From 8:30 AM until 1:00 PM I watched the temperature climb. By the time I get to Cordoba this was about to suck the life out me. At least it wasn't nearly as humid as Barcelona. (Don't pay attention to the time the screenshot from my phone shows - it's wrong. Although the time on my phone is correct Spain time, everything posted or shows as though I'm back on west coast time).
Much to my surprise, my Air B&B host, Ernesto, was waiting at the train station for me with a sign with my name on it. I never ever expected him to pick me up and had already printed out the directions on how to get to their home on my own. As he said "either I wait for you at home or I wait for you here and here is easier". Very, very nice of him.
Ana and Ernesto live in a typical Spanish home. It looks like an apartment building but it's not. Each external door leads to only one "house" (as they call it). Ernesto lugged my 40 lb suitcase up the 2 flights of stairs. My bedroom was basic, nice with two twin beds, a ceiling fan and, most importantly, air conditioning! Ernesto suggests that I probably won't need it but shows me the remote control in the drawer.
Ernesto pulls out a nice map and pinpoints all the "must see" places and, most importantly, indicates in red ink where their residence is situated (this will become important). He then offers to drive me to the other side of the Roman Bridge so I can walk across it and into the Old Town. There is a museum at the one end but it's siesta time (2:30 PM) so it's closed.
It's so damn hot that I spot an animal sitting in the river. It looks huge and I'm not really sure what it is.... Never seen this before
I am fascinated with Old Town Cordoba and the Mezquita (Mosque - Cathedral of Cordoba) which is right off the end of the Roman Bridge. I get good and lost... so lost. I pull out my map and I ask a young man if he can show me where I am on the map and I'm w-a-y off base from where I thought I was. Holy fricken toledo these winding narrow streets can easily play mind games with me.
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| The Mezquita |
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| Flamenco clothing and accessories are sold in so many shops |
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| Inlaid pebbles |
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| The outfits are not expensive at less than $150 Euros for the skirt and blouse. |
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| Carriage rides in Cordoba |
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| The streets are so beautiful and clean. |
I walk in the door and there's no one inside except for the man who greets me. It's now 7:00 PM and I ask him if he's open for business. He says he is and I explain that I know it's early for dinner in Spain but it is my dinner time. He offers for me to sit anywhere I like. All the tables and chairs are very low in Arabic style. The place smells of incense in a very nice way... very fitting for the entire ambiance of the place. There's a hookah pipe in the middle of the room.
I tell him that I have never eaten Arabic food before and can he recommend something. He says the Veal Tangene is very good. I told him that I have never had tangene but Anthony Bourdaine speaks highly of it so I will try it. I also want something cold to drink. He offers me two different types of tea: one with mint in it and some other type. I choose the latter. Can't recall what was in it but it was very tasty. It appears that no alcohol is served in this restaurant so I presume he must be a practicing Muslim. I ask him if he has always lived in Cordoba and he replied "born and raised".
The tangene arrives. I lift the lid and am surprised to see french fries atop of the meat but really it all went together very well (just like french fries and gravy).
It was such a memorable meal. Now I can't wait to get to Morocco to have it again! The meat was very tender, the sauce flavorful and it all meshed well with the french fries. Other than the Michelin Star restaurant, this was by far the best meal I have eaten in Spain thus far.
I ask the restaurant owner to show me on the map where we are at and I show him where I need to go. He gives me good advice and tells me that although it's not necessarily the quickest route, the easiest route it to just walk down to the foot of the Roman Bridge and then follow the river.
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| The Roman Bridge at dusk |
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| I stayed in a typical Spanish home that looks like these buildings |
The walk takes me 30 minutes. I can't find unit #6 so ask the lady standing in the doorway of her store and she points me in the right direction. I unlocked the lovely metal decorative "screen door" and walk up the 2 flights of stairs. The door is unlocked, the place is black and no one is home. I get ready for bed and call it a successful day.
It ends up that the ceiling fan just doesn't cut it and I turn on the air conditioning to cool the room down but then I turn it off as I have been told that electricity prices are outrageous in Europe. I do this a couple of times during the night and am so grateful to have an air conditioned room.
I sleep well and wake up shortly after 8:00 AM. Both Ana and Ernesto are already up. The table is set for me and they bring coffee, a toasted bun and a basket of cellophane wrapped sweet buns, and some fresh squeezed orange juice. Ana shows me how they eat the toasted bun by scoring the bread with the knife, pouring on some olive oil, some crushed tomatoes and then salt. I try it on one half and then revert to marmalade. Man, do they ever know how to make excellent marmalade in this country. The orange juice was so delicious. The next morning I tried lemon marmalade. Pucker you up but it was so very tasty. Eating all carbs for a meal is hard. It's definitely not my usual way of eating but when in Rome ...(as they say). At home I try to avoid gluten as it irritates my stomach but I was told that in Europe you'll probably not have any issues with it and that has proven true for me. So glad about that because bread in many various forms is served with almost every single thing you order.
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| Traditional Spanish breakfast Toasted bun, olive oil, crushed tomatoes and salt |
Ernesto has me bring out my map and he tells me where he will drive me to and drop me off and he pens out a general plan of action for my day. So nice of him because I have done very little research for this holiday and only wrote out a few words for each city of what I should see while there.
I visit a few churches but in all honesty it's starting to feel similar to Thailand and all the temples... eventually you get all templed-out and I am about to get all churched-out.
Unplanned, perhaps it was on the map but the print was so small I have a hard time reading it with my contact lenses, I bump into a place called The Courtyards of Viana (Five Centuries, 12 Patios). Only 5 Euros to get in and well worth it for the special and natural beauty of the place.
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| For washing laundry |
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| Inlaid Pebbles |
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| Inside a darkened room, they imposed the images of all the flowers in the garden on the wall. Underneath the picture was a white metal box. You sniff the box and the scent of the flower is revealed. The Clavel was my favourite scent. It looks like a carnation (perhaps that's another name for it (?)) |
My goal now it to head towards the Mezquita. I walk and I walk and I find a lovely huge park and decide to sit for a bit and just relax. I ask someone to point out on the map where I am and wouldn't you know it, I'm way, way off the grid. Geez Louise! No wonders I am getting in 16,000+ steps a day. One day it told me I had done 19,000 but I find that hard to believe. Good thing Cordoba isn't a huge city. It's population is about 300,000 so even though I'm off the grid, I find my way in the general direction of the Mezquita in about 15 minutes. First though, I need to stop for a bite to eat.
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| A dip for bread/crackers; olives and a teeny-weeny baguette with cheese and the only thing I really drink in Spain Tinto de Verano. 7 Euros for all of this. |
I just happen to walk by a very nice looking restaurant on the way and notice that it has a Michelin Star. The Michelin Star(s) are so not in your face and definitely understated. You have to look hard for them or you could just very easily walk on past and be none the wiser.
I walk to the Mezquita. Buy the ticket from one booth then have to line up at another booth to buy the audio guide. Here is Lonely Planet's description of the Mezquita If you don't want to read all that, just know that the Mezquita is a combined Church and Mosque. So fascinating.
I spend about three hours in the Mezquita. Unfortunately, it was very hot inside and very dimly lit. I couldn't follow the audioguide well at all because I couldn't make out the tiny print on the map they had given me so I didn't have much success in knowing what number I was to press on the device to correspond with where I was inside the Mezquita. In hindsight, it would be wise to hire a guide for this attraction.
I leave at about 5:30 PM or so and I wander the Old Town a bit. I'm not overly hungry and can't decide what I might want to eat. I decide that I'll just go back to my Air B&B and go without dinner tonight as I don't have much of an appetite..
I walk along the river, the same route I did last night. I get about two blocks and huge drops of water fall from the sky. I mean HUGE drops of water. Not like the tiny drops of water we get in Vancouver. I can hear it thundering in the distance. All of a sudden it starts to pour in absolute buckets. I run and find a tiny doorway and take cover for a couple of minutes. What should I do? Of course I brought a rain coat and an umbrella but they're doing me no good as they're both in my suitcase! It was a hot and sunny morning when I left the Air B&B this morning! There are a few people standing under an awning about 150 feet away. I make a run for it. Should have stayed where I was because now I am absolutely soaked right through and the awning has a bunch of tears in it and the water is coming through. Damn it! There is no way I can walk 25 minutes in this.
The one nice thing about Spain is there are taxis EVERYWHERE and they are fairly inexpensive. I flag down a cab. Lucky me! I tell him the address and he doesn't know where it is. He doesn't understand English and I can't communicate in Spanish. I pull out my map where Ernesto had marked in red ink where their home is located. For some reason the taxi driver still couldn't comprehend where I needed to go. I swear if I were behind the wheel I could have gotten myself home in five minutes. Take a left at the bridge, then a right at the Plaza and go down a few blocks past the fountain on the left-side and voila! The cabbie does manage to make the left hand turn but then at the plaza when he should turn right, he is wanting to turn left. I tell him in a panicked voice and point to the right that he needs to turn right, not left. He ends up going straight as it's now impossible for him to turn right. I ask him to pull over. I call Ernesto but he doesn't pick up. Ernesto immediately calls me back. I am panicked and am obviously talking way too fast as after I am finished Ernesto says in his limited English "Brenda, I don't understand what you are saying". I hand my phone to the taxi driver and say "please speak to him". They talk in Spanish and the taxi driver ends the call by saying "comprende" so I think he's got it now. Sure enough, he drives a few feet, makes a right hand turn and a left hand turn and I am finally there. The fare comes to 5.37 Euros. I give him 7 Euros and tell him to keep the change. I apologize for stressing him out.
Once again I can't find unit #6. The lady from the store is standing in the doorway again and, once again, I ask her where unit #6 is She points me in the direction and I make a run for it. I unlock the "screen door", I take off my sopping wet shoes and carry them up the stairs and all the lights are out. No one is home once again. I need a shower. It's only about 7:30 PM now but I just sit in my room with my laptop. I hear that someone has come in but I don't leave my room.
In the morning, I am up at about 8:30 AM. Ana has the table all set for me and their other B&B guest who came yesterday while I was out. I've finished eating the same breakfast as the previous day (but today I put lemon marmalade on my toasted bun - it puckers you up but man is it ever delicious). and the guest Henk (pronounced Hank) comes to the dining room. We introduce ourselves and Henk tells me that he rode his motorcycle from Rotterdam, Holland and is on his way to Portugal to a retreat. He tells me that he is a sound healer and he teaches holotropic breathing and Ayahuasca. Wee have an instant connection. We talk and laugh and it's like we formed an instant friendship. I think Ana and Ernesto are happy to see us in this way as it's been pretty quiet until now in the fact that Ana doesn't speak English and I can't speak Spanish. Now with two English speakers talking and laughing it gives a very different feel to the house.
Ernesto is going to drive me to the bus now as I am going to take the 11:00 AM to Granada. He tells Henk that he will drop him off after the bus station so he should come along for the ride. Before we leave, Ana and Ernesto want to take a photo with their guest(s) which is their custom. They have the photos displayed on one of those electronic photo frames where the pictures scroll past.
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| Ana & Ernesto All the art work was done by Ana |
On the way, we stop at a traffic light. An African man selling car air fresheners and other items approaches Ernesto, calling him by name, and they shake hands. Ernesto gives the man some coins. As we move on the green light Ernesto says that he and Ana used to have a shop nearby and because he drove that route daily he has gotten to know a lot of the men like this guy who are trying to make a living. I ask him if most of the Africans I see in Spain are illegals and he says that they are but that no one bothers them.
We pull up to the bus depot and Ernesto offers to take me inside and help me buy the ticket. I tell him it's completely unnecessary as I'll figure it out. Ernesto and I hug goodbye and the obligatory kiss on each cheek. Henk and I hug goodbye. I leave Cordoba feeling as if I've made three new friends.
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