cordoba

today i caught a train from cordoba to seville, where i am staying for the next two nights. if you want to get an idea of what cordoba is like, wait for the hottest day of the year, then turn on your convection oven full blast and stick your head in for a while. i have never experienced anything like that before. walking around town, i was dodging in and out of the shadows like a vampire, leaving a trail of sweat that sizzled and evaporated as soon as it hit the street. i was going through this routine the day before yesterday when i stopped to look at a time- temp thing on the side of the road. 46. it said the temperature was 46 degrees celsius. to give you an idea, the human body runs at about 37.5. the little bit of wind that makes its way into the streets just animates the heat. i was wandering around town searching for some water at around 4 in the afternoon, but everything was closed. these people take their siesta seriously. the only thing to do in the afternoon in cordoba is to find some cool dark hole and take a nap. anyway, i´ll quit babbling about the heat. the city is a really interesting cross between islamic and christian architecture. i visited the Mezquita (sp?), which was a church converted to a mosque, then into a cathedral again. very ornate arabic patterns carved all over the walls, arches, and early christian and baroque sculptures tacked on top of that. anyway, it was really cool to see...