Día Uno en Córdoba y Granada

(La Catedral de Córdoba in Córdoba, Spain)

This past weekend was the BC class trip to Córdoba and Granada. Friday morning, I set my alarm nice and early so that I could get to the class' meeting place, the Hotel Wellington, by 8 am. Of course, I woke up half an hour past when my alarm went off, so I was slightly crunched for time.

I did get to the bus on time and even had a bus seat to myself, which was wonderful, and I was actually able to sleep during the 5 hour drive to Córdoba. When we got off the bus it was about 85 degrees. The weather channel had failed to mention that it was going to be that hot and I was not dressed for 85 degree weather. I thought I was going to pass out and blamed the Industrial Revolution for starting global warming.

We all went to a restaurant for a typical cordobés lunch which included salmorejo, (a soup similar to gazpacho with ham and egg on top) ensalada, (lettuce with vegetables - you are probably familiar) and flamenquines (which we think was ham wrapped in chicken and deep fried). We also had little Spanish-sized ice cream cups for lunch (meaning there was about 3 spoonfuls in each).

We then split up into groups to tour around Córdoba. Because this was a class trip, we had to listen to explanations of everything and take notes so that we can write an essay later about what we learned. All the explanations are in Spanish, so that leaves me with a whole lot of Internet research. Yipee.

We walked through La Puerta de Almodovar and into the old Arab neighborhood, where you can see all the winding streets and Arab architecture. We stopped at an old Arab house that was converted into a museum and talked about the basic design elements of an Arab home. These homes have a central, open-aired courtyard that has some sort of central water feature. The running water is serene and also provides a means of cleaning before praying to Allah. The courtyard is usually filled with plants or some kind of garden which also provide an element of tranquility. There are rooms that branch off of the four sides of the courtyard, and the two most important rooms are placed on the northern and southern sides. These homes were usually built with tile floors, stucco walls, and wooden roofs. The house we saw was very nice and had plants everywhere. Those water fountains they put in the middle of the courtyard can be dangerous though, as they are usually low to the ground or even just small pools. Many an uncoordinated person has fallen into those, I bet.

We also went to La Catedral de Córdoba, which used to be a huge mosque that has since been converted into a Catholic cathedral. The Arab architecture has been maintained, so there are still columns and plasterwork everywhere - even the Arab scriptures have been left on the walls. But in the conversion, chapels were added around the perimeter of the mosque and a huge altar area was built in the middle. The altar is in a huge domed area completely decorated with elaborate art and sculptures. The two styles are completely different and it's really nifty to see the two so closely interposed.

We had a bit of free time to walk around before we had to get back on the bus so Lizzie, Katherine, Don, and I wandered in and out of the gift shops and stopped for a Coke at a cafe. We were a bit late getting back as we got distracted by the last gift shop. So we hurried across the Puente Romano to the bus. We had another 2 hours on the bus before we got to Granada, so I had plenty of time to fit in another nap.

Because of traffic, the ride took longer than expected, but we eventually got to the Hotel Anacapri on Calle Joaquín Costa. After we dropped our stuff off in our rooms (I ended up sharing a room with Katherine) we met back downstairs in the lobby for an orientation and short walk around the historic neighborhood of Granada, the Albaícin. We saw the Plaza Nueva and the Alhambra (a Arab fortress/city on top of a hill overlooking Granada) lit up at night.

We then had the rest of the night free, so Lizzie, Katherine, and I wandered around the neighborhood. There is a lot if Arab influence, and the shops and restaurants reminded me a lot of Morocco. Even the way the old neighborhood looks was reminiscent of the old neighborhoods in Morocco. After we wandered past about a dozen hooka bars (where most of the other BC kids ended up) we sat down at a restaurant near La Plaza Nueva. I ordered a German hamburger (a hamburger with cheese, mustard, and sauerkraut) which I liked quite a bit. Because we were exhausted after such a long day (I don't know why I was so tired - I slept for probably 6 hours on the bus) we headed back to the hotel. Katherine and I watched Spanish music videos and laughed at how bad they were before we completely crashed.