So Saturday morning, we all miraculously were up and out of the hostel by 9:00 AM. Amazing. And well worth it, because even though I would've paid to go into the Mezquita, going early meant we also avoided the clusters of tourist groups that like to invade these places. And the mosque is amazing–there's nothing quite like realizing you're in a place you've seen photos of for years. It was a little strange because even though it is also a mosque, the Catholic influence was strong enough that it really felt like a church in a lot more ways. The central part of the mosque, in the middle of all those columns and arches, is designed to be a Catholice cathedral, where they were actually holding mass while we were visiting. Photos not permitted while in session. Luckily, I took mine before mass, when they were just playing the organ–a great addition to the ambiance while visiting.
Arabic arches
Catholic time
Combined religions
The bell tower–and the palm trees
So, roughly 50 photos later, we'd done a lap of the huge expanse that is the mezquita, and ventured into the courtyard. My favorite part of the courtyard was the irrigation system they'd put in place so the fountain would water the trees eventually. Today, they also use a hose to get the job done (something I referred to as the "modern marble of plumbing" in my early-morning, not-yet-eaten-breakfast state), but I loved the design of it.
Courtyard walls
When we were done taking photos, we decided it was breakfast time–the idea that we could survive the whole morning on apples was not our best one. Plus, we had to make an attack plan for the day, so we went to a cafe called Oh La Lá, where I had the best tostada con tomate y jamón, café con leche, and zumo de naranja. Also known as toast with tomato and ham, coffee with milk, and orange juice. Or also known as my absolute favorite Spanish breakfast food.
Our attack plan first took us to the Puente Romano–another thing every Spanish city seems to have. There is almost always a Cathedral, and if there's a river, there will be a Roman bridge.
While at the bridge, we met a man who does impressionist paintings on little slides of glass with his fingers. And they're amazing, so we bought some, and picked out the ones that depicted the white walls of Córdoba with the flower pots that are on every single window.
Next, we were considering going to the hostel for a short rest before lunch… but then we ran into the Alcázar de los Reyes. I don't even know how to describe this place, except that we took about 150 photos of the towers and the gardens–see below.
This is Kristi trying to drink the water even though they put a sign up that it's not drinkable...
Mila & I
After the Alcázar, we went to lunch at a place called 5 Arcos–in honor of the million Arabic arches all over town. This food was not exactly a winner, but it was good enough for a pre-siesta snack.
Also pre-siesta, we wandered around town and found Calleja de los Flores (it has more flowers than your average street) and the itty bitty little skinny street that requires you to go single file through it.
After siesta, we went to a Moroccan place we'd seen the first day, which advertised belly dancing at 8:00 on Saturdays. We thought we'd have dinner there, but unfortunately they were only serving drinks and pastries. So we all drank tea or juice and ate a baklava and watched the belly dancer, and then promptly decided we wished we could do something like that. The girl has some real skills.
Then, it was really dinner time. We found a fantastic tapas place, Taberna de la Tapa, where the waiter was super nice, there was a fútbol game on, and the tapas were pretty much your typical Spanish fare. Also a great dinner find. The waiter even recognized us the next day when we were walking around town! Oh, and I tried blood pudding, Mom & Dad! (Ten years after I was supposed to in London… better late than never?) It wasn't quite as terrible as I'd imagined when I was 9, but still not my favorite. What was my favorite was queso ovejo, the cheese tapa we ordered, which was also on the tostada with tomato and jamón that we ate. Simply delicious.
Om nom nom, tapas.
We wandered around town for a while after dinner, took some silly photos, and ran into a totally random parade/procession of some kind that involved a marching band and a lot of religious-looking things that we don't understand. It was either a funeral or some kind of religious ritual, we just have no idea which. And may never actually find out.
