Thursday 26 April 2012  - Cordoba’s great Mezquita, giving a miss to Malaga and Jerez fun.

Day 14 and 144 to go

Finally parked at Jerez racetrack ready for our first of 6 MotoGP’s we will see this season.  It was a bit of a mission but we are now safely parked up and staying put for the next 4 nights. It is now 8pm and we have had the last hour to finally relax and unwind after a day that started out smoothly got somewhat hairy in the middle and finished with a silver lining.

We started our day with the usual pack up routine. Paying the bill, saying goodbye to our hosts and hitting the road, this time heading to Cordoba about 2 hours away. The landscape and farming changed considerably while we drove.  We were now seeing olive groves covering the rolling hills rather than rugged mountains and oranges. Some of the bridges we crossed were long and high. I reckon one we saw was about 5km long. Taking a photo of it did not get the beginning or end of it!

For once the route into the city was simple and we found parking easily after following a circle road over the river. Leaving the van secured we walked back over the circle road to the Mezquita, another heritage listed building.  The Islamic mosque was first built in 785 but has been enlarged over the years. In 1236 the Mosque was used as a church and in the 16^th century a cathedral was built in the middle.

We wandered the old streets. Yet again there were school groups galore and tour groups to dodge. After wandering through some of the porticos we paid to enter the Mezquita that is said to be the greatest demonstration of homesickness ever created. It is hard to believe that some of the building has stood for 1200 years!

We wandered around the large hall like area. It was quite a massive area decorated with the intricacies of Islamic designs from floor to ceiling. It is a shame that the Catholics came along and ruined the feel of the mosque with their gaudy and showy cathedral it really damages the beauty and simplicity that the mosque obviously created.

I did get a laugh from a pommy tourist when I entered a room and said, a little too loudly, that it felt like the trophy room for the Catholic Church. 

After completing the lap we weaved our way through the crowds before heading back to the van for lunch.

By 1pm we were back on the autovia this time heading to Malaga. This required retracing our steps from this morning to head to the coast 1 ½ hours away. Everything was going well until we got into Malaga itself. A beachside city yes, it requires entering from the slopes of the mountain. I had plugged in the closest beach thinking there would be parking. Of course this route took us through some narrow and busy streets that required 100% concentration for Paul. If this wasn’t enough trying to traverse streets wide enough for 2 small cars when we and large buses had to get through caused issues with our side mirror loosing out as we side swiped a large recycling bin, causing the mirror housing to be flipped in and the mirror popping out. So with me holding the mirror in place through the open window and hoping that we wouldn’t hit anything else that may cause a broken wrist, we continued to dodge vehicles until we reached the waterfront. At this point Paul’s heart rate was sky high, grey hairs were appearing rapidly, my hands were sweating and we just wanted to park, but could we? No!

We continued to follow the beachfront in hope of finding somewhere. Unfortunately every time we saw a parking spot we had already passed the street to turn down.

Finding a petrol station we pulled in, fuelled up and took a breather for a few minutes while we decided on what to do next and fixed the mirror. I checked the computer for the camp spot I had located yesterday. Unfortunately it was one of the parking spots we had already passed. So the decision was made to leave Malaga, there really wasn’t anything here I was going to miss. By now all I wanted to do was get out.

So Jerez was plugged in to the GPS and we were kissing goodbye to Malaga. Well we thought so.

Getting out of Malaga required going back part of the way we had already come. To turn back the GPS indicated we should go under the underpass. Pulling up to it I looked at Paul and said I need to check the height as I could see it would be tight. So with me on the path and Paul slowly guiding the van under the concrete bridge I watched the centimetres of room disappear above the van. A car approaching in the opposite direction; stopped us and in Spanish indicated to follow him back out of the underpass as he too could see it would be too tight. Paul reversed the van out scratching the skylight on the way. At least we were out and not stuck thank goodness for that.

Following the Spanish saviour he pointed us in the right direction and we were soon leaving Malaga in our dust, back on the Autovia and another 2hour drive.

By 6pm we were pulling into the campground at Jerez racetrack. Again with gestures we were given passes to park but at 140 Euros we didn’t have the cash and had to head into Jerez town for an ATM and a supermarket. While we thought this could be a mission it turned out to be a fairly easy exercise, finding an ATM on the main road we could stop at and then followed the Mercadonna signs to the closest supermarket where we filled up with all we would need for the 4 nights.

We returned to the campground, paid the remaining entrance fee and found ourselves a spot with other campers and power.  Yippeee.

We had made it and by the look of things arriving today was a stroke of luck. Thanks Malaga. I think this place is going to get busy fast.

We started our night with a stiff drink earned after this afternoon’s events. Then we sat back to take in the fact we had made it and were not going anywhere for 4 nights.

By 8.45pm we were organising dinner, a late one for us. The day was beginning to catch up with us. We closed up the camper though the noises from outside were still penetrating and all I could think was this will seem quiet compared to what it will get like over the next few days. Where are those ear plugs? 

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