Cordoba

Well, after a marathon day of traveling (over 24 hours), we finally made it to Córdoba. All the different legs of our trip went smoothly, it was just a looooong day and neither of us slept much on the plane or train.

So we got to Córdoba, checked into our hotel (great location, very uncomfortable bed) and immediately took a much-needed nap. We woke up feeling much more human and set out for food! Our first real meal in Spain! Of course the first place we stopped at didn’t start serving food until 9pm and it was only 8-something, so we kept wandering. We found this great place, outdoor patio, super friendly waiter. I got some gazpacho and patatas alioli, Matt ordered some tuna something or other. It was perfect!

After a fabulous Tylenol pm-induced & earplug night’s sleep we were rested and ready to go the next morning! After a breakfast of café con leche and croissants, we hit the Mezquita, a Christian church, turned Muslim mosque, reclaimed by the Catholics... This place of worship has an amazing history and artistic styles: old frescos remain from the original church, the Muslim red & white archways and beautiful tilework, and the baroque & gothic styled Cathedral that was added to the middle of the mosque.

 In La Mezquita

After the Mezquita, we wandered over to the Alcazar, an old fortress that housed the Kings during the time of the Spanish Inquisition.  The fortress itself was okay, but the gardens & pools were amazing! Up until the gardens, I couldn’t remember the sights from my visit 10 years ago, but I remembered these gardens! So beautiful… and HOT! Oh boy it’s hot here, but it feels so good after being cold in Portland all winter & spring! 

Los Jardines del Alcazar

We kept on wandering through the old Jewish quarter, checked out one of the last remaining synagogues that was built before the Inquisition, a couple churches and then stopped and had another amazing meal. By the time we were done, all the stores had shut down, so we decided we better head back to the hotel and partake in my favorite Spanish tradition: the siesta. Ahhh, I love my naps!

Wandering through the old Jewish Quarter

We’re discovering that Matt and I make a good traveling team! I’ll do the translating and Spanish side of things while he has taken on the role of trip-photographer and navigator. I don’t have a great sense of direction and it’s nice to blindly follow him around. It’s also really nice to be able to wander around and take in all the sights and he takes care of snapping all the pictures. All in all, we had an amazing time during our first few days in Spain. I couldn’t have asked for a better time, food, sights, or traveling companion! Let’s just hope everything else goes this smoothly!

Thursday: just bummed around Córdoba this morning and then took the train to Sevilla. After our marathon travel day, the 45 minute train ride seemed like nothing! We’re all settled into Sevilla now and are off to go explore and get our bearings…