This morning we headed off to the local food market in Plaza de Corredera – only five minutes away. We had been there a few times but after the markets were closed. We had spotted this secondhand store under the verandah yesterday as it was packing everything away for siesta time.

What a pain! So much stuff to put out and pack up twice each day. There were no prices on anything, but we were window-shopping only as our suitcases are pretty full, packed with gear we did not need to bring, as usual.

The markets open six days a week and sell fresh seafood, meat, vegetables and bread.

We spent about a quarter of an hour watching this pair clean sardines and anchioves (boquerones). Mick was particularly interested as he catches small pilchards at home and it takes him hours to clean them. These two did it in a matter of seconds.

We ended up buying half a kilo of sardines from a different guy and he quickly took of the heads and gills for us and charged €1.85!

Mick spotted a secondhand bookstore here as well and bought two English novels, one to replace the book he found in this apartment, written by a famous Spanish author – Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Apparently Zafón is one of the most widely read authors in the world and most of his books have been translated into other languages, including English. (We’d not heard of him!) Mick is really enjoying it and says it is beautifully written. What surprised us was that the secondhand books were sold by the kilo – €10/1Kg, making them THE most expensive thing we bought at the market! But, you can’t read sardines I guess.

We then headed off to find the Jewish Quarter (Judería): another maze of narrow streets, whitewashed buildings and flower boxes.

It was getting pretty busy with tour groups and these narrow streets were getting crowded with people keen to see the small artisan shops with the locally made jewellery and leather goods.

We eventually made it to the Synagogue after walking right past it at first. It is tiny and we were expecting something much bigger, especially after our experience at the Mezquita yesterday. It is a stone building that was constructed in 1315, and is the only preserved synagogue in Andalucia after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.

It’s had various uses since then and in 1885 it was declared a national monument and restoration work started on it. The walls are inscribed with verses from the Old Testament – mainly from the Book of Psalms and Proverbs.

We continued to wander and noticed a sign to Galleria de La Inquisición. Mick thought it was a Spaniard making a joke by naming a restaurant after The Inquisition, but it was no joke. We wandered through a display of the most evil and grotesque ways people were tortured during the Spanish Inquisition initially under King Ferdanand and Queen Isabella. This museum displayed the old tools and machines that were used to inflict the most terrible pain and often death on mostly Arab and Jews who remained in this part of Spain after the conquest of Granada. Sadly the Spanish royals were able to use the authority of a Papal Bull that had been issued by Pope Lucius III in the 13th Century. We both left feeling pretty low.

We wandered past more beautiful patios and ended up at Califa – the craft beer shop Mick had been so keen to try. We enjoyed several of the local beers and an IPA for very reasosable prices – €2.50-€3.00 each. I am nagging Mick to write a post about the beers he has tried. Time will tell!

By this time it was siesta time before we enjoyed our home cooked meal of sardines. Mick had a go at removing the bones from the sardines using the technique he learnt today.

I made a salad and we enjoyed a wonderful meal.

Unsure what we will do tomorrow, our last day in Córdoba before we head to Madrid.