Down by the River... in Cordoba

The second city of this well-traveled arch we are on was Cordoba. We didn’t really know what to expect and had heard from David and Simone how much it surprised them. Looking for surprises is always a good mindset for entering a new place and it served us well in Cordoba. The first, as always, was our apartment. We met yet another wonderful AirBnB host, Juan Carlos (also the name of the former King of Spain) who insisted on practicing his English with us. It was much better than our Spanish. His apartment was on the edge of the old city allowing us to feel like we were in a real neighborhood and be able to get into the old part of the city without much problem.

We’ve gotten in the practice of doing an orientation walk the first night we land in a new place. It was so hot this first day that we waited until 9 pm to get out and we wound our way through the narrow streets and allies. A surprise around every corner: a funeral procession; masses that were just finishing up; small plazas with the ubiquitous cerviceria/bar/café tables filled with people. Our destination was the river. The mighty Guadalquivir flows through here, we’d crossed it twice before in the Alpujarra and along the coast by Nerja.  There is an old roman bridge we wanted to walk across and see the Mezquita from the outside.

The river did not disappoint and the other side of the river was a real surprise. We stumbled up on a street fair with booths of food, families, kids taking rides on donkey’s and a stage with what we think was traditional dance and music from Galacia. The view across the river towards Cordoba was beautiful and the energy of the families and everyone out enjoying the evening was magnificent.

We toured the Mezquita the next day, an amazing Mosque-Cathedral with an complicated history that I can’t begin to write about. The juxtaposing of Islam and Catholicism was simply captivating. And it’s Ramadan now. No Muslims practicing here: banned by the Vatican. Seems unfair given that this was once a rival to Mecca when the Moors owned this part of Spain. Outside this complex a Jewish neighborhood: the religious trifecta is a common history here in Spain.

We visited the river again on our second evening and the street fair was gone but the view was still there. This time there was a Flamenco show on the stage by the bridge, a man with two guitars and three vocalists behind him. Mesmerizing. Another great surprise by the river. 

Cordoba had such a friendly, laid back feel, of a city that’s proud of it’s heritage and comfortable with being the “lesser known” city to Granada and Seville. Once again, not enough time. We are beginning to feel like this is the “taste of Spain”, finding places to return to on our next trip.

(And happy birthday Elizabeth, we are sending you love and feliz cumpleanos from Spain!)