Is this really my life? How did this happen to me? These are some of the questions that I keep asking myself and this last adventure was no exception. Although, I do feel that maybe I should just stop with these questions. Life is simply great and I am stuck with it.
My most recent adventure took me, along with my two roommates, Julie and Ellen, to the wonderful city of Cordoba. Our trip started on Friday when we hopped on a bus here in Baeza, to make the 2 hr and 30 min ride to our destination. It was an easy one, but a bit long for me as I was giddy with anticipation. The reasons for this excitement are many, but most importantly were the Mezquita, the Arab Baths, and to once again see my long lost friend Russ, whom I had yet to see since parting ways back in September in Barcelona. It is strange because of all of my best friends, Russ is the one that I have seen most recently, but being away from everyone for so long, has made these visits mean even more. As I’m sure you can guess, I can’t wait to see my Croatian friends along with everyone and anyone that comes to visit me in the spring and summer months.
The three of us arrived in Cordoba around 8:00 pm on Friday and were met by Annelies and Russ at the bus station. I charged him as he tried to run from my advances. Just as I expected! We then took the 15 minute walk from the station to the apartment of Annelies and her roommates where we would be staying for the weekend. After saying hi and dropping off our things, we grabbed a taxi and made our way to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. There were nine of us, so we had a very nice dinner, eating enchiladas, drinking Mexican beer and margaritas. Although I would say that it was not as good as Mexican food in the US. The Spanish just don’t know how to spice their food up! But it was nice to have something different for a change. After lingering at the table for another hour or so, we decided to walk next door and catch the midnight showing of the new Bond, Quantum of Solace. My first experience in a Spanish movie theater was a good one. Here all the American films are dubbed in Spanish and without subtitles. I understood most of what was going on, but probably missed much of the humor. Sarcasm, irony, and jokes in a foreign language are a hard thing to catch on to. After leaving the theater, we met up with Russ’s and my new friend Paige. She had come with Russ from Cadiz for the weekend and was hanging out with some of her friends that she knew in Cordoba. After making it to their location, we had some drinks at a couple different bars. Here is where I met her friends, Jorge and Fernando, two of my new best friends here in Spain. It turns out that Tracy, another new friend, had been an auxiliar like me two years ago, met Jorge in Cordoba, fell in love, and the rest is history. She is now living here in Spain! Just like in the movies! Anyways, this whole group is one that I hope to spend a lot more time with over the next several months. They are all great friends and we have talked a lot already about return trips to Cordoba and trips together elsewhere in Spain. I’m sure you will be hearing more about these new friends in my life.
Saturday started out with sleeping in as the night before turned into one that was quite late. After waking up and getting some breakfast, we headed down towards the Mezquita. For any of you who do not know what the Mezquita is, you should. Mezquita is spanish for mosque and the Mezquita here in Cordoba is one of the great architectural treasures in the world. Built in 785, it is in almost perfect condition even today after more than 1200 years! It is famous for two reasons. First the inside is composed almost entirely of pillar after pillar connected by wonderfully decorated arches. See picture. The second reason is the cathedral that is there today, constructed in the center and on top of the mosque itself. The history of this plot of land begins with another church that was torn down by the Muslims before the construction of the Mezquita. Then, in the 15th century, at the end of the Moorish reign here in the south of Spain, the Christians built the cathedral on top of the mosque as a sign of their re-conquest. Although in my opinion, the cathedral does not even come close to the splendor that is the mosque and because of this it actually has the opposite effect. In fact, it is said that Charles V came to Cordoba after construction had already begun and was appalled at what they were doing to such a beautiful building. We spent over an hour walking around and inside the Mezquita and seeing everything it had to offer. You can walk everywhere inside. There is a museum, you can see the cathedral, and see how strangely incorporated the two religions are in this odd building.
After the Mezquita, we headed towards the Guadalquivir River, one of the longest rivers in Spain, which goes through the city. There is a great bridge where you can walk around and enjoy a lazy afternoon. We even went down to the banks and and spent some time enjoying the afternoon. Done with this, we headed back towards the Mezquita and found a nice little cafe where Russ, Ellen, Julie, and I sat down to enjoy a nice afternoon snack and reenergize a bit. Towards the end of this rest stop, Veronica, one of the girls we were staying with, met us and took us around more of the city. We enjoyed a great walk through the Judaría and into some really nice plazas. The Judaría is the neighborhood surrounding the Mezquita. It is made of almost all white buildings that house apartments and houses, cafes, restaurants, and numerous small shops. The streets are very narrow. A great little Spanish neighborhood. As it began to get dark, we made our way to a nearby Mercadona (spanish grocery store chain) to pick up some food for a cheaper dinner at our friends’ apartment. We settled on some pasta, took that back with us and enjoyed a small siesta followed by a great and filling dinner. Thanks girls!
Not wanting to waste any time on our current adventure, Russ and I headed out to meet up with our new Spanish friends. The rest of the girls were a bit tired and decided to siesta before heading out that night. I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am that I didn’t partake in this. Russ and I arrived at our friends’ apartment, enjoyed a glass of wine, and then Jorge, Fernando, Tracy, Paige, Russ, and I made our way out for the night. First however, their apartment is right on the Guadalquivir River and is an amazing place. Not too big but very nice and spanish people are so hospitable. They were so happy to open their doors to us. As we headed out, they took us out to a couple spots where we could get some great pictures of the bridge over the river and the Mezquita at night. The pictures obviously didn’t come out great, but the views were breathtaking. After this, we made our way to my favorite night life place of the weekend. I don’t know what the name of this bar was, but it was located on the roof of a building right on the river. Parts of the club were indoors and parts outdoors, the drinks were amazing, the music great, and the company unbeatable. Russ and I had a great time and I definitely hope to return to this place on my next trip to Cordoba. When out at night in Spain, the experience is quite different than in the US. People of all ages go out. Everyone from those younger than me, to 60 year old men and women. In my opinion, it really makes for a fun atmosphere and one that is hard to come by back home. After leaving this bar, we made our way to two more that night and met up with Ellen, Julie, and our hosts. We all had a great time as we drank and danced the night away. Too much fun.
The next day, after not enough sleep, we rolled off of our inflatable air mattresses and headed back to the Judaría where our Arab bath awaited. Although a little bit pricey, this is an experience that I most definitely recommend. For 90 minutes we enjoyed maybe the most relaxing experience of our lives. The experience is something like this: The bath house consists of a series of different temperature baths. A cold bath (and by cold, I mean take your breath away cold), a large warm bath which is more like a large baby pool, a hot tub, and finally a steam room that has something in the steam that smells great. The idea is to progress from bath to bath as many times as you wish for your designated 90 minutes. I spent most of my time in the warm bath and the steam room, but combined it makes for a great way to shock the system and relieve any tension that you might have. During this time, you also receive a 15 minute massage when your number is called. I felt total relaxation as I walked out the door.
Feeling that we needed some food and drinks in our system, we made the short walk to the famous Bar Santos right outside the Mezquita for some fantastic tortilla potata and salmorejo. For those that don’t know, tortilla here is actually more similar to an omelette and salmorejo is a spanish soup from Cordoba that is based from tomatoes and bread. Delicious. Along with a Coke, we enjoyed our meal and then headed back towards the bridge and the river, where we crossed, made our way to the banks, and laid down in the grass for a wonderful siesta. At least an hour later, we finally got moving again as we slowly made our way back over the bridge where we were planning to stop for Russ to pick up a sweatshirt that he had left over at Jorge and Fernando’s apartment. Well, this turned into an afternoon stop where we were treated to a feast complete with pizza, leftovers, drinks, and conversation about all the crazy events of the weekend. These guys really are some great guys and I hope to stay good friends with them throughout this year and long into the future. Finally after leaving, we met up with Veronica and Annelies and made our way back to their apartment where we briefly stopped to pack up our stuff and head back to the bus station. After saying good bye to them and Russ, we parted ways and Ellen, Julie, and I were on our way back to Baeza.
The weekend was a whirlwind and probably the best since arriving in Spain. I really can’t put into words what I think of Cordoba, our fun there, and especially the new friends that we met. I hope to see all of them soon and to obviously return as soon as possible. As for my next adventure, this next week is Thanksgiving, which I will soon be writing about. I hope you and your families are enjoying a wonderful start to the holiday season. It will be a bit of a different one here for me, but one that I’m sure will be unforgettable.
Hasta pronto.
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