Cordoba

Well I finally went to Cordoba, and it was just as nice as I thought it would be. Everyone told me a day or a night would be sufficient, but I spent 3 full busy days there, with time to relax too.

I don't think one day in any city is sufficient, if you really want to get "to know" the city. For example, I thought a day trip to Toledo was enough. So I made a day trip to Toledo…then another, and then another. There's always something new to find. Even in small towns or "pueblos", well I guess there are exceptions.

I stayed in the best place I've ever stayed, I think, at least here in Spain. It was an ancient Andalusian house, made from stone with a central patio in the middle of all the rooms. Surprisingly, it was kind of like a hostel even though I found it on airbnb. There were a lot of people staying there, I wasn't sure how many rooms there actually were. The lady was nice, don't think her first language was Spanish, but it wasn't English, because she didn't begin speaking to me in English when I told her I was from California. She kind of reminded me of my grandma.

Cordoba is hot. The way cities are built in Southern Spain are with small, narrow, streets, allowing the air to pass through and preventing the sun from beaming down on the walls. Also, the central patios in every house allows an opening up and through the house so air can flow. The streets are made with cobblestone so that it allows air to pass as well. When walking barefoot (way back in the day), in order to prevent your feet from burning, the streets were made this way so there was space between the stones to keep it cool. The fact that the houses are made of stone provides natural air conditioning, no joke! I would walk out of the hot streets into the cool and shady house. It was amazing, the stones were kept cold because they were out of the sun and kept the place cold. That'd be a good idea for houses in Thailand…all we have in my grandma's house there are tons of fans. And the canal I guess.

This was the first trip I took alone, I hope my mom is okay with that. It was nice, I got to do everything I wanted at my own pace and when I wanted. The Cathedral/Mosque was smaller than I expected, but it was amazing to see the Christian, Catholic, and Islamic fusion inside and out. There was an Alcazar, which I almost liked better than the one in Sevilla, but the one in Sevilla is bigger I'll give it that. I enjoyed "salmorejo" which is similar to "gazpacho", which is basically cold tomato soup, popular in the south because of the hot weather. I use to not like gazpacho when I first studied in Madrid, but now it's grown on me. I admit that there will be some Spanish food that I'll miss when I'm back in the states, and I'll just have to make it.

Taking the bus was okay, 7 hours both ways. But I got to see a lot of landscapes. I love how there are just all these random ancient buildings all around. Not only castles at the top of hills, but little buildings that were probably old bathrooms or who knows what, that are left over. They just sit in the middle of the fields, the grass, or the farms. They would make for good pictures, if only I had a car!

I'm too scared to drive here…the small european streets are too intense.

I won't even be here in Cartagena a week, we're off to Morocco this Saturday, I'm ready for something a little different. Or very different. Semana Santa begins Friday, Viernes de Dolores. I'm really excited to finally see the processions. I've seen videos and they seem intense. The first one is Friday at 3:30am, apparently everyone goes out at that time to see the first procession! And I'll be there!  Lots of my students are participating in the processions in the area, probably won't see them though.

Spring has brought around flowers that smell like the flowers that grow around the Thai Temple in Berkeley. They're not exactly the same, but the smell is.