After a week of seemingly just drinking Sangria and wine in Madrid that included eating far too many tapas, it was time to get more cultural to experience Spain and that meant leaving Madrid. Also, we wanted to drink the same in different cities. I swear my travel buddies, Two Bad Tourists are a bad influence on me. So on a fateful Monday, we decided to travel to a region of Southern Spain called Andalusia. And our first stop after travelling 4 hours with AISA Buses, we arrived in Cordoba.
Not to be confused with Argentinean Cordoba, this mighty old empire city was reckoned to be the most populous in the world in the 10th century until religion wars broke out and the Moorish empire moved their capital seat to Seville. So you should reckon that there’s plenty to see. NOT if you’re there on a Monday. Everything closes on the Monday you see. It’s like the British equivalent of a Sunday except no one pigs out on a sunday roast or pop to the local pub for a ‘quick’ one. We saw every big restaurant was closed. We saw sights closed on a Monday. What the hell are we going to do?
Dumping our bags at the Hostal, we went exploring for lunch. And we followed the Lonely Planet recommendation to go to the DeLorean Tapas Bar. We wondered why within there were posters of Back to the Future plastered in the establishment until we realised…DeLorean car…duh! So off we ordered some tapas to go with our really small ‘capa’ beers. As you can see I was disappointed by the size…
But I needn’t have worried, there I had the best tapas I had tasted so far. It was literally flavoured egg on toast but my god, it was yumminess personified.
We weren’t here just to eat and drink. Otherwise we would just repeat what we did in Madrid, so out came the guide-book and we checked out what to do in Cordoba. This city used to be a big Roman fort, which is not surprising as when we walked in from the bus station, we saw some Roman ruins.
Apparently, there was the Roman Bridge, which is still in use down at the river side. We’ll check that out later. There was also a Grand Mosque that has been converted into a Cathedral within. And not forgetting a Castle. Maybe that will clinch it?
But first, we thought we’d walk around and check out some architecture and just experience the hot sun basking down on us. Tan, ahoy!
Did someone order a church next door?
Auston, the emos want their poses back.
Patio Festival
Dynamic Sky
The last picture means we have arrived in the thick of Cordoba. Along the river stands the Mezquita (Mosque) that stands proud and mighty. We did have a look inside but we’ll leave it to the next post. So if we were here by the river, that meant we could cross it via the Roman Bridge! That we did and we were faced with a delightful duo who strummed their spanish guitars beautifully. We stopped and listened to take in the city and feel ourselves in the throes of Spanish passion.
‘You shall not pass!’ I couldn’t resist! – The Bridgehead of the River before entering the city
Roman Bridge
Wish I didn’t have a care in the world and relax playing my guitar on a Roman Bridge
Bad Tourists being…bad tourists…
With today’s main sights seen, there was just one more thing left to go through. The Old Jewish Quarter before we park our backsides to enjoy the rest of the day’s sun.
How Blue is the Jewish Quarter?
Dazzled by Flamenco
After perusing the shops, we found a nice courtyard and settled in for the Patio Experience. Yes, that means Sangria!
Is it possible to look cheeky while having Sangria?
Remember guys, if you’re going to have a drink in a courtyard on a patio, remember there is a cover charge involved. So ask before you sit down and order anything much to our consternation when we were presented with the bill. You want a tip as well?!
Retiring back to the Hostal, we chilled out in our room before heading back out on a Monday Night to find somewhere to eat. Now, remember the Monday rule? We were truly screwed. We couldn’t find an affordable restaurant to eat at and the local grocery stores were closed. It was either have small tapas at bars or go to an overpriced touristy restaurant. Keeping in mind our finances, we opted to the bar. But what kind of tapas would we get before we headed to the Jazz Cafe in the hope of a live show?
Small ones.
How pathetic is this?!
And there wasn’t even a jazz live show.
Empty Stage…
So after the day in Cordoba? What did we learn? Never go anywhere on a Monday.
Did you go to Cordoba? What did you think of it?
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