dst. (km) Today 50.05 Trip 1238.3
in the morning and I’m still in the hotel room, apart from my left leg and hip feeling slightly numb and strange from the crash a ago, I feel fine.
It took me until to break out of my room! The strange door handle and combined lock crumbled and broke apart when I tried to open it, leaving me stuck on the inside! I had to unscrew half the doorknob in order to get out. I tried to rehearse how to say in Spanish that I’d broken the lock, but when I went downstairs to pay, two tourist buses had just arrived and the barman was busy with coffees and brandies, he just gave me a quick smile, grabbed my money and raced back up the bar. I rode off — rather quickly — with a guilty feeling, and half expecting to see the hotel owner racing up behind me!
The 40 km to Cordoba turned into 50 km, and were a major hassle. Bikes are not allowed on the Autovia and there doesn’t appear to be an alternate route. A half-ploughed farm track zigzags along on one side or the other, degenerating into a plowed field in places, and crossing back under the Autovia through low culverts. Very heavy and slow going.
A note to those who may follow: Stay off the N-IV!
One funny moment was when I came over the brow of a field and saw two police cars parked side-ways across the dirt road at the bottom of the hill. My guilty conscience about the hotel door caused my heart to leap into my mouth, I half expected to be hauled back to Montoro. Nothing of the kind, it was just two highway patrol cars parked off the main road while the officers relaxed in the sun with a coffee!
I was hot and tired when I finally made my way in through Cordoba, missed the tourist office and had to double back. The first couple of places I tried were booked out so I half paniced and took a double room as the only room available at the next place, rather than keep on looking and risk missing out entirely.
The rest of the afternoon I looked around the tourist shops, all of which I enjoyed far more than the same in Toledo. There’s lots of leather and ceramics, nothing I really wanted, or wish to carry on a bike! There are masses of handbags and a few half-decent hats, but the largest I could find was a size 60 and wouldn’t go on my head — un cabo grande. After shopping I headed around towards the Alcazar, somewhere walking around the outside I was stopped by a police car and told off — I think. I have no idea what I was doing wrong though, the safest approach seemed to be to smile, nod, and walk off in the direction that he was pointing. Maybe I wasn’t meant to walk on the grass.
Followed the tourist throng into the Mesquita — 800p entrance fee, a bit of a shock — and it was magnificent. Shame that the christians made such a mess of the building turning the mosque into a cathedral! Slightly annoying with the constant flickering and flashing of all the (forbidden) cameras, but the guards were ignoring them, so I did too.
A fascinating effect studying the building, focus on the details of a niche or a wall or a chapel and it appears to be Christian. Step back and look at the larger structures and it changes completely, back to Muslim, impossible to disguise.
Where?
Montoro(38.0166667,-4.3833333), Cordoba(37.8833333,-4.7666667).
