Vamos al sur! Parada Nº 2: Córdoba

This alter for the Virgin outside the mosque at night.
 I ran into this shrine before reaching the hostel,
and no one was on the streets. Very surreal.

Still caught up in what I saw in Mérida, I prepared the same day to go further south to Córdoba. I used Blablacar, a carpooling service where people post their trips and you can hitch a ride with them for a smaller fee than a bus. I first went from Mérida to Sevilla with a guy from Andalucia named Fernando and another passenger from Mérida. This was my first time trying to engage in a conversation with people from the south. One thing I noticed very quickly was that their words blended together. People will also say things like "vamo,"instead of vamos and "adio" instead of adios, for example. Also, the guy from Mérida told us he also spoke Extremaduran, similar to spanish, but not quite. For example instead of "fuego" they'll say "hueu" or instead of "alto" they'll say "artu." We talked about music and apparently they hate flamenco. But they like American country music, something I thought was really bizarre.

My bed in the hostel.

Once I made it to Sevilla's train station, Santa Justa, I found my second Blablacar with José, an architect from Córdoba who works in Sevilla. He recommended some places to me in Córdoba and, as I dozed off in the car, he talked with another passenger—a woman from the city of Alicante, in the south of Valencia. When we arrived, I made it into my first hostel and had a blast talking with some of the people there before heading to bed—eager to visit the Mezquita the following morning.

Puente Romano

Another great Roman bridge, part of the Via Augusta connecting Rome to Cádiz. This bridge doesn't even feel like an ancient structure when you walk on it because of the obvious 21st century renovations. Look over the edge and you see the Guadalquivir River...a familiar friend from my Sevilla excursion.

***Mezquita***

Me in the addition of Al-Mansur.

From the outside, this original Mosque—the third largest Islamic structure in the world now serving as a Cathedral—looks like a slab of concrete. The inside, however, shows a completely different and rich quality. Entering through the bright Patio de los Naranjos and seeing the Alminar (minaret), I felt reminded of my time in the Catedral in Sevilla. Then, I entered. The smell of faint incense hit me first. Then I saw the bosque (or forest) of arches ahead. Extending into the dark wooden ceiling (techo de madera), the alternating brick and stone work of the arches—as referenced in Mérida—extends as far as the eye can see. 

Main chapel in the Mezquita's center.

I spent a good two hours just walking around inside. The mosque seemed layered like a fabergé egg: The outer walls are from the Mosque, then inside those walls are a series of chapels from the Christian reconquest, inside the chapels are the Mosque arches supporting the structure, and then inside the arched area lies the main chapel, transept, and choir from the Catholic reconquest. Most of the Mosque, extended over two centuries, showed off a range of arches. You can learn a lot about the leaders in power by the interior. For example, in the addition (ampliación) by Al-Mansur, you can see that he cared more about the size of his addition than the quality—as you see many repetitive arches in that side covering a large area, in my opinion less impressive than the original area by Abderraman I and addition by Abderraman II.

My favorite features of the Mezquita were the poly-lobed arches (arcos polilobulados), the doorways ornately decorated on the exterior walls, and the mihrab. Here are some photos to explain:

Minaret of the Mezquita. In the Mosque's operating days,
an Almuecín would direct prayers from the tower.

Water feature in the middle of the orange tree patio.

Older entrance to the mezquita, lined with crossed arches.
That central arch is a horseshoe arch (arco de herradura)
 typical of the mosque's interior as well. The jagged top part of the
wall gives more depth to the design and disrupts the skyline.

The ornate mihrab added by Al-Hakam II. Look at the way everything
is filled in (including Arabic script hailing Allah). This
characteristic is called horror vacui (fear of leaving open space).

My favorite arch in the Mezquita.

Alcázar

This palace was built by Alfonso XI de Castilla in the 14th century where an Arab alcazar once stood and where the Reyes Católicos Isabella y Fernando (catholic kings) lead their effort against Granada. Later, the Alcázar became a prison—lasting from the 19th to the 20th century. In one of the towers, the king would make proclamations to the people. Other features I liked included the baths located below, the moorish courtyard, and the edenic garden outside. Here are a few photos:

Calleja de las flores

This is one of the most famed spots in Córdoba, a small, bright street filled with plants. Typical of the city, the street is narrow and stays pleasant during the day. Most of all, you can see the alminar peak out as you look down the alleyway. 

Tortilla!!!

José recommended Bar Santos as a great place to grab a tapa and a caña (tap beer), and I couldn't resist a slice of their orb-shaped tortilla de patata. Sitting on the curb outside the mezquita, I felt like my quick day in Córdoba turned out perfectly.