Today I was in 4 cities.

I started in Madrid after visiting again for just one night to see a bullfight.

My next stop would be Cordoba – a town between Madrid and Seville.   I had planned to do a day trip there and since I had to come back to Seville to catch my flight later that night to Barcelona my little side trip to Madrid fit in perfectly as I would be able to stop in Cordoba for a few hours before continuing on to Seville.

After a two hour train ride I arrived in Cordoba.   It was an auspicious start though as first I had trouble finding where the storage lockers were so I could unload my backpack while in town and then I started walking only to discover I really had no idea where I was going so I headed back to the train station and stopped in the tourist office.

Basically the first hour of my 4 hour visit was a wash but the next three were amazing.

First I took transit down to the main tourist area and walked around until I found the Mezquita Cathedral.   The cathedral  built centuries ago, is immense in size and stature and has a huge Muslim influence to it as it has changed hands a few times over the centuries.

After touring the cathedral I headed down the street and was witness to something unique – orange harvesting.   I think I lucked upon seeing it as I’m pretty sure it’s not something they do every day.

The other stop for me was the Alcazaar de los Reyes Cristianos – the fortress of the Christian kings.

I wrote yesterday about the pure joy I felt the last couple of days.   Well, that continued for me today.   I honestly thought this would just be another visit to a small town to see a castle here, a cathedral there and then head out but the fortress moved me unexpectedly.

It didn’t start out that way as I entered yet another castle/palace/fortress and started walking around.   Sure, I admired the history and the architecture but it wasn’t like it was moving or anything.   I was kind of cool that each time you thought you had seen everything you would turn around a corner and there would be something else to see.

Then it happened…

I headed through a door and saw a sprawling garden.   It went on forever and was filled with colors, pools of water, fountains, cobblestone and beautifully manicured shrubbery    Now I’m not a flower guy but something about the beauty and serenity of it all moved me.   Perhaps I was still on a high from the last couple of days but as I exited the building and the rain starting to drizzle down I was moved to tears.   I quickly took out my camera to capture video of the moment because I never want to forget it.

If I’m ever down – either on this trip or in the future – I’ll watch this and always remember this day:

Oh yeah, there was another rail trip from Cordoba to Seville and then a plane flight to Barcelona but, for me, the day was over when I took that video.