Córdoba and the rest of the weekend…

Saturday

                Saturday morning Concepción made me breakfast which included for the first time hot chocolate. It was extremely delicious and had an amazing chocolaty flavor. I would definitely be ok with having it every day. It was a good motivation for getting me going at the early hour of 8am when most people are still enjoying sleeping in.  I had to get up early to because I was going to Córdoba with a group from the school. It was amazing. We took a coach bus to Córdoba and it was about an hour and a half drive. We went to the Judería first, which used to be where the Jews lived, and visited a synagogue that is only one of three that still remain in Spain from before the Jews were forced to leave by the Christians. It was super old and has really cool engraved walls, but it was also super tiny and we could barely fit our whole group in there. We then went to what used to be a Jewish market place that was really pretty and had a sweet upper level with lots of arches. From there we went to the palace of the Christian kings that had originally been used by the Arabs and is known as the Alcázar. We saw some of the inside, including an underground level that had been the Arab baths. My favorite part was definitely the gardens which take up quite a large amount of space and there are tons of beautiful fountains. I definitely went a little overboard taking pictures but I just couldn’t help myself.

                                                                          The Synagogue

                                                                              Palace Gardens

                                                                           Medieval Market

                                                                             The Cathedral

After the palace we were allowed a lunch break from two to four. We were informed that once a year Córdoba hosts a medieval market and we just happened to be there on the right day. So a bunch of us walked there to find some food and see if there was anything interesting to buy. It was packed like a can of sardines, but definitely worth visiting. I had been given a sandwich to take with me by Concepción, so I didn’t need to by lunch however I did give in to the temptation and bought two bars of artisan chocolate (dark orange and mint). There were so many little stands of food and crafts and drinks that it was overwhelming. All the people selling their wares (which were mostly all hand-crafted by the way) were dressed in medieval attire and it was quite legit. I bought a couple of gifts from some of the stands because the prices were actually quite reasonable, and I probably would have bought even more if I had had more time. I could have easily spent hours there and I hope sometime Sevilla does something similar.

Paige and I met back up with our group at the Mosque/Cathedral, which originally used to be a mosque back when the Muslims were in power, but once the Christians came, they preserved it and converted it into a cathedral. It was super amazing and I wanted to go through and look at all the little chapels more closely, because there were tons of them, however we only had about an hour to get through the whole thing, so I didn’t get as much time as I would have liked. My favorite part was the main alter area that was absolutely breathtaking and the craftsmanship of the walls and ceiling was unbelievable. Overall it was an extremely worthwhile and memorable trip.

Sunday

                I woke up Sunday morning fairly late, but it was wonderful getting to sleep in. However, it was quite a disappointment when my heater didn’t turn on. Then I found out from Concepción that the electricity was off in the building and would be until around three in the afternoon. It was a little bit of a bummer, but at least I have a balcony that lets a lot of sun into my room, so it wasn’t terribly cold.

 I went to a Flamenco Museum in the afternoon with Paige. I had hoped I would be able to see a live show however we found out that they only do them in the evening and we went around two so we’ll have to go back again at a later time. The exhibits were interesting though and there were a lot of videos to watch which were pretty neat. After the museum, we found a café that had a fairly inexpensive menu and I got some hot chocolate. However it was more like fudge that was heated into liquid form. It was very delicious but also very rich. I found it kind of strange that the waiter gave me a pack of sugar to go with it. I definitely thought it was super sweet as it was without adding to it, but I put some of it in just for good measure.

Later in the day I went to a plaza to try and get internet access, and managed to for about ten minutes, and then when the stand that advertised the free Wi-Fi closed down for the day, it stopped working. Just a little bit of a disappointment. Next time I’ll have to go earlier I guess. Then Paige and I went to a seven o’clock Mass at the same church as last week, St. Magdalene. Again it was a very short Mass for a Sunday and was finished in about a half hour. Once back at home, Concepción had made an interesting brown soup that had a bean sort of flavor but also had these long stringy things in it and I couldn’t tell what they were. It wasn’t bad and there were also chicken, French fries, bread, fruit and yogurt, so I had a lot of options. I’d say it was a good end to a good weekend.