Road trip to Córdoba

I can describe the first night here in one word. Cold. Two layers and lots of blankets won’t be enough for tonight.

After getting out of the cold bed we got ready in the cold bathroom and then ate breakfast in the cold dining room. The apartment is on the sixth floor of a complex on a mountain so we are pretty high up. The wind is so loud and strong that it constantly rattles the windows. It kind of freaks me out. Today we had a typical European breakfast of sandwiches and pastries. It was all very delicious. We then got in the tiny car and drove for two hours to Córdoba. I slept for about 95% of the drive so I missed most of the olive tree groves that Maria got to see. The car has this cool feature where it beeps when he reaches the cars maximum speed which is 125kmph (about 77mph). It beeped a lot and it is really funny because Alonso yells at the car to keep going every time it happens.  The funniest thing is that they listened to heavy metal in the car!!

Córdoba has both Roman and Islamic influences and is very beautiful. We walked around on the small cobblestone roads and did some shopping. I love how all of the roads are paved differently and how some have designs. They also have a lot of orange trees all around the town. We happened to be there on the day of a parade and we got to see lots of dressed up horses with their riders dressed in old fashioned traditional Spanish outfits.

 After a very large lunch we got to tour The Cathedral of Córdoba. Mass is held here every day and then it is open for tours in the afternoon. It was originally the San Vicente Basilica but it was destroyed during the Islamic period in order to build a Mosque. In 1236 King Ferdinand III reconquered Córdoba bringing back Christianity. The Christians were eager to take back their sacred place and they built their Cathedral within the existing Mosque. I was very beautiful with lot of columns and arches. The Alter was very large and intricate and there were plaques built into the floor. You can read more about it at www.catedraldecordoba.es if you want.

Next we went to a museum at the Torre De La Calahorra. We took an audio tour and mine was in English. This was very exciting for me since nothing has been in English including all of our conversations. The tour was about the history of Córdoba and we went from room to room. Each room had realistic dioramas of people, instruments, and buildings. We also got to go on the roof and see Córdoba from above. On our way back down from the roof we took a pit stop at the bathroom. This was quite an experience because when you open a door to a bathroom you expect to see the bathroom. Instead there was a stairwell that went down. It went down for a lot longer than I expected and the stairwell ended with a tiny one stalled bathroom that Maria liked the smell of. You can read more about the Torre De La Calahorra at www.torrecalahorra.com if you would like. At this point it warmed up for about an hour and I got to take off three of my layers.

We left Córdoba and drove to a small town called Archidona where we stopped for drinks. The place we went to looked like a cave inside and was very dark. I got some hot tea and the teabag came in a tiny box about an inch high. I thought that was very cool so I kept the box. The rest of the drive back to Malaga was up and down twisty mountain roads and I had to get my sea bands out. It was a very beautiful drive and I managed to stay awake for most of it.



Normal dinner time in Spain is 9pm.
This very different from the 6pm dinner I have in Gainesville and by the time we sat down to eat I was very hungry. Maria and I got to help cook a little bit which was fun. For dinner we had salad and pasta with pesto and of course wine. This time we approved of the wine. It was made in Malaga and it is a little sweet and not too strong. Just the way Maria and I like it. For desert we had figs and cheese and some left over pastries from breakfast. Everything was very delicious.



Tonight Maria and I came to the conclusion that Alonso is an older version of Armando. It’s the way he smiles and he tells jokes with a straight face. He also tells the same kinds of jokes. Seeing the resemblance makes it even funnier.


We have a very exciting outing planed for tomorrow that I can’t wait to write about!

Like my cliff hanger ending?