Group B's day in Cordoba

May in Cordoba is beautiful! The weather is hot in the sun, but very cool in the shade. The orange trees lining many streets all have oranges on them, but sadly they're sour and will give you diarrhea if you eat them.

After a nice relaxing morning with breakfast in the hotel around 9:30, we headed out at 10.

 We stopped to view an ancient Roman bridge, the only bridge crossing the Guadalquivir (Spanish spelling of the Arabic words for "big river") in this part of the country in that day.

 Next, we headed to Alcazar, a fort which was conquered, partly destroyed, and rebuilt many times, starting with the Romans.

Now it just has beautiful gardens inside, and a few mosaics imported from other archaeological sites where they cannot be easily protected.

 After Alcazar, we wandered the narrow streets of Old Cordoba, stopping for lunch and shopping.

 At 3, we met a local guide and toured the Mezquita cathedral, formerly a mosque, and before that a church!

 It is still used every day for Catholic religious services, but it is always opened to the public after that for tourism.

Our guide arranged for the group to pray at a smaller local mosque, then we all came back to the hotel for some rest. Later, we'll go out for a late dinner at an Italian place.