywhere in France), though I prefer the Spanish recipe

We would make ourselves a pot of coffee using the stove-top percolator, heat up some milk and dunk our cakes into cups of steaming <i>caf&eacute; con leche</i>. Heaven!!

Lunches: My dance classes didn't finish till 2 every day, so we ate to the Spanish timetable (lunch at 2.30, dinner after 9).

Many of our lunches consisted of tapas. In Andalucia, bars will usually serve portions of food in 3 sizes: tapa (a small snack size), media-racion (half portion) and the largest, a racion. Often, 3 or 4 tapas to share between the 2 of us proved to be more than enough.

We had a good few tapas lunches in various places, including a great one in the atmospheric tiled dining room of El Rinconcillo (on the corner of Calle Gerona) which was a few minutes walk from the flamenco school. We had fabulous deep fried <i>boquerones</i> (whole anchovies) which were tender and juicy; a plate of matured sheeps cheese (<i>queso curado</i, a lovely dish of cod in fresh tomato sauce (<i>bacalao con tomate</i, washed down with a couple of <i>ca&ntilde;as</i> (glasses of beer).

(N.B. Rather than wine, many Spaniards drink beer with their tapas - and who were we to argue!)

Only once did we forget the advice of our Sevillian friend, and sit down to eat at a pavement table. Our friend told us that if we didn't want to be bothered by beggars, buskers and the like, we should sit inside bars rather than at the &quot;tourist&quot; tables. And it was true - we stopped for a tapa and beer, sat down at an outside table, and within minutes were being hassled for money by a beggar. We realised that the only other people sitting outside were tourists too, and this was reflected in the attitude of the waiter - about the only time in Spain we felt we were being treated rudely.

Another memorable tapas meal (dinner this time) was had at the Casa Cuesta on calle Castilla in Triana (the place is also known as Casa Ruiz, for some reason). This beautiful old bar was closed for refurbishment for a long time, which is why it's not in many guide books, but it's worth a trip.
We had great spinach with chick peas (<i>garbanzos con espinacas</i, more sheeps cheese, calamares, and my mother and our friend had kidneys cooked in sherry (<i>ri&ntilde;ones al jerez</i, an Andalusian speciality.

[<i>Have just looked at my watch! there are plenty more food stories to come, but work beckons now... will try and post more later</i>]

hanl, Thank you for your wonderful trip report. I'm curious, since you obviously know much about flamenco, did you go to any performances? We loved the show at Los Gallos in Seville, but understand there are other venues that are even more authenic that I sure would like to know about for the future. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you.

Hi Artlover,
I was really disappointed in Seville as we didn't get the chance to go and see as much flamenco as I'd have liked.

I'd heard of a flamenco bar called La Anselma in Triana, recommended by a Spanish friend who loves flamenco, and had been hoping to go there.

However, the teacher at my school told me he was dancing at Casa Carmen one night so my mother and I thought it might be fun to go and see him dance. We were disappointed, however: although he danced beautifully, the show was really for tourists (no Spaniards in the audience), and the cantaora (singer) was mediocre at best. It all felt very stiff and choreographed, rather than the exciting, improvised music and dancing that I have seen performed by other pe&ntilde;as (in France and Belgium for example). There just wasn't the incredible atmosphere that you can get at a flamenco performance. (In fact, the best flamenco I ever saw was an impromptu performance in Granada - no fancy costumes, just pure flamenco.)

My mother and I planned to go and see more flamenco on another night, but because we were staying with friends it didn't really fit in with their plans, so in the end we only saw the tourist show!!

I was so disappointed, and have vowed to return to Seville and see as much flamenco as I possibly can!

hanl,
Thanks for the great trip report.
We visited Spain in Jan 2005 and Seville was my favorite. Your trip report brought back lots of memories. I loved the tapas (especially garbanzos con espinacas), churros and sangria in Seville. and yes the flamenco was pretty amazing!

Looking forward to your next installment!
Vandy

hanl,
Well it sounds as if you're close enough to return easily. We're in Seattle, so it's much harder for us to get back. Although some people think Los Gallos is &quot;touristy&quot; my Spanish teacher here, who is from Seville originally, recommended it to us and we thought it was fantastic. But I want to see more. Please let us know when you do. We're also big Cameron fans. And, if you haven't seen the movie Vanga, I highly recommend it.

Artlover, I also love el Camaron and picked up a few CDs for my flamenco collection when I was in Spain. I also love Jos&eacute; Merc&eacute; (his album Aire is one of my favourite flamenco albums). I haven't seen the film you mention but it sounds like my cup of tea. Have you seen Carlos Sauras' films &quot;Flamenco&quot; and &quot;Sevillanas&quot;?

[PS. I'll have to get back to writing up the rest of this report soon, or I'll have forgotten everything we did! Knew I should have kept a journal...]

<b>Food (continued... and lots of it!!)</b>

<b>Home cooking</b>
As mentioned above, we were lucky enough in Seville to be staying with friends, and our hostess was a fabulous cook.

She introduced me to some lovely Spanish style dishes which I'm hoping to try out at home. As well as delicious <i>tortilla de patatas</i> (Spanish omelette) she made a lovely dish of monkfish tails in a rich sauce of chopped almonds with olive oil, saffron, basil and parsley (and the standard Spanish <i>refrito</i> of chopped saut&eacute;ed onions and garlic).

We were also invited for lunch at the home of some other Sevillian friends of ours, where we were served a fabulous seafood paella (although my mother maintains that if it only has seafood in but no meat, it's called <i>arroz con mariscos</i>, not paella), made with tiny clams, fresh prawns and slices of cuttlefish, cooked in stock made from the prawn shells and perfumed with saffron.

Desert at our Spanish friends’ house was almost always fruit -apples, pears, peaches and <i>chirimoyas</i> (custard apples) which I tasted for the first time in my life and, oddly but perhaps not surprisingly, taste like custard and apples.

While I was in Seville, I purchased a lovely book of Sevillian recipes from La Casa del Libro on Calle Tetuan, which was recommended to me by our hostess there. It’s called <i>Recetas de Cocina Sevillana</i> by various authors, published by the Diputacion de Sevilla, Area de Cultura y Deportes. I’d highly recommend it for anyone who can read Spanish and is interested in Andalucian cooking.

<b>Afternoon tea in Alcala de Guadaira</b>
One of our most enjoyable afternoons in Seville was when our friends took us to their family home in Alcala de Guadaira, a small, pretty town about twenty minutes outside Seville. While we were there, we went out to <i>merendar</i> (take afternoon tea) at a beautiful bar/tea/cake shop on calle Mina called La Centenaria, so named in the 1960s, at which time it was already hundred years old.

The place is decorated with the most incredible, beautiful ceramic tiles showing all sorts of traditional designs and most of which are original, dating back a hundred years or so. Our friends had known the owners for years, and they selected a whole range of cakes for us to try, including a delicious local speciality (if only I could remember the name – it was a kind of sponge cake with a filling made from egg yolk and sugar, and coated in light, fluffy white icing made from egg whites and sugar), along with more cream cakes, eclairs and goodness knows what else.

Afterwards, when I asked where the cakes were all made, the owner whisked me through a door into the <i>obrario</i>, where there were stacked trays of <i>hojaldre</i> (puff pastry), <i>bizcochos</i>, marzipan, eclairs and all manner of goodies on every available work surface. When I asked how many cakes they made every day, the chef gestured around him and replied, with a grin, “Todo eso” (all this).


<b>Cordoba</b>
We had some of the best food of our trip in Cordoba.

The AVE train from Seville arrived mid-morning, and after dropping off our suitcases at the hostel, we found a caf&eacute; down the road that was still serving breakfast. We had glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice, caf&eacute; con leche and <i>tostadas con tomate</i>, one of my favourite Spanish breakfast dishes. It's just toast which you drizzle with olive oil and then spoon on a thin layer of fresh crushed tomatoes. I enjoyed it so much I've even been making it for breakfast since I returned home.

Lunch in Cordoba was at a great little bar called Taberna La Lechuga (“the Lettuce Tavern”) on Calle Tomas Conde. We'd walked round looking for somewhere that wasn't too touristy (which is tough, as everywhere in Cordoba is touristy!), where we could have more than just a sandwich but less than a full blown 3 course meal - and we almost walked past this place. We stuck our heads in the door and saw lots of Spaniards eagerly devouring plates of tapas. This was clearly the place for us!

The waiter was friendly and recommended we try their speciality, <i>lechuga frita</i> - friend lettuce. We were intrigued! He brought a ramekin with quarters of little gem lettuce that had been very lightly saut&eacute;ed in olive oil with garlic and <i>migas</i> (breadcrumbs) so that the lettuce was only just warm. Absolutely delicious. We also ordered a tapa of <i>albondig&oacute;n de at&uacute;n</i> which was a kind of tuna pat&eacute;, olives, <i> tortilla de patatas</i> and a couple of others that I can no longer recall. Washed down with a couple of <i>ca&ntilde;as</i> each. Can't remember how much it cost but it was very reasonable.

Dinner in Cordoba was at a restaurant a few doors down from our hotel, Bodegas Campo (on Calle Lineros). It had looked quite smart from the outside and, having walked past it a few times, we decided it would be nice to have a proper sit down meal for once, rather than just tapas.

The girl at the hostel reception called to make the booking for us, and although the restaurant initially claimed to be fully booked, she managed to get them to make room for us, telling us later that it was one of the best places to eat in Cordoba, and was where the Prince and Princess of Asturias went to eat when they were in town.

We weren't disappointed, as the restaurant was beautiful - traditionally Spanish without becoming a caricature of itself, the waitresses clad in old fashioned black dresses with white aprons. The service was excellent and the food delicious.

We were served a complementary glass of fino (dry sherry) when we sat down. We both chose <i>ajo blanco</i> with tiger prawns and asparagus to start. This chilled garlic and almond-based soup is one of my favourite Andalucian dishes and this was probably the best I'd ever tasted. The waiter brought two soup plates with the asparagus and prawns arranged in the bottom, and then poured the soup from a tureen over the top.

My mother then had a rich dish of braised beef, and I had salt cod. Can't remember the details or our deserts, and didn't write it down, but everything was lovely.
We were served a glass of sweet desert wine (or was it sherry?) at the end of the meal, again complementary.
The whole experience was lovely and I'd thoroughly recommend this place. The total bill was about 90 euros for 3 courses plus wine.

<b>Toledo</b>
Most of our meals in Toledo were had at the Parador. When we arrived on the first day we ate a few tapas from the limited selection on the bar menu (<i>tortilla</i> and <i>queso</i. We dined in the Parador restaurant both evenings (we had to book the table at reception in advance as the restaurant is popular with people coming from outside the hotel).

The food was quite good but rather pricey. I had gazpacho followed by <i>perdiz estufada</i> (braised partridge - a Toledan speciality) and then sorbet on the first night.

The second night, they had run out of a few dishes as a conference party was taking up half the restaurant and seemed to be taking precedence. I think I had bacalao of some sort, which I remember enjoying, though I can't remember much more about it! (Funny how some meals stick in your mind and others don't!)

We spent one full day sightseeing in Toledo and, again, didn't want a whole sit-down 2 or 3 course meal, but just a few (good) tapas. Eventually we happened upon a bar/restaurant with a spare table (because of the holiday weekend, the town was mobbed) and enjoyed braised porcini mushrooms with garlic, calamares and a couple of other tapas. I can’t remember the name, and, although it was pleasant, it’s not anywhere I’d specially recommend.

<b>Madrid</b>
There was a small kitchen in the apartment so we didn't eat out every night in Madrid.
Instead we bought bread, ham, tuna in olive oil, tomatoes, manchego cheese and wine and had a couple of picnic dinners. I must say, after all the walking we did in Madrid and Seville, it was quite nice just to chill out on the sofa instead of trekking off to find a restaurant.

However, when we arrived in Madrid it was 1 November, All Saints' Day, and a national holiday, so most food stores were closed (fortunately the bars and restaurants were all open though). We walked down Calle Goya and came to a bar called La Casa del Abuelo, which seemed to be part of a chain, but had a nice selection of tapas and a pleasant, lively atmosphere. Their speciality was <i>gambas</i> (prawns) and seafood, especially <i>gambas al ajillo</i>, which are served sizzling in garlic and oil. We also ordered <i>esparragos a la plancha</i> (grilled asparagus) which was lovely, served warm, drizzled with olive oil, and a plate of <i>patatas bravas</i> with aioli and tomato sauce (the only dish which wasn't great).

Another great tapas bar we were taken to by a friend from Madrid was called El Rincon de Goya, on Calle Lagasca (off Goya). It's a tiny place but with a great tapas and wine menu. We enjoyed more grilled asparagus, <i>croquetas al jamon</i> (ham croquettes), and a very gooey dish of queso fundido (melted cheese - I think it was a sheeps cheese) with toast fingers to dip in, a bit like fondue.

We were taken out one lunchtime by a couple of old Spanish friends of my mothers (two lovely, well-to-do Madrid ladies), to a nice restaurant on the Plaza de Chamberi, called imaginitavely enough,La Plaza de Chamberi (www.restaurantelaplazadechamberi.com/). It seemed to cater mainly for a business crowd at lunchtime, but the food and service were excellent. I had the most delicious grilled sliced vegetables (courgettes, aubergines, carrots, porcini mushrooms, button mushrooms, peppers and asparagus) followed by <i>Lomitos de merluza a la romana</i> (goujons of hake) which were lovely and tender, while my mother had a salad of palm hearts and endive, followed by foie gras which she shared with one of her friends.

We also enjoyed a very prolonged and lively home-cooked meal at the house of some other old Spanish friends of my mothers. Started with thin sliced <i>jamon serrano</i> and <i>lomo</i> (cured loin of pork with paprika), then a ratatouille, and finally the meat course (served separately from the veg), consisting of chicken pieces cooked in an almond sauce. Next came home-made flan and fruit, and then, with coffee and glasses of sweet PX sherry, came <i>bu&ntilde;uelos</i> (like tiny vanilla-custard filled donuts), almond cookies and chocolates. All washed down with copious amounts of excellent Spanish wine. We practically rolled all the way back to our apartment after that!

So, as you can probably see, I love my food and I love talking about it!! I'm not sure I remember half as much about our other experiences in Spain. Hopefully I'll be able to share a bit more about the sights and sounds our trip.

[<i>Next (hopefully): Sightseeing and Shopping</i>]

hanl,
Thank you so much for the new CDs and films I'll have to check out!

Do you by any chance have a recipe for the garlic/almond soup? I bought a cookbook in Seville that has it, but mine sure didn't taste anywhere as good as the one I had in Cordoba. Maybe it's the water??

I'm really enjoying this report so much!

Hi Artlover, I don't have any tried and tested ajo blanco recipes at home, as the one time I made it I was at my parents' and used a Spanish cookbook of my mother's. I remember blanching and chopping a <i>lot</i> of almonds!
Do you speak Spanish? If you like, I'd be happy to email you the 2 recipes for ajo blanco that are in the Sevillian cookbook I bought there.

<b>Sights and sounds</b>

<b>Seville</b>
We probably didn't do as much sightseeing in Seville as we could have, for various reasons: we'd both been there before, and I was pretty tired after 2 hours of intensive dancing every day. Still, I managed to get a nice feel for the city and enjoyed just strolling through the streets (although one big issue was the construction works going on all over town, as they are currently building a metro system there.)

I wasn't expecting to be so amazed by the Alcazares Reales. I'm very familiar with the Alhambra, having visited it numerous times and even studied its history and architecture, and as far as I was aware, the Alcazares in Seville couldn't compare. How wrong I was!! I was absolutely blown away by the beautiful tilework, arches, patios and, particularly, the ceilings. And the gardens were an absolute delight, the palm trees, fountains and orange trees, and the galleries overlooking them. A true oasis in the city.

On my first day in the city, my Spanish friend and I managed to find ourselves sheltering from the rain in a church where a gypsy wedding was going on. My friend explained that this church, the Iglesia del Valle, was the church of the <i>Hermandad de los Gitanos</i> - the brotherhood of the gypsies. It's a relatively modern church that was given to the brotherhood in 1999 (located on Calle Veronica). I'd heard about the flamenco masses - <i>misas rocieras</i> that are sometimes held in Andalucia, so I was intrigued to peek in on the wedding ceremony and hear it all being sung flamenco style, complete with <i>palmas</i> (clapping) and guitars.

Spent a short while in the Museo de Bellas Artes - as well as looking at some of the Murillos (not my cup of tea), my friend and I sat on a bench in one of the patios, admiring the old tilework and soaking in the sound of small birds chirruping clamouring as they sought out a tree in which to roost.

We had a nice Sunday morning walk through the Parque Maria Luisa. This was originally the grounds of the Palacio San Telmo, and was then redesigned and the pavilions built for the Exposicion Ibero-Americana in 1929. The white pigeons that throng in the park were, it seems, a gift from the Philippines during that same exhibition. The park was teaming with families out for their Sunday morning stroll, and it made for a lovely walk in the warm sunshine.

<b>Cordoba</b>
This section of our trip was much more about tourism, especially since I'd never been to Cordoba.

Mezquita
First up was the mosque/cathedral. Of course I'd heard much about this building and studied its history as part of a course on Andalucian Moorish history that I'd taken when living in Granada. But nothing prepared me for the sheer scale of the place. Once inside, you feel as though the groves of pillars could stretch on forever. Because of its great size, the huge numbers of visitors (this was a Saturday and the first day of a long holiday weekend) were absorbed easily, meaning that you could stroll around the place and soak in the atmosphere without noticing any crowds.

Strangely, the ornate cathedral section in the middle of the mosque, the beautifully preserved mihrab and the arabesque arches, geometrical tiles and Christian statues all sit harmoniously together as they have done for centuries. Although I initially felt that the cathedral part was an anomaly, it began to grow on me. I could understand why the Catholic Spaniards could not bring themselves to destroy this magnificent edifice - for they really kept a great deal of its original features - but, rather, converted it to serve their own faith.

Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos
We visited this old castle of the Christian monarchs mainly to enjoy the gardens, which my mother remembered from a previous trip as being quite lovely. We wandered round the main part of the old castle, climbed up the high steps to the tower for a view of the city (unfortunately the Puente Romano was under scaffolding) and clambered down to explore the old steam baths. Somehow managed to miss the famous mosaics, but we were tired from all the sightseeing by this point and instead wandered out into the gardens and sat on a bench by the fountains, watching the dancing water and the roses and the people strolling by.

Much of my enjoyment of Cordoba came simply from strolling through the streets, peering through wrought iron grilles to admire tiled patios, smelling the jasmine and the orange trees. Of course there is as much tourist tat and as many tacky souvenir shops as you could possible fit into such a small town, but somehow I rather liked all that.

We peeked into the old Synagogue, wandered up the Callejon de las Flores (which was lacking in flowers but not tourists brandishing cameras), walked alongside the old city walls and poked around in jewellery stores. (Cordoba is still one of the centres of Spain's jewellery-making industry).