Cordoba

Yesterday I was able to go on the Religion trip to Cordoba. I. Love. Cordoba. I went when I was studying in Barcelona - it was ridiculously cold then. Yesterday, the only way to describe the weather: perfect. In Cordoba, the Jewish, Christians, and Muslims live together in peace – how crazy is that?! It is just a city of peace and it is gorgeous. I could see myself living there.

I don't know if I have ever really expressed just how much I love La Mezquita. It is such a symbol of peace. I love the musulmana (muslim) architecture. The double arches, the red and yellow colors, and of course the history of it all. When Cordoba was conquered by the Christians, it was turned into a cathedral. It is really interesting because it is this great hall of arches and wooden planks at the ceiling and then BAM! Cathedral. It has all the likings with a Gothic style, large arches, huge columns instead of the muslim style of the skinny arches that get wider and form a shape at the top. It is all white, leaving the heavily decorated arches behind. There is a pulpit and two huge organs, and of course a TON of gold. The outer structure looks mainly musulmana style, and later the tower was built from the Christian era. The courtyard has three distinct fountains and it has the aroma of sweet citrus, mainly because it is filled with orange trees. It is one of my favorite places. 

 

 

  Later we went to the Synagogue there. There was a rabbi there doing sacraments. He had a mini torah on his head, a prayer shawl, and then he did something that cut off his circulation in his arm (I'll have to do some research on this since I am curious about the ritual, and what exactly he was doing and what it symbolizes).

Then on the tour we went to the Calle De Flores. It is a beautiful part of the city. They hang these beautiful red flowers from the white washed walls. From there, you can see the tower of La Mezquita (pictured right). It smells beautiful there, very peaceful. 

 

After that it was lunch time. All of the students split off and I went with the other professors for lunch. It was nice not to eat at Burger King – we had an authentic Cordoban lunch. We had the menu of the day, so it was several courses. We started off with some wine and cheese. Then Salmorejo. Which is a thick dip. It consists of tomato, lots of garlic, ham and eggs. Tasted better than it sounds...haha. Then I had a mix of ham, mushrooms and eggs with rabo de toro sauce (Rabo de toro is the bull tail, and it is very typical of Cordoba). Again, tasted better than it sounds! Then we had a thick chocolate mousse dessert, I could only eat half. I also had a beer with lunch so I was so FULL! Arrta. That is the word for full, make sure you roll that RR! Then of course cafe to refuel for the rest of the day.

After taking 2 and half hours for lunch we went on a leisurely walk through the city. Went to the square, I feel like I was there with my trio from Barcelona there taking multiple pics at the fountain.

Lastly, we went to the Alcazar, or the Palace of the Kings. There were many steps to climb up and down, I don't know how I didn't trip! We took many pictures and had a great time there. There are huge fountains and ponds, slowly in my head I said “Don't fall in the water”, luckily no one did. But it did make me think of a story about my Grandma Zosia repeatedly saying “don't fall in the water”, and then she fell in the water. I made sure not to get to close, as I was sure I would have fallen in the water. 

 

 

Many of the students wanted a picture with me, I always feel so loved by them, and I do love them. Many of them asked me questions, made sure I liked everything, asked me my favorite part. They can understand my sometimes broken Spanish, and I can understand their sometimes broken English. It is a beautiful thing.

Until Next Time, 

XOXO

Tori