Cordoba!

Our group spent Saturday and Sunday in Cordoba, in Andalucia in Southern Spain. It was about a four and a half hour bus ride down from Madrid. It's been snowing for much of the past week, so much of the landscape in La Mancha and Andalucia was white. Other than that, it was a lot of vineyards and olive trees.

We arrived in Cordoba at about 1:30. Our hotel was in the old city literally right across the street from the Mosque/Cathedral. When the Moors ruled Spain (711-1492), for much of the time Cordoba was the capital of their emirate and later califate of "Al-Andalus" from which Andalucia derives its name. For many hundreds of years through the middle ages Cordoba was the most culturally and scientifically advanced city in Europe.

After the Christian kings reconquered Cordoba in the 14th century, they built a cathedral in the center of the mosque. The Muslims before had built the mosque with some columns and rock from the old Roman temple, so there's actually quite a mix of architecture.

We also visited the Alcazar, a castle built by Alfonso XI in 1328 that served as the residence for Christian kings in Cordoba.

Everything's going really well so far. Enjoy the pictures!