Can you see it?
No, I couldn’t either.
Even if I’d found the column.
Which in itself is no mean feat. There’s a forest of them – 856 to be exact – in there. There being the Mezquita in Cordoba.
But, yes, even if I’d found the column.
Would have been hard pressed to see it even if I’d found the column.
Same way you’re having problems spotting it.
But – voila – with Luis, our ace Cordoba guide.
No problem. The name – in Arabic – of the Muslim stone mason who made the column all those hundreds of years ago.
And that’s why you get a top flight guide – whether it’s London or Cordoba or Bali or St. Petersburg or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Because he or she can effortlessly play a difficult passage like this one. Has mastered this sort of detail.
And because chances are the trip to Cordoba is the only time you’re going to get there.
And because 50 minutes with Luis is not expensive – it was 12 euros a head for the four of us, about what we each paid for our main course at lunch afterward.
And the clincher: because quality is always the best policy.
That’s why you take some trouble in this regard. Take the trouble to get Luis, to a top flight guide.
You go cheap – well, you know the old folk wisdom – the poor man always pays twice.
What – you’re going to plump for a schlubber in the interests of saving a few euros?
Saving a few euros at the cost of missing out on an infinitely richer tour.
No thanks.
A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
