10/15/2010: Cordoba – we got up early yest & got to the train w/o incident – weather kind of grey & misty, so not much in the way of views. Got bus tickets w/o problem, took taxi to hotel, rm not ready so went off to the mosque-turned-cathedral – a forest of red & white arches, v. distinctive, v beautiful.
Found a recommended restaurant (by Fodors & hotel), had vg tuna/anchovy salad, went to Safared house, which had v detailed & bitter account of the Inquisition that I translated aloud to S (other American tourists listening, too), also v. long list of eminent conversos & descendents of conversos. (Part of the Inquisition was blood-purity laws, so anyone with even part Jewish blood couldn’t hold office).
The synagogue was v touching – small, w/ wall decorations that had been hidden behind other paneling. I took picture after picture of the walls & Hebrew writing.
Came back & got our room, which has a HUGE bathroom (but the tub v. slippery & no grab bar). Realized we’d neglected to get an online resv for the Alhambra—which we should have done weeks ago—they’re hard to get. The lady at the desk tried to help us, but none were available. We decided to go anyway, and see if we could get two of the tickets reserved for walkups. The guidebook said you could visit the Carlos V palace separately. Then went to the archaeology mus – some parts v touching, eg Roman burial stones often include STTL – sit terra tibi leva – that the ground over you be light.
A little priapic figure that S missed. Lots of Moorish capitals, and two Jewish gravestones, one pretty legible; the other worn to where I couldn’t make out a letter or a word. Letters opened toward the right instead of the left. I finally realized that if you looked at it upside down, you could at least make out a letter here & there. Communicated my thought to the front desk, where it caused much consternation. A volunteer curator arrived, who said we’d need to talk to the day curator.
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