April 8th, 2023 Day 95 of 128

* Revised April 9th, 2023 to add photos.

Malaga, Spain (Day trip to Cordoba, Spain)

This morning we woke up in Malaga Spain even before the sun was up. Last night we moved our clocks ahead TWO hours and that 7am wake up call felt like the 5am it was to our bodies.  It’s a good things we ordered room service because my alarm didn’t go off, I didn’t hear him knock on the door, so they called  and woke us up. We had an hour to get ready before we had to be at the Main Stage to meet our tour group at 8:00 am. Today we took a brief driving tour around the town of Malaga and saw the fountain, the kasbah, the soccer stadium, the bullfighting stadium (where they have actual bullfighting, in Morocco they’ve deemed it inhumane so they are all shut down), a couple of churches and some historic building before we headed to the freeway. We took a two hour drive to the city of Cordoba. Along the way we passed through miles and miles of olive trees and then vineyards. The olive trees are actually called “The Sea of Olives” and spans 1.3 million hectares (3212369.959 acres) and over 180 million olive trees and are between Jaén and Estepa. This area is currently under candidacy for being registered as UNESCO World Heritage sight. It would be Spain’s 49th sight if approved. Once we arrived in Cordoba, we had a great walking tour all around the old town section of Cordoba. We first visited the old Jewish quarter and the Mudejar Synagogue. This synagogue had been covered over with plaster and paint and was discovered during a renovation of the building that was at that time a hospital. We found a Starbucks and had a brief break so, Megan and I took a quick run over to enjoy our first “home” treat in a long time. The highlight of todays trip by far was the Great Mosque of Cordoba also called the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. They started construction in 785 and continued to add on to it for centuries. It was used as a temple, a Catholic Church and a Mosque. The building was so rich in religious artifacts, symbols, statues and paintings. I kept catching myself saying WOW. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen before. There are two pipe organs and multiple alters. The brick-and-stone striped arches are supported by 856 granite and marble pillars. There is a bell tower in the courtyard that stands over 150 feet tall.  It is the largest urban center declared World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.  I took so many photos and they pale in comparison to what we actually saw. After our visit to the church we walked through the narrow passages, walkways and alleys to a lovely restaurant where we had lunch. We were served a chilled tomato soup, meat and potatoes, and frozen dessert. We were also served bottled water and red wine. It was a very traditional Spanish lunch and it was delicious. After lunch we had quite a long walk back past the Mosque through an ancient gate and across a Roman bridge to where the bus awaited on the other side. We then had a to hour drive back to the port and our ship. We had a few moments to do some quick shopping at the shops at the port, I got a magnet, Megan got a keychain and we had the opportunity to sample and then purchase some Spanish Iberico ham that was freshly carved off the leg in front of us. I will be enjoying that soon. We got back on the ship around 5:30pm and decided to go to the Main dining room for a quick dinner. Again, I wasn’t very hungry after a large lunch so I ate light. After dinner I changed into my cozies and headed to an acupuncture appointment. I am happy to say my hip is better today. Three days of almost 10k steps every day and lots of sitting on a bus and I am happy to report that I am not in pain this evening. I am writing my blog so I can go to bed, because with these crazy schedules I know if I don’t do it now I will forget everything I did today by this time tomorrow. Such busy days, such little sleep, and so many blessings in everything I am getting to do and see. Again, another day of an overwhelming number of photos. Please enjoy them. I encourage you if you get a chance to look up the Mosque we visited today and learn about it and all of it’s wonderful history.