I know I told you all that I might be going to Burgos; that however did not happen. I won’t bore you with the details, except to say that Mel and Anna were meeting up with a friend and it just wasn’t going to work. So, instead, I went to Córdoba!
Córdoba is a city 5 hours south of Madrid by bus, and is in Andalucia. Andalucia is famous for its flamenco dancing and beautiful weather. I went for Friday and Saturday, and enjoyed 85 degree days. It was gorgeous. I didn’t wear a jacket the entire time I was there! Once I got off the bus, I walked to the hostel and dropped off my things. While I was there, I met another girl staying in my room, Tovah, and we ended up traveling around for both days. She is from Canada – Edmonton in fact – and is traveling by herself around Spain and Portugal for 3 months. We first went to Alcazar, the castle and beautiful gardens of Cordoba. The gardens were gorgeous, and had so many flowers! The castle gave you a scenic view of the city, and got us excited about all the places we were going to go afterwards.
After Alcazar, we went to the city wall, and walked across the Roman Bridge. From the far end of the bridge, you could enjoy a wonderful view of La Mezquita, the mosque-turned-cathedral of Cordoba. Before going to Cordoba, I looked up everything on wikitravel (very helpful website, I highly recommend it) and found that there are 14 old churches throughout Cordoba. Tovah and I decided to visit the 3 most recommended: Iglesia de San Miguel, Nicolas, y Trinidad. When we reached the first church, we went inside to get a nice look around. Turns out that church was still in use and there were a dozen older people (probably in their 70's) praying in the pews. So we got a quick look around and went on to the next church. Turns out the next church was exactly the same! By the time we reached the third church, we just got a nice look of the architecture on the outside and decided not to disturb the parishioners. All of the churches were of similar style: large, yellow stone bricks, rectangularly shaped, 1 bell tower about 4 stories tall. And even though each church looked similar, they each had their own bit of character and beauty. It was definitely a different feel than going to the touristy churches across Europe.
We also tried to find the Street of Flowers (Calleja y Plaza de Flores). We failed miserably. All we found was a road filled with construction...
By the end of the day, Tovah and I were both quite hungry and we decided to go for some tapas. We found a restaurant called 101 Tapas and figured that was a good place. We were wrong, it was a GREAT place! They had the best sangria I have ever had. It was so smooth and quite strong, and had grapes and other interesting fruit inside. Plus, they had morcilla and croquettas for tapas. My favorite of the tapas was the apple pie though. It was really a flaky pastry filled with apple wine, but it was superb. Apple pie is one of my favorite desserts, and it isn't very big in Spain. I was so happy to get some. Plus, the waiter brought us out some apple wine to go along with it. I had never had any before, but it was very sweet, and delicious. I definitely couldn't have drunken another glass of it though. It was very sweet.
Later that night we met up with a native we had met. He said that he could take us to a flamenco show, which is really all I wanted to see, however turns out the place he normally goes to was closed. By the time we wanted to go somewhere else, it was too late. So unfortunately I didn't see any flamenco, but there's always next time!
The next day Tovah and I went to La Mezquita. Since it is free admission from 8:30 am to 10 am, you can guess where our entire hostel was at 9:45 am lol. La Mezquita is a gorgeous building. Back when the moors ruled Spain, they built this large mosque in Cordoba. However, when the Christians took over the expelled the Moors, and the Jews in 1492 [When Christopher sailed the ocean blue] they took over the mosque. Surprisingly, they didn't destroy the mosque. I'd like to believe it's because they recognized the beauty of the building, but who knows. Maybe there was some politics involved. Either way, the Christians kept the building, but decided to stake their claim on it by building a cathedral inside the mosque. If you look at my pictures on facebook, you can see what I mean. This mosque is huge though! It can house 20,000 people and comfortably. When you first walk in there is a large courtyard with trees and flowers and then you pass through there to enter the mosque. It was beautiful, a lot more beautiful than the cathedral in my opinion. The cathedral was, of course, gorgeous. It was traditional and had high, ornate ceilings. However, the mosque had a very ancient feel and built the same archway over and over and over. The archways were laid out in a grid system, and the geometry of the building was perfect. I loved being able to look down a row of arches and see the hallway that was formed.
Once we left La Mezquita, we went to the synagogue. It turns out there are only 3 synagogues left in all of Spain! Two are in Toledo and the third is in Cordoba. It's also because of the 1492 expulsion of the Jews. The Christians felt the need to tear everything down apparently. The synagogue is so quaint and old. It has white plaster walls that have been sculpted and is only 2 rooms. It is tiny! Probably smaller than my apartment... It was interesting to think about the difference in how ornate cathedrals are and how quaint the synagogues are. It was a completely different experience, and very simple but serine.
Finally we succeeded in finding the Calleja y Plaza de los Flores. It was beautiful! There were so many flowers and plants in there. I loved it. Also, while we were walking around town, we found some courtyards of people's homes that were filled with flowers! It was so nice to see plenty of greenery and enjoy warm weather even though it was only April 1st! I love the south of Spain.
Overall, it was a beautiful trip and exactly what I needed. To get away from Madrid and enjoy the warm weather of Spain was really refreshing. If anyone is ever in the South of Spain, I highly suggest you take a day trip to Cordoba and look at La Mezquita. It is a beautiful building that is one of a kind!
Hasta luego! My family comes on Friday and we are meeting in Barcelona! I can't wait to see them and take a million pictures!
After Alcazar, we went to the city wall, and walked across the Roman Bridge. From the far end of the bridge, you could enjoy a wonderful view of La Mezquita, the mosque-turned-cathedral of Cordoba. Before going to Cordoba, I looked up everything on wikitravel (very helpful website, I highly recommend it) and found that there are 14 old churches throughout Cordoba. Tovah and I decided to visit the 3 most recommended: Iglesia de San Miguel, Nicolas, y Trinidad. When we reached the first church, we went inside to get a nice look around. Turns out that church was still in use and there were a dozen older people (probably in their 70's) praying in the pews. So we got a quick look around and went on to the next church. Turns out the next church was exactly the same! By the time we reached the third church, we just got a nice look of the architecture on the outside and decided not to disturb the parishioners. All of the churches were of similar style: large, yellow stone bricks, rectangularly shaped, 1 bell tower about 4 stories tall. And even though each church looked similar, they each had their own bit of character and beauty. It was definitely a different feel than going to the touristy churches across Europe.
We also tried to find the Street of Flowers (Calleja y Plaza de Flores). We failed miserably. All we found was a road filled with construction...
By the end of the day, Tovah and I were both quite hungry and we decided to go for some tapas. We found a restaurant called 101 Tapas and figured that was a good place. We were wrong, it was a GREAT place! They had the best sangria I have ever had. It was so smooth and quite strong, and had grapes and other interesting fruit inside. Plus, they had morcilla and croquettas for tapas. My favorite of the tapas was the apple pie though. It was really a flaky pastry filled with apple wine, but it was superb. Apple pie is one of my favorite desserts, and it isn't very big in Spain. I was so happy to get some. Plus, the waiter brought us out some apple wine to go along with it. I had never had any before, but it was very sweet, and delicious. I definitely couldn't have drunken another glass of it though. It was very sweet.
Later that night we met up with a native we had met. He said that he could take us to a flamenco show, which is really all I wanted to see, however turns out the place he normally goes to was closed. By the time we wanted to go somewhere else, it was too late. So unfortunately I didn't see any flamenco, but there's always next time!
The next day Tovah and I went to La Mezquita. Since it is free admission from 8:30 am to 10 am, you can guess where our entire hostel was at 9:45 am lol. La Mezquita is a gorgeous building. Back when the moors ruled Spain, they built this large mosque in Cordoba. However, when the Christians took over the expelled the Moors, and the Jews in 1492 [When Christopher sailed the ocean blue] they took over the mosque. Surprisingly, they didn't destroy the mosque. I'd like to believe it's because they recognized the beauty of the building, but who knows. Maybe there was some politics involved. Either way, the Christians kept the building, but decided to stake their claim on it by building a cathedral inside the mosque. If you look at my pictures on facebook, you can see what I mean. This mosque is huge though! It can house 20,000 people and comfortably. When you first walk in there is a large courtyard with trees and flowers and then you pass through there to enter the mosque. It was beautiful, a lot more beautiful than the cathedral in my opinion. The cathedral was, of course, gorgeous. It was traditional and had high, ornate ceilings. However, the mosque had a very ancient feel and built the same archway over and over and over. The archways were laid out in a grid system, and the geometry of the building was perfect. I loved being able to look down a row of arches and see the hallway that was formed.
Once we left La Mezquita, we went to the synagogue. It turns out there are only 3 synagogues left in all of Spain! Two are in Toledo and the third is in Cordoba. It's also because of the 1492 expulsion of the Jews. The Christians felt the need to tear everything down apparently. The synagogue is so quaint and old. It has white plaster walls that have been sculpted and is only 2 rooms. It is tiny! Probably smaller than my apartment... It was interesting to think about the difference in how ornate cathedrals are and how quaint the synagogues are. It was a completely different experience, and very simple but serine.
Finally we succeeded in finding the Calleja y Plaza de los Flores. It was beautiful! There were so many flowers and plants in there. I loved it. Also, while we were walking around town, we found some courtyards of people's homes that were filled with flowers! It was so nice to see plenty of greenery and enjoy warm weather even though it was only April 1st! I love the south of Spain.
Overall, it was a beautiful trip and exactly what I needed. To get away from Madrid and enjoy the warm weather of Spain was really refreshing. If anyone is ever in the South of Spain, I highly suggest you take a day trip to Cordoba and look at La Mezquita. It is a beautiful building that is one of a kind!
Hasta luego! My family comes on Friday and we are meeting in Barcelona! I can't wait to see them and take a million pictures!
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