Day 15. Thursday 12 July. Granada to Cordoba by train. We could only get tourist class seats when booking some months ago, however a very comfortable journey in a full train. The trip was about 2hrs 20mins and we passed a million olive trees – no exaggeration – and large numbers of corn fields.

The apartment in Cordoba is very nice, quite modern and very close to all the sites. The temperatures for the next 3 days are the same as it was today - forecast to reach 39 and I have no doubt they will. After settling in, we walked down to the Cathedral and the fortress of the Catholic Kings by the river, having some lunch on the way at a little café in a narrow street alongside the wall of the old city.

Our first impressions are a very clean well laid out and more spacious town around the main attractions. They are building a promenade by the river that will improve tourist access to the area compared to their peculiar fascination with cobblestone footpaths. However, the 39C heat is oppressive and so we returned to our apartment and turned on the air-con. We left the apartment again around 8.30 p.m. and walked down to the bridge in front of the Cathedral and crossed the river. This city has a surprise at every corner but the temperature was still 37C at 9.20pm. We sat down to have an ice cream and about 9.40 p.m., the temperature dropped to 36C.

We wandered back through the commercial centre (just above the historic centre) and found a modern-looking tapas bar for dinner just 20 metres from our apartment door. We were initially drawn by the modern, air-conditioned, non-smoking appearance, however, the food was great and the waiter very friendly although he knows as much English as we know Spanish so communication was slow but entertaining. You can never be sure if you're asking for the bill or perhaps something a little more personal when you try to converse in 'Lonely Planet’ Spanish….

It’s now midnight and we need an early start tomorrow morning to begin our assault on the historic monuments of Cordoba.