Córdoba

I'm back! Sorry it took so long...got busy with school believe it or not...but now I'm back! I know you guys were worried about it (read that aloud, thickly coated with sarcasm)

This post is about my recent trip to Andalucía, but only the part that was organized by school.

Andalucía is an Autonomous Community (pretty much the Spanish version of a state) in the south of Spain, and its coast is called the Costa del Sol. The reason it is so important, culturally and historically, is because it is where the strongest Arabic influence was because they inhabited "Al Andalús" for the longest. Mudejar, Moorish, Arabic, all of those terms more or less mean the same thing when speaking about Spanish Culture unless you get very specific, so dont confuse yourself over them, no matter what your tour book says.

First stop on the trip was Córdoba. The main attraction here is the Mezquita de Cordoba...the Mosque of Cordoba. Now, it is actually a Catholic Cathedral...but we can get into all of these details later. When we arrived, it was lunch time. I had gone out to dinner with Mark and his parents the night before, and our waitress was from Córdoba, which proved to be a great connection to have. She told us several things we needed to try, and was the friendliest waiter I had had up to that point despite the fact that she was working like a dog.

Sidebar: The place we went was a "modern tapas" place, which pretty much means that they put some unique spin on a bunch of traditional spanish dishes. Rabo de Toro, or Bull's tail, is typical of Andalucía, but at this restaurant it was served in a rice stew, almost a risotto. It was indescribably good. If you're weirded out by the idea that it's a bulls tail, don't be because it is incredibly tender and delicious, most comparable to short ribs. Eating it made me miss Chelsea's Kitchen short ribs....wanna bring me some when you come out Mom? Thanks, you're the best.

Back to Cordoba...Lunch! When I'm traveling to someplace I am not going to be again in the near future,  I personally believe that going out and getting a doner kebab or chinese food is a waste of time and money. Eat what the locals eat. For that reason, some friends and I went to eat with our two teachers/ tour guides/ amigos, Saul and Nuria. They took us to a place that was also extremely tasty. We had Flamenquín, at the recommendation of my waiter from the night before, Berenjenas con miel de caña, and salmorejo. Flamenquín is a rolled, battered, then fried ham and cheese dish which is very good, but drier than I expected. Not in a negative way though. Berenjenas con miel de caña is fried eggplant with cane-sugar honey, which was so tasty. Sweet, but not overwhelming. It was as close to being a dessert flavor as you can have without being a dessert flavor. Salmorejo is pretty much a different variety of gazpacho, much thicker and with a slightly different, smoother taste. Also delicious. I realized quickly that what I had heard about food in Al-Andalus was true. Delicious, larger portions, cheaper, and meatier.

That white wine is a Vino Fino. Good, but not exactly my bag. A little to sweet but very refreshing on a hot day like it was in Cordoba.

After lunch, we wandered without destination or a map, per usual. Cordoba is not a terribly vibrant town in comparison to Madrid or some of the places we would go, but it was a perfect introduction to the white walled narrow streets that I would come to love in Andalucía.

Typical Andalucía, White and Yellow

Iron art on a random wall

"Disappear Here"...it was a dead end

After our wandering we met back up with the group to visit the Mezquita. Everyone else went and sat in the same restaurant the whole time, which made me feel even better about my wandering. Our visit began with us waiting to get tickets in the courtyard of the mosque/church, which is full of aromatic orange trees and a few Arab style fountains. Arab fountains and Christian fountains are very different, as Arab fountains are generally not meant to impress but are symbolic. The Moors believed that all 5 senses should be stimulated in an ideal building, so the sound of the water was a big part of that. This was my first inclination that I was going to like the style of Andalucía. In the right places, you are comfortable and enjoying yourself just because there, and the Moorish architecture and design is very good at making sure that is the case.

The belltower/minaret through the orange trees

We went inside, and the first thing that strikes you is the size of the building. Not in the same way that a cathedral does, with its vaulted ceilings and long, open halls, but in a very unique way. There are literally hundreds of arches, all painted red and white, all throughout the mosque. Ideally, it would be a continuously repeating pattern across the entire floorplan, but one day the Christians conquered and decided that the symbolic action of putting a gaudy cathedral smack dab in the middle of the 2nd most important mosque in the world was more important than preserving the authenticity of this beautiful, and simple building. Sometimes I wish people would have thought a couple hundred years down the road when they decided to do all of these "symbolic" things. Such is the way of the world though. This is my first inkling that Moorish architecture is among my favorite in the world, and in a class far above Baroque and the majority of Renaissance styles as well.

Ugly church in a beautiful mosque

After that, we bounced outta Córdoba and headed to Sevilla. The drive was very pretty, so I'm told, but I guess the inside of your eyelids look the same just about anywhere. Whoops.

Next up, Sevilla post!