WEEKDAYS

• recharged from poor sleep on the night buses
• classes
• summer research applications

SATURDAY

Back to the land of orange trees (Andalusia) for a visit to Córdoba.

The main sights are:

• Mezquita (mosque)
• old Roman bridge
• floral patios
• Alcázar

I had booked a ticket a couple weeks in advance to see the Mezquita at night with a light show.

Bus ride

• sat next to an old French guy and behind his wife
• we often had to use Spanish as a common language
• he used to be a farmer
• pointed out the almond and olive trees to me
• there were a lot of olive trees

take Indiana but swap corn for olives

I arrived around 4pm on Saturday since the shorter trip didn’t justify a night bus.

Hostel

• 30€ for 2 nights
• breakfast included
• free sangria at 8pm 👀

This was the more authentic hostel experience I was expecting:

✓ bunk beds
✓ 8 people to a room
✓ building slightly falling apart
✓ token creepy old dude

The tiny reception area (not pictured) was like walking into a Lewis Carrol book.

Evening

It’s warm in Southern spain (around 70 degrees). The ice cream shops were getting a lot of business. I gave a gelato shop a try. I just got what the guy in from of me got, which turned about to be an amazing Ferrero Rocher flavor.

I returned to the hostel for the free sangria and to meet the other residents. They also had a 4€ ‘Italian night’ dish cooked by a hostel volunteer that was a cheap and delicious pesto pasta.

I met a people from the US, England, Argentina, Sweden, and more that I’m forgetting. There was even one girl from Getafe so she was very familiar with UC3M. The Swedish girl really wanted a hamburger so a bunch of people followed her to a place she found for dinner.

This place was hilarious. It was an American restaurant, which meant everything was superhero and star wars themed. This must be what Chinese people feel like when they step in a Panda Express.

I only had time for an overpriced beer before I had to leave for my night tour.

Mistakes

I was rushing to get to my tour. When I got to the Mezquita I was running circles around it looking for an open door. Everything looked closed up. Panicking, I checked my ticket for an address and saw that it was scheduled for 21:30. I had put it in my calendar as 11:30pm but it had already taken place at 9:30.

I was so bummed. This was the one event that I had arranged in advance (and the reason for making the trip this weekend), and not only did I miss the special nighttime event, but I’d have to pay another 10€ just to do a regular visit the next day. To rub it in, the mosque is free every morning except for the one I’m here for. I dragged myself back to the hostel to at least get a good night’s sleep.

SUNDAY

Started with a light breakfast of toast and (actually edible) oranges.

I wasn’t ready to admit defeat on the Mezquita visit. I arrived early at the ticket booth hoping to pull some strings. Conveniently, the guy working there didn’t speak English. I had to explain my situation in Spanish and pleaded with him to let me in with the expired ticket. I waited for him to call a supervisor, and eventually he gave me a new ticket for a day visit. This made me feel better about my screwup.

check out the 360 degree view

Very cool mixture of architecture styles as different cultures gained control of the building. The Islamic style was most interesting to me.

Afternoon

• wandered around the free floral patios
• spent way too long trying to find decent, cheap food in a non touristy location
• everywhere that looked good was standing room only

I found a seat in a bar far from the tourist hub and tried some Córdoba specialties.

salmorejo and flamenquín

Small world

I had a number of coincidental encounters this day.

While walking around I ran into:

• Getafe girl
• old French couple I sat next to on the bus
• weird old guy from the hostel

Just shows we’re all tourists.

Evening

beatiful view of the city over the river

More free sangria with some new faces tonight. A couple of German guys, a Dutch guy, and two American girls working for the Navy stationed in Spain. We headed to a marketplace with a variety of dining options.

the only tortilla I’m familiar with is a piece of bread

David from Jerez said tortilla is a Spanish staple so I tried two kinds, both were good.

Córdoba in review

• too touristy (interesting, mostly Spanish tourists)
• food was pricey
• nice flowers

Matt’s tourist metric

I judge the tourism level of cities with my patented Despacitometer™. If I hear a street performer playing Despacito then I’m in the wrong place. Toledo and Córdoba have received poor marks on the Despacitometer™.

MONDAY

• bus ride home was mostly empty
• I got a nice view in the front
• rushed to make it to my class
• gave up when I found out my metro card needed a refill (didn’t have money on me)
• took the rest of the day to shower off the weekend and fill my stomach