I ♥ Córdoba
Before I begin let me just say that Córdoba is such an underrated city. Whenever I (and most people I know) hear Andalucía, they always think of Sevilla and then Granada for the Alhambra. But Córdoba is just gorgeous and it's become one of my favorite Spanish cities.
On our last morning in Sevilla, we didn't do much. Just slept in, packed and then checked out. Bel went to see the Alcazar early in the morning. Ange, Quintin, and I had breakfast at Cien Montaditos and Javier went to mass at the Cathedral. After mass was done we walked back to our hotel and took a taxi to the train station. Bel was waiting for us there and we made it 7 minutes before our train was scheduled to depart. (Hehe.)
Our train ride to Córdoba took an hour and twenty minutes. When we got to Córdoba we took a bus as instructed by our hostel, but we didn't know the stops and ended up going down like 3 stops after we were supposed to get off. So we just decided to walk (uphill) to the Plaza and from there find our hostel. It took us awhile but we found our hostel and checked in.
We were (as usual) hungry so we walked to the Plaza and looked for a restaurant. It was pretty late, about 4 already I think, but this one restaurant was still serving. It ended up being one of the best restaurants we've eaten in so far! We had paella, patatas bravas (legit ones), croquetas, calamares, and some yummy salchichon.
Patatas bravas and croquetas
Paella and calamares
Salchichon
After stuffing ourselves, we set out to explore! We walked to the Roman Bridge which was really cool and then crossed it to the other side and visited the Tower of Calahorra. The tower was okay; it came with a free audioguide which told us about Córdoba's history.
By the 'entrance' of the Roman Bridge
Bel and Ange with the tower in the background
Ange being Ange, me being me, Javier being Javier, and Bel being Bel
After an ice cream break (it was 33 degrees!) we spent the rest of the afternoon and the early evening walking around the streets of Córdoba for the Feria de los Patios. Córdoba is so beautiful. The city was actually declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The streets of Córdoba are so nice. They're mostly narrow and you can really see the Moorish influences around the city. Plus all the buildings are white, and with the flowers in full bloom, they look really pretty.
The Feria de los Patios is a festival in Córdoba held every May. The houses or patios that partake in the festival decorate their patios with flowers and it becomes a city-wide contest. I guess you have to sign up in the city hall to join because in the tourism office you can get a map and they give you routes to follow that include the patios in the contest. They are actually private houses but they open their doors to the public at certain hours.
We followed the purple route which included maybe 16 houses. The patios were pretty but after awhile they kind of start to look the same. We have no idea what the criteria for the contest is though and we had a joke that it was the most flower pots they could put up in their patios. We only went to the first 11 houses because it started getting dark so we decided not to continue.
The streets of Córdoba
Sign to one of the houses
Some of the patios
We walked to the Plaza and looked for a place to have dinner. But being the indecisive people that we are, we ended up eating at the same place we had lunch in. Haha. Still good food.
The next morning (Sunday) we went to have mass at the Mezquita-Catedral. We missed the mass when we got to the Mezquita-Catedral so we walked to a nearby cafe to have breakfast while waiting for the next mass.
The Mezquita-Catedral is amazingly beautiful. I think it was originally a church but then was converted to a mosque when the Moors took over. Then when the king of Spain reconquered the South, he turned it back into a Cathedral. But it's really interesting because only the center part (where we had mass) is a Cathedral. All around the Cathedral is still Mosque like and they have Moorish arches all over. It's a really really pretty sight.
We didn't have to pay to enter the Cathedral for mass so before and after mass we just looked around and took pictures.
The Cathedral part...
...The Mezquita part
After the Mezquita-Catedral we went to the nearby Alcazar. The fortress wasn't anything great but the gardens were so beautiful. Since it was May, all the flowers were in full bloom and there was so much color in the gardens. We stayed there for quite some time taking lots of pictures (and even a video).
In the Alcazar
Ange with the gardens
Bel blending with the flowers
La familia
We had lunch at a small restaurant and then headed to the bus station after. Bel went back to Madrid and Ange, Quintin, Javier, and I were off to Granada!
On our last morning in Sevilla, we didn't do much. Just slept in, packed and then checked out. Bel went to see the Alcazar early in the morning. Ange, Quintin, and I had breakfast at Cien Montaditos and Javier went to mass at the Cathedral. After mass was done we walked back to our hotel and took a taxi to the train station. Bel was waiting for us there and we made it 7 minutes before our train was scheduled to depart. (Hehe.)
Our train ride to Córdoba took an hour and twenty minutes. When we got to Córdoba we took a bus as instructed by our hostel, but we didn't know the stops and ended up going down like 3 stops after we were supposed to get off. So we just decided to walk (uphill) to the Plaza and from there find our hostel. It took us awhile but we found our hostel and checked in.
We were (as usual) hungry so we walked to the Plaza and looked for a restaurant. It was pretty late, about 4 already I think, but this one restaurant was still serving. It ended up being one of the best restaurants we've eaten in so far! We had paella, patatas bravas (legit ones), croquetas, calamares, and some yummy salchichon.
After stuffing ourselves, we set out to explore! We walked to the Roman Bridge which was really cool and then crossed it to the other side and visited the Tower of Calahorra. The tower was okay; it came with a free audioguide which told us about Córdoba's history.
After an ice cream break (it was 33 degrees!) we spent the rest of the afternoon and the early evening walking around the streets of Córdoba for the Feria de los Patios. Córdoba is so beautiful. The city was actually declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The streets of Córdoba are so nice. They're mostly narrow and you can really see the Moorish influences around the city. Plus all the buildings are white, and with the flowers in full bloom, they look really pretty.
The Feria de los Patios is a festival in Córdoba held every May. The houses or patios that partake in the festival decorate their patios with flowers and it becomes a city-wide contest. I guess you have to sign up in the city hall to join because in the tourism office you can get a map and they give you routes to follow that include the patios in the contest. They are actually private houses but they open their doors to the public at certain hours.
We followed the purple route which included maybe 16 houses. The patios were pretty but after awhile they kind of start to look the same. We have no idea what the criteria for the contest is though and we had a joke that it was the most flower pots they could put up in their patios. We only went to the first 11 houses because it started getting dark so we decided not to continue.
We walked to the Plaza and looked for a place to have dinner. But being the indecisive people that we are, we ended up eating at the same place we had lunch in. Haha. Still good food.
The next morning (Sunday) we went to have mass at the Mezquita-Catedral. We missed the mass when we got to the Mezquita-Catedral so we walked to a nearby cafe to have breakfast while waiting for the next mass.
The Mezquita-Catedral is amazingly beautiful. I think it was originally a church but then was converted to a mosque when the Moors took over. Then when the king of Spain reconquered the South, he turned it back into a Cathedral. But it's really interesting because only the center part (where we had mass) is a Cathedral. All around the Cathedral is still Mosque like and they have Moorish arches all over. It's a really really pretty sight.
We didn't have to pay to enter the Cathedral for mass so before and after mass we just looked around and took pictures.
After the Mezquita-Catedral we went to the nearby Alcazar. The fortress wasn't anything great but the gardens were so beautiful. Since it was May, all the flowers were in full bloom and there was so much color in the gardens. We stayed there for quite some time taking lots of pictures (and even a video).
We had lunch at a small restaurant and then headed to the bus station after. Bel went back to Madrid and Ange, Quintin, Javier, and I were off to Granada!
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