Spring break: Cordoba, Spain

The hour-and-a-half drive from Seville to Cordoba was lovely -- a hundred miles of rolling hills full of olive tree groves that were lush and green at this time of year, all very picturesque and bucolic and Mediterranean.  We arrived late afternoon at Miguel’s spacious apartment, parked the van and unloaded our stuff, and headed on foot towards old town for dinner.  

We had a little drama pulling money out of the ATMs but finally found one that worked after we walked across the old Roman Bridge that spans the Guadalquivir River at dusk. The Roman Bridge is so named because it was built by the Romans -- just think of that! After we pulled out some money, we walked past the massive La Mesquita, picked our way through a labyrinth of old churches, residences, and restaurants that looked very much like a less-steep Lisbon, and up to Mercado Victoria, a large and exotic food court outside the old city walls.  The girls and I grabbed some Mexican nachos (I have been craving Mexican food and can’t get any besides Bri’s tacos in Riga), Thomas got what he thought was orange chicken and rice but turned out to be something else but ok, and Bri bought some Arabian pastries, nan, and a hummus plate. We ate and enjoyed ourselves in the raucous atmosphere, enjoying the energy that was surprising to find in this old place, before heading back through the labyrinth and old town towards our apartment.  En route we ran into a couple of elders who were very happy to see us. We found out that they knew our niece Emily (who they said was a very good missionary of course), and we gave them a message to pass on to her on Monday when they were having a conference of some.  We knew we weren't going to be able to see Emily because she was hours away from us, so the next best thing was being able to send our love through these Elders.  We walked back across the bridge, and turned in for the night.
The next morning we ate, got ourselves in order, and headed back across the Roman Bridge and up to La Mesquita.

This was something Bri and I had been looking forward to seeing for a very long time, and the kids mostly humored us.  Cordoba was a Roman settlement (e.g., The Roman Bridge), and then became the seat of Moorish power and the Islamic Emirate in the eighth century and a renowned Moorish educational center with multiple medical schools and universities.  There is a lot of hubris in Spain and Spanish history, and when the Spaniards finally drove out the Moors in 1236, the Spanish almost immediately started construction on a massive Catholic cathedral -- Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion -- smack dab in the middle of an enormous mosque.  In the ensuing centuries, 37 chapels have been built inside the Mesquita, resulting in the marriage of Islamic motifs with Christian ones, sometimes in lovely harmony but usually in stark contrasts.

We walked through the Grove of Oranges outside, bought our tickets, and found our way into the Mesquita.The emotional impact of the facility is striking, with dozens of colored columns and arches in low light, ancient doorways and ornate Catholic chapels and carvings and tapestries and paintings evoke a somber and awe-inspiring mood.  We spent an hour wandering through the sprawling facility, soaking in the history, including a cut-away floor of a second century BC Roman foundation and, they suspect, much older Phoenician foundations below that.  La Mesquita did not disappoint and was a sight to remember.

We had fun by a window just as we stepped inside, with the fun Moorish pattern and our silhouettes.

And of course Thomas had to do the dab.  ;)
And then all of the arches caught our eyes.  I couldn't get enough of the arches and their stripes!

Some artwork on the walls that we liked:

Alas, kids are kids, and their awe wore off more quickly than that of their parents, and we headed off in search of food before going any further.  We found a reasonably priced cafe, ordered several sandwiches and tapas (appetizers) off the menu, and ate...some of them.  We really wanted to love the tapas for which this part of Spain is famous, but we weren’t real impressed.

We were definitely in Spain--on the wall of the restaurant were posters advertising the upcoming bull fights.  At first, I was really bummed we didn't get to see one (they were only on Sundays when we were there), but after watching the movie Ferdinand recently, we're glad we didn't!  It's hard to justify the treatment of those bulls before they die!

Fortified, we headed towards the famed Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, the favorite residence and court of King Ferdinand and Isabella.  The castle houses some very old Phoenician, Greek, and early Roman mosaics and art which were beautiful; but the main draw for this Alcazar is the extensive gardens.

Lemon-Orange tree!  I could not believe my eyes, but these lemons and oranges were on the same tree.  I inspected every angle to make sure I was seeing things clearly, and I was.  Apparently someone had grafted them in together and they were growing on the same tree.  But this was not the only one.  There were a few trees like this.  Fascinating!  I had never seen anything like it before!

It was here, at the end of the King’s Walk in 1485, that Columbus  first petitioned Ferdinand and Isabella to sponsor his voyages.  He lived in Cordoba for several years and pursued the request doggedly before he was finally given permission.  To walk on the ground where all of this world-shaking adventure change first came into being was sobering and exciting.

 After Alcazar we headed back towards La Mesquita and explored the charming streets of Cordoba, including the picturesque Calleja de las Flores, before stopping for some ice cream.

Fortunately, we were able to hide out there for a bit and duck most of a short rain storm.  Bri and Thomas headed out in search of a clay whistle  Thomas had seen earlier, and the girls and I browsed some shops.  Eventually, our time in Cordoba came to  an end, and we said goodbye to the old city, crossed the bridge again, met Miguel and grabbed our stuff and  some gas, and headed on to Malaga for the night.  We had to skip Granada given our late flight in the day before, which was made easier by the fact that we couldn’t get tickets to La Alhambra; I promised Bri he and  I would make another trip to Andalucia to see Granada and to revisit Cordoba (and to see Ronda and to take our time through the lovely countryside).  Cordoba was all we hoped it would be, and  very romantic and picturesque and a place that Bri and I both vowed to return.