Does this weather just follow us?
Leaving Granada and a day in Córdoba. (March 13, and 14)
Yesterday, Tuesday, was a “moving” day. In the morning we re-packed our bags while the rain poured down outside. Fortunately, the rain stopped just before we had to leave. We had been pretty comfortable in Leo’s apartment. There are always little things that could be different, but it worked well for us. In particular, the location and view were quite good. Leo was a good host and provided lots of extras. Leo ordered a taxi for us and we had a good conversation with the driver on the way to the station. He wanted us to be sure that we appreciated how great Granada was and we traded restaurant tips with him. All in Spanish, which was great practice for me.
We took a bus from Antequera to Granada because the rail line is undergoing a massive upgrade. That means we had to take a busride of over an hour back to Antequera to get the train for Córdoba. We saw even more evidence of flooded fields and overflowing rivers. The rain really has been unrelenting in this part of Spain. The train from Antequera to Córdoba is an AVE (high speed) train. On some stretches, we were traveling at 291 kph (180 mph).
When we arrived in Córdoba, we thought that perhaps we had outrun the rainy, cold weather. It was warm—almost too warm for our jackets—and sunny. The taxi took us over mostly familiar roads to our hotel, Patio del Posadero (Innkeeper’s Yard) which is a small (really small), boutique bread and breakfast located away from the tourist hotel area. We stayed here last year and enjoyed the place, the people, and the breakfasts. This visit is just as enjoyable.
Last night we went to a restaurant we liked last year. We had a variety of tapas but we ate at the unfashionably early hour of 8:00 pm, so there was only one other diner. When we walked back to the hotel, we could sense the weather changing—and not for the better.
This morning, Wednesday, we had another outstanding breakfast at Patio del Posadero. One never knows what will be served, but it will be tasty and healthy.
When we got outside and headed to the Mezquita Catedral de Córdoba the wind was blowing and it was spitting rain. It was much colder than yesterday. Throughout the day we were, once again, forced to use our umbrellas several times. We walked next to the Guadalquivir river and it was as swollen and fast as we have ever seen it. I took some pictures from the old Roman bridge and some videos to capture the loud roaring noise. Last year this was a peaceful scene with cranes, egrets, and other birds resting on islands in the river. This year, the islands are all under water.
We have been to the mezquita several times on our visits to this interesting city, so we thought we would just spend an hour or so there and then go to the archaeological museum and the fine arts museum. We should have known better. Although I told myself I would not take the same set of pictures I did the last time, and the time before, and the time before, I took many of the same pictures this time.
The mezquita, which was a church, then a mosque, then a church, and is now officially a church but is more like a mosque inside will always be a wonder to me. The proportions, spaces, materials, art, and everything else seem to be new each time I see them. So, our visit went well past the 1-hour mark.
We then decided to find the place where we would see a flamenco performance tonight. That took us on a winding path through the old streets. We found the place and it turned out to be close to one of the Airbnb places we stayed at in the past. That meant some of the surrounding streets were familiar to us. It is nice to feel somewhat comfortable that we know where we are.
Our visit to the Archeological Museum in Córdoba was very interesting. The museum is built on the site of an old Roman theater and parts of the theater are visible under the building. The museum does a great job of tracing the history of the southern part of the Iberian peninsula with an emphasis on the area around Córdoba. Most of the exhibits are labeled in both Spanish and English. There were artifacts from tens of thousands of years ago on display. I did not know that the Córdoba area was rich in copper and it has been mined for thousands of years. There were many exhibits from the Roman era and, of course, from the Moorish period. (The “Moorish period” consisted of many sub-periods.) There was a whole room that had exhibits showing how people have lived in the area with lots of household artifacts. Patricia and I were both struck by the similarity of the cosmetic containers, combs, and other small household articles with those we had seen from Egypt. All in all, we were glad we visited this museum.
Wednesday evening we saw a flamenco performance at El Cardenal. Our host at Patio del Posadero recommended it as the least touristy of the flamenco performances. The performers were really good and the cantaora or the guitarra would almost always explain what they were going to do. Those explanations were all in Spanish, so I don’t know if I got all of it. The first “number” they did was a “Garrotin” which is the first palo (style) I worked on (notice I did not say “learned”) when I first started learning palmas. The urge to accompany the performance was almost overwhelming. Fortunately, picture were allowed so I was able to keep busy doing that rather than embarrassing Patricia by making noise. That pictures were allowed was a surprise. I quickly switched to a fast lens and was able to get some very nice pictures because the stage was well lit. We were able to notice differences between the dancing styles in Granada and Córdoba. This was a show and things were a little formulaic, but we both enjoyed it a lot.
Tomorrow we pack up again and move on to our last stop in Spain: Madrid.
I added 50 pictures to the Córdoba pictures page.
I managed to fix the mapping data problem, so here is a map of walking around in Córdoba on Wednesday…