Train to Cordoba

Today we rejoin our Cadiz bound train for the 6+ hour journey to Cordoba. We have the morning in Valencia, and a long list of potential sights to go and see.

After a breakfast of bread, cheese and meats we revisit the central market to get more bread to take on our train journey. We cannot locate yesterday's baker, whose bread was excellent, so take our chances at another stall.

We have decided to visit the old silk market, recommended by Cristina yesterday.

The interior of the building is spectacular......

.......with a small but lovely courtyard garden

Then back to our apartment to collect our belongings and walk through the old city to the station.

It feels too soon to be leaving

We have enough time to pop into an art exhibition in the old post office building, including this work by Joaquin Bastida.  But not enough time to go round an exhibition of photographs by Robert Capa, which looked as though it would be extremely moving

We rejoin our train. This time, by the randomness of booking algorithms, we are sat together. As the train pulls out of Valencia we open the bottle of cava that we had procured from our hotel vending machine in Barcelona. We eat the food obtained from the central market. A very civilised way to travel.

The first part of the journey is through an agricultural landscape. Citrus and olive groves, vines just starting to send out green shoots. All looking dry. That landscape gives way later to a rougher, rockier, and hillier one. Poppies predominate amongst the wild flowers. You could imagine that this indeed used to be bandit country, where travel was difficult and dangerous. As we travel further south and further inland the temperature, usefully displayed on the train information panel, also rises. We had set off from Valencia at 21 degrees, but now we were seeing between 27 and 29 degrees. When we arrive in Cordoba at 6.30pm the temperature is 30 degrees.

And 30 degrees feels very pleasant, it is not humid. The city is also much greener with an abundance of orange trees, roses, bougainvillaea, gardens both public and private

We make our way into the old town, a profusion of narrow streets with mostly two storey buildings. It has a totally different feel to Barcelona or Valencia

We arrive at our accommodation, located behind the wooden door at the end of this street

It is a very small apartment.....

.....off a covered courtyard.     We unpack and head off for food

Our first sight of the Guadalquivir river

We find a small tapas bar, with a few tables out on the street. The food and wine is much cheaper here, and the portions surprisingly large. It's also a very pleasant temperature, and great to be comfortable sitting out in shorts and a thin shirt

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