Cordoba and it's patios

We were able to get to the city center a lot easier than the hotel

 because all the signs point you there.  There were a couple of parking areas that were on the streets, but they were completely full and we came upon a parking garage and thought that would be easier than driving around all day.  The rates were pretty freaking reasonable considering we were only a 

 few hundred meters from the Great Mosque.  But the actual parking garage driving space and parking places were Europe sized, which means tiny.  I got to scrape the side of the car along a foam padding stanchion in order to get into the space I picked because it looked like the easiest one to get in and out of 

 and it still included scraping the car along a post.  At least I’m not the only one or they wouldn’t be padded with foam would they?  Finally in the spot, we unloaded Oscar, the stroller and headed out to find the statues of great thinkers that Michener mentioned were also here along the old Roman wall that secured the Jewish ghetto.  Right outside of the parking deck we found 

 Averros by the wall.  I asked a gardener there about the others and he didn’t quite understand about the statues, but he was making it clear that we needed to find a door to get into the city center through this wall and at least pointed us in the right direction there.  Apparently, you can walk around the entire Jewish quarter wall at times and not find a door  that actually allows you in, so that was a boon.  The streets of the city center were quite a surprise though

 because they are tiny little alley paths that twist, turn and run into dead ends.  It was like being in Venice without water.  The map was totally useless and you had to just kind of follow the others, the shops becoming more touristy and 

bored baby doesn't care about great thinkers

 stuff to find the tourist sites.  Cordoba is known for its patios too which are interior courtyards that are decorated and they have competitions every year for the best one.  You see the outside façade of the house and you would never know that there is a little oasis inside unless you felt like you could just wander into someone’s private property.  We did find Maimonides because he had his

  own plaza in the Jewish quarter and we tried to ask about finding Seneca, but the shop girl was clueless as to who we meant and even the guy that was filming in the Maimonides plaza couldn’t really give us clear directions.  I decided that 

 breakfast was needed and we ate at a café that was in one of the patios and got a good idea of what it must be like to have these little places to break from the sun and heat of southern Spain.  Birds flitting about, cool air around the plants and a delicious Spanish omelette, 

 some tostada (which is just Spanish for “toast”) with olive oil in packets and jam.  Some ham and cheese and it was a great little picnic that made for a filling

 meal.  Some shopping for souvenirs (including for the first time buying a souvenir of a place that we hadn’t been yet which we have never done) and then on to the Great Mosque.