Una mesa para seis - Table for Six: Andalusia Day 6

We kind of got off to a late start the day we went to Córdoba, which was a shame because it was Dec. 31st and most of the tourist sights closed early on New Year's Eve. Fortunately we were able to get there just in time to see the Mezquita Catedral before it closed for the day.

I was worried that after seeing the Alhambra the Mezquita would be underwhelming, but we were not disappointed. The Mezquita was full of surprises. When you enter it looks like a traditional mosque, wide open spaces divided by simple columns and bi-coloured arches. Then as you look around you can see very ornate passageways and rooms just as amazing as the Alahambra. Then as you move towards the centre of the Mezquita, you will all of a sudden find yourself in a huge renaissance style cathedral. It's kind of strange to see how the Mezquita became a proper cathedral while respecting the existing muslim architecture. So even the areas that look like a mosque have some stained glass windows, crucifixes and Christian art. Here is an interesting video of the different construction phases on the Mezquita http://youtu.be/JbSoK0_CxNM

I found a cool park in Córdoba called "La ciudad de los niños" on the internet http://ciudaddelosninos.cordoba.es/. We headed over there right after we finished seeing the Mezquita, but unfortunately, it was closed. Note, if you want to visit the "ciudad de los niños" during the holidays, call ahead because the holiday schedule was not posted on their website :(

But, at least we still had the "parkour park" to visit. The kids are really into parkour, because they love to run, jump and climb over everything they see. During the summer Nathan, Ciara and Rylan went to a parkour camp in Vancouver. It did cost us a small fortune, but they loved it. Nathan wanted to see if there were any parkour groups in Spain and he happened to find a small notice on the Parkour-Spain website that said the first ever parkour park in Spain was just built in Córdoba!!

Fortunately the parkour park was easy to find, it is just across the Puente Romano beside a really nice children's playground. The kids didn't even go near the playground and headed straight for the parkour park. There was a group of guys in their early 20s hanging out there, but once my kids descended on the parkour park all but one of them left so they had free reign. 3 hours later, we were able to tear them away from park. Rylan will tell you it was the highlight of his trip.

It was New Year's Eve and we wanted to head back into Málaga for the festivities. We had never experienced a real New Year's Eve celebration in Spain so we wanted to see what it would be like. Downtown Málaga was surprisingly empty. Most shops and many restaurants were closed. We had a nice walk along the port and the beach and then just before midnight we headed to the main square where they had a concert and the countdown to the new year. Plaza de la Constitución was packed by the time we got there, we couldn't really see anything and frankly the eating of the grapes at midnight was not all that exciting. In hindsight we should of just skipped the whole New Years festivities because the kids were all overtired and Cole was super grumpy by the time we left.