Storyline: Winter 2025: Portugal and Spain
Córdoba, our last stop in Andalusia (for now), founded by the Romans in the 2nd century BC, conquered by the Moors in the 8th century, after being in the Visigoths hands, and eventually seized in the 13th century Christian conquest, is known for the highest summer temperatures in Spain and mild winters with frequent showers.
It is also known for its immense mosque dating from 784 A.D, La Mezquita converted into Cathedral of Córdoba in 1236. A Synagogue was founded in 1315. The historic centre extends to the bank of the River Guadalquivir and includes the Roman bridge and Torre de la Calahorra to the south. It touches Calle San Fernando to the east, the commercial centre to the north and includes the AIcázar (the fortress) de los Reyes Cristianos and the San Basilio quarter in the west. It is an architectural hybrid joining together the East and the West. Its current population is over 300K, a lot smaller than Seville. Yet I think we enjoyed it more, perhaps because it felt a lot more relaxed than Seville. Or perhaps because we were over the jetlag.
Sun Jan 26
Córdoba lived up to its winter reputation and greeted us with heavy rain on our first full day. We arrived late last night after leaving Ronda in the rain.
After the great late lunch at the small and very popular seafood restaurant near the train station and some time at the nearby café it, the Alvia high speed train brought us to Córdoba in less than two hours.
It was dry while we walked downhill from the train station to our accommodation. But it poured shortly after we checked in. We still had food we took with us from Ronda, so dinner was not a problem. It was also late. We crashed in bed.
By now we have adjusted to the Spanish rhythm. We get up late, have our breakfast late, and by the time we leave the house it is already noon. Then we have a late lunch (as mentioned in previous posts, locals have their lunch around 2pm). If we have the menu del dia, even when we share it, we’d have a light dinner later in the evening. And bed is now after 10pm.
The two-beds two-baths apartment we are in is spacious with well equipped kitchen and a separate laundry room, which is unusual for Europe. It however is on the ground floor with little light coming in. Perhaps that’s why it was so cheap (the cheapest per diem accommodation for this trip).
Today is a stay-at-home day with Alex going out for some breakfast supplies and pizza for dinner. The pizza was fantastic. Very thin crust with lots of vegetables.
Mon Jan 27
First day of discovery. Our accommodation is located between the train station and the old town, the walls of which are still standing in many parts. Our goal for today is to reach the river and the Roman Bridge.
The skies are moody, but we have our ponchos. Entering the old town through Puerta de Sevilla we allow ourselves to get lost in the maze of little streets,
reminiscent of the Moorish dars (houses) and riads (gardens) we saw some years ago in Morocco.
Eh, the old feeling of getting lost in discovery walks is gone with Alex constantly checking his Google maps. But if we wanted to reach the river before the skies open it was better to use the maps.
We pass by the remnants of the ancient Molino de la Albolafia (water wheel). Some restoration work seems to be in place (well, not sure if restoration was in progress, but the walls were held together by a spider web of ropes and wooden struts – A).
The Roman Bridge is impressive. It is massive! We’ll cross it another day. I remember the one in Tavira, Portugal. This is at perhaps triple the size of the Tavira one.
It was after 2pm. Time to find something to eat. Now we did get lost in the maze.
So much so that the next few days, despite the fact that we walked many times to the bridge, strolled by the river, up in the maze of alleys, we could not locate the restaurant where we ate this day.
It was just above the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba in a little alley, but there were so many of them. And since it was already raining, we didn’t pay much attention of its location.
We popped our heads in a few places and this one seemed quiet. It is in a tourist area and actually we’d discover once inside that it had two big rooms. The second filled fast. But we asked for a quiet table and we got one.
We also asked if we could share a menu del dia and they accommodated us. We selected the Andalusian specialty, fried eggplants (very different from the one in Ronda), the fried cod with padron peppers (picture of padron pepper and patatas bravas together in the photo with checkered tablecloth below is from a restaurant in Vigo), a desert and a glass of wine.
We added another glass of wine and our second favourite – the patatas bravas. If we haven’t mentioned before, padron peppers are fried small sweet green peppers from north west Spain. Occasionally one can be surprised by a spicy one or two and there is no way to visually differentiate them.
It was our first time eating out in Córdoba and the first time in Andalusia when we did not feel rushed (As mentioned in the Sevilla and Ronda posts, we felt rushed in restaurants there) . We took our time and enjoyed the slow pace. Out of the restaurant it was time to don our rain ponchos and get back home.
Tue Jan 28
The first dry day since we arrived. And sunny.
Time for some history and walks through the old town. This time we entered the old town through Puerta de Almodóvar and found ourselves in the Jewish quarter. They say that is one of the best preserved in Europe.
And perhaps of this it was an obvious tourist place. We had to move away fast when the horse carts full of tourists were trotting down the narrow alleys.
Somehow, we ended up in the cafeteria of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (Facultad de Filosofía y Letras) of the Córdoba University.
Menu del dia for 6€. Non-alcoholic drinks included, but beer and wine were available. And everyone is welcome. Why not? And no one was rushing us.
We shared one menu, used the facilities and walked through the gardens in a different area. Still in the Jewish quarter.
We decided to walk with the crowds and see where this would lead us.
By the flower patios, little souks (markets) as in Morocco,
alleys with gift shops reminding me Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria,
the open water fountains,
and even the Gay area (identified by many rainbows painted on the street and walls of the buildings). You name it, Córdoba has it all.
Eventually we reached the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba and entered the gardens.
They were picking the oranges. As in the other Andalucian cities we had visited, orange trees lined the streets and filled the gardens.
In Córdoba they were mixed with palm trees, cypresses, and other warm climate plants.
Our meandering took us back to the Guadalquivir River bank. Nice and sunny.
We’d cross the bridge, but before that decided to soak the sun and have some drinks at a bar by the river. Drinks were cheap, so were the tapas. Sangria for me, beer for Alex and patatas bravas as meze. Again no one was rushing us.
This is the third place in Córdoba. Perhaps the culture is different here. We’d never know, but in the next few days we’d visit a few more cafés and restaurants and would not have the same feeling of being rushed as in Ronda and Seville. Locals and tourists all were enjoying the sun and the conversations around the table as I knew it in Europe.
There are many paths on different levels to walk by the river. On both banks. Those closer to the river were wetter. No wonder given the rain.
We crossed the river on Puente de Miraflores,
walked a bit in the south part of the city, but decided that the best would be to walk by the river to the Roman Bridge.
Despite the fact that we have a week in Córdoba, at our pace and enjoying the sun, when it wasn’t rainy we knew we couldn’t do it all. Lovely views and scenery from the south bank.
The Roman bridge is pedestrian-only and full of people. Built in the 1st century BC, it has been reconstructed multiple times. Most of the present structure date from the Arabs reconstruction in the 8th century. Until the construction of the San Rafael Bridge in the mid 20th century it was Córdoba’s only bridge across the river. In 1984 it is declared a World Heritage Site and is part of historic centre. Since it was the only bridge for two thousand years it was made pedestrian on May 1st 2004, after the Miraflores bridge completion in 2003.
We enjoyed the views from the bridge, the blue skies speckled with white clouds, and the sunny but somewhat cool day.
Next day, Jan 29, we’d be resting our sore feet, especially Alex with his impaired toes. It was again drenching rain. But some 100 meters or less from our accommodation there was a fresh fish and seafood store. Just before the heavy rain we bought a whole monkfish.
They call it rape (pronounced rapay) in Spanish. The sales lady cleaned it skilfully, and we had a nice fish roast with lots of veggies from the grocery store next to us. It was way too big for the two of us, and having our main meals outside, we’d take some leftovers all the way to Madrid.
Wed Jan 30
More discovery walks. I wanted to reach Palacio de Viana to the north of the city’s shopping area.
We’ll be back in the pedestrian shopping area next day, because of the olive oil festival. Although it didn’t look that hilly, Córdoba’s alleys are not flat either.
Steep downhill, then up, and down again.
We’d get lost in the maze again and again passing by the Roman Temple (closed for reconstruction),
Iglesia de San Pablo,
peek at the Plaza de la Corredera (we’ll be back the next day),
Jardin Capataces Sáez, Parroquia de San Andrés Apóstol,
Jardines Huerto de Orive and more.
Not necessarily in the order mentioned here.
We criss-crossed the city and reached the planned destination Palacio de Viana just before 2pm.
Time for a drink and a bio-break. Nice, sunny patio across from the Palace. This time I decided to try Tinto de Verano, the drink our Ronda host recommended saying that the local don’t drink sangria, but other drinks. This was on his list. I liked it.
The romaine lettuce with balsamic vinaigrette and roasted peppers was a good meze. At the end we didn’t go inside the Palace. We had enjoyed the sunny patio for too long and the remining of the time it was open wasn’t worth the entrance fee.
We opted for our favourite bar (not that we’ve been to many) by the river for another drink and the views of the river. This time we had a jug of red sangria. Walked by the river as far as we could and turned towards home.
Passing by a campervan parking area we thought about our dream from another time to ship our (now sold) campervan and drive through Europe. Another day of great walks.
Thu Jan 31
Our last day in Córdoba and first day of the olive oil festival. This is our only thing on the agenda aside from packing tonight. The festival is in the Plaza de las Tendillas city centre. As mentioned earlier by now we are in sync with the Spanish circadian rhythm.
It is afternoon before we go out. We reach the pedestrian shopping area, enjoy a drink at a café (on a patio of course), then off to the olives.
For some reasons in a country of olives we couldn’t find bulk olives as back home or other countries we’ve been to. All olives here are sold marinated in jars.
I had hoped to at least find some at the festival. Unfortunately, this was not the case. We tasted many olive oils here and there, but no bulk olives. They didn’t even seem to understand my question. Olives? Here, and they’ll pass me a jar.
Looks like this is the only way they are sold in Andalucia. Or at the cities we’ve been so far. Perhaps it’s the species of olive grown here that is better for pressing than eating. To jump ahead, it won’t be until we reach the market in Porto Portugal (Mercado do Bolhão) before I can buy bulk olives.
Nevertheless, we enjoy trying olive oils and olive oil marmalade (we even bought some for home) and then turned towards Plaza de la Corredera, our last stop. It reminded me San Marco Square in Venice, although very different and much less grand, and Lisbon’s Praça do Comércio by the Arco da Rua Augusta, all lined with restaurants and cafés. Here we’d have our late (for Canadians) lunch at around 4pm.
Crèpes and drinks. I saw a drink called “fiti fiti” (think of fifty-fifty) the previous day and was curious about it. It was half dry, half sweet wine. And the glass was really small. Didn’t fit me. I think Alex’s beer was a better choice, but one wouldn’t know before trying it.
And again, unlike Seville and Ronda, locals here were enjoying the sun, sipping their drinks and socializing. No one was rushed and no one was rushing.
Then last stroll by the old city walls, back home to pack. Next morning’s adventures are for the Madrid post. But glad we left early enough for our walk to the train. See you in Madrid.
P.S. Posted from home, buried under snow. Attaching a photo, just for fun and contracts
Beautiful journal. I add to my bucket list.
Thanks Rupali, yes Andalucía is interesting