Cordoba

Exhausting weekend of tours and fun. I guess I shall start at the beginning-for now we're just going to do day one, Cordoba.

8:00Am Friday we leave Madrid for Cordoba. I was already stressing out because I had stayed up pretty late waiting for my Seora to come home because I had no clean jeans and no lunch for the next day. I had asked the boys and they said to wait. Well apparently she's a party animal, 'cause I was up until 1Am waiting for her and she still had not gotten in. So I make us all late going to the train to meet the bus because I was frantically trying to put things together. Anyway, we meet the bus and we have a relaxing ride and arrive in Cordoba at about 11:30ish.
We first walked around a took in some sights. They had forecasted rain and clouds all weekend for Sevilla and Cordoba, but by the time we had gotten there, the sky was completely cleared and it was a beautiful day. We left Madrid and it was rainy and cold.













Mateo parting the palms.















My bishop impression.












Shot of the Guadalquivir








After some free time we took a tour of Museo Vivo de Al-Andalus in Torre de la Calahorra which was an old tower where they protected the shores of the river. It was interesting...a virtual tour where we just listened to headphones instead of a tour guide. The arabs were pretty important to the area and this showed in what ways. Supposedly it was completely funded by a very wealthy man who escaped Hitler and wanted to express to everyone in the area the importance of culture and tolerance.













Mateo in the gun hole of the tower.

















A view from the terrace at the top of the tower.














View of the Mezquita from the top.








Next we crossed the river to go into the actual village where the Mezquita is. The village was absolutely beautiful and the director of our group said that it was, I believe the term she used was "owned by humanity" meaning that they had to restore the entire area to what it was in olden times and commercial things can't come in.








A quaint little shot.



















So much culture, and yet...






The Mezquita, for those of you who do not know, was a mosque that was made when the Mores inhabited Spain. After the Catholics took control, they either tore down the mosques or built over them. In this case, they built over the Mezquita and created an absolutely stunning structure. The entire thing is a mixture of the two cultures and the amount of detail is overwhelming.














Courtyard of Orange Trees


















I wasn't the only one enjoying the courtyard...
I had actually never seen doves before this trip.














Mateo was enjoying it too.

The oranges looked sooo good, however we had a lesson in oranges and these ones weren't good to eat. However, they did make a fun game of catch while waiting for the bus. They also smelled absolutely amazing.







La MEZQUITA de CORDOBA





























































A Little Local Flavor



















































































A Local Synagogue




















I guess the saying really is true..."the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plains." I have NEVER seen greener grass.












I love it here-- where else do you get a view like this at a truck stop!?










After touring around Cordoba we left for Sevilla. We arrived around 8:00Pm and had some dinner, then hit the streets for la Marcha. We wound up at a little Irish place where everyone spoke english and it was ridiculously cheap. It was one of the girl's 21, so we showed her a good time. Sevilla is a major party town and there are tons of tapas bars and clubs to go to at night. There are thousands of American and English students who study in the area so it's wasn't too hard to fit right in. The first night at least...
The hotel felt amazing...HOT, LONG, HIGH PRESSURE SHOWERS. We were there for two nights and I took four showers (pS, Gram, the bathtubs were extremely slippery...I now understand your concern.) We had a hall of Marist students and the kids next door to us, amazingly enough, were from White Plains, New York with a different program. Small, small world.


In honor of Valentine's Day, Michelle and I have been waiting a whole year to present this to you:

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