Parador Cordoba; Parador Toledo Spain

The Cordoba parador is situated on a hilltop in northern Andalucia, well outside the city. Unless you have a GPS calibrated for Spain it's very hard to find as the signs pointing the way to it are, at best, confusing. Also, this means that you practically have to take a taxi to go to town and back as parking in the city center just does not exist. To make up for this the average summer temperature at the parador is some eight degrees cooler than in town. This is a newbuild, with spacious and airy interiors, large rooms and modern bathrooms. It sits in the middle of a large, well maintained garden and has an outdoor pool. Cordoba possesses one of the wonders of the world, the Mezquita, or great mosque. It is so huge that a Renaissance cathedral is nestled in its center yet the overall impression is one of serene grace and elegance. Also of great interest is the Juderia, the old Jewish quarter, where the synagogue and several houses which have been restored to the condition in which they were in the middle ages can be visited. Much is made of the fact that under Islamic rule there was a Convivencia in which the three religions, Muslims, Christians and Jews, lived together in harmony. Unfortunately, after Cordoba was reconquered by the Christians, both Jews and Muslims were expelled. A twenty minute drive away is Medina Azahara, the sumptuous summer residence of the caliphs whih has a well preserved early tenth century palace with splendid stone carvings.

The Toledo parador, not far from Madrid, also is a newbuild sitting on a hilltop overlooking the city. It too offers all the comforts, including an outdoor pool. But its most striking feature by far is the unbeatable view, particularly the one from the front, with the old part of the city spread out below across the river Tagus. If ever nature imitated art, this is it. What one has here is an exact copy of the famous View of Toledo that El Greco painted toward the end of the sixteenth century. Ask for a room at the front, it costs a little more but I found that I could sit for hours just taking in that view. In town, the vast early Gothic cathedral is imposing; of great interest as well are two restored synagogues, the Transito and Santa Maria la Blanca (they were transformed into churches after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492). The former is a fine examples of the fifteenth century Mudejar style, the latter is built in thirtteenth century Islamic Almohad style. The old fortress, the Alcazar is worth seeing also. It was converted into a palace by Charles I in the sixteenth century and it's in this guise that one sees it today, after a restoration following upon its virtual destruction when it underwent a protracted siege during the Spanish Civil War. (At one point the commander of the Franco forces in the Alcazar was called upon by the Republican besiegers, who were holding his eldest son hostage, to surrender lest they execute him. He refused and the boy was shot. You get to vote on what you would have done in the commander's place).