Trevor, Ally and I took a much needed get-out-town break and went to the sunny and beautiful (but cold) Córdoba, about 2 hours by bus Northeast of Sevilla. I went straight from class on Thursday to meet Trevor and Ally downtown, where we made our way to possibly the most confusing bus station ever. We went up and down the escalators from the information booth to the buses at least 6 times. I wish I could say it was good exercise at least...but it was an escalator. We eventually made our way to the correct bus after several conversations of us not really knowing what the information people were saying, but just agreeing with whatever they say as we nod and smile. We realized that encounters like this happen all too often here and lead to us starting a section in my journal called "Things we just said 'si' to"This lengthy lists includes things like responses to us asking questions about what certain foods are, directions to places, signing petitions, and the entire of process of staying in our hotel. Fortunately, Spaniards are mostly nice and helpful, so chances are, if you're saying 'si' to something, it's probably in your best interest anyway.
We went to some really fantastic places on our trip to the small city of Córdoba. It's so nice how navigable the city is. You can walk from one of the city the other within 20 minutes, but most things are within no more than 10 minutes of each other. Some of the main sights to see there are the
Mezquita-Catedral , the
Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, the
Museo de Bellas Artes and the
adjacent museum dedicated to Julio Romeros de Torres, and the
Torre de la Calahorra and the Museum inside it called the Museo Vivo de Al-Andalus. And following the winding streets will always lead you back to something you recognize. The best was that our modest and oh-so-cozy little hotel was right in the middle of everything. It overlooked a beautiful plaza called the Plaza de Tendillas which had a large fountain and some hilarious people watching. The people that work there are also adorable and so helpful, and they have a really cheap breakfast. If you ever find yourself wanting to go to Córdoba, Hotel Boston is the way to go!
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| The View from our Hotel Room- overlooking Plaza de Tendillas |
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| The Gardens at the Alcázar |
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| Fulfilling the dream |
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| Perro de Agua |
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| Seriously thought about stealing him... |
Other than all the normal touristy spots, some of the best times in the city were the restaurants we went to and the random things that ended up happening along the way. Like fulfilling my dream of riding a road blockery thing that goes down in the ground to allow cars with access to pass, and then goes back up to block the way of cars without access. I've always wanted to stand on one and ride it as it's going up. Done. And our hilarious conversations about translations of Spanish idioms (Winner Winner Chicken Dinner= Ganador Ganador Cena de Pollo, pretty sure that one doesn't exist in Spanish) and our attempts to communicate that only failed because we put the emphasis on the wrong syllable, resulting in the always frustrating "
Como?!?" We also came across a type of dog that is very popular and only availabe in Spain called a
Perro de Agua (and even though it translates to 'Water Dog', it is different than an American Water Dog), which has stolen my heart and made me realize that I need one. Guess I'll just have to make a trip back to Spain to get one! Also, we found a Mexican Restaurant in the city and the owner would write funny quotes on the walls, one of which that stuck with us: "
Somos tenedores en un mundo de sopa" ("We are forks in a world of soup") Century old cathedrals are impressive and fascinating, but little moments, conversations and quotes like these that make the trip personal are the things that carry the most meaning for me.
All in all, our trip to Córdoba was fantastic. From being put in the best mood ever by being greeted by
"Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves on our taxi ride from the bus station to our hotel, through all our adventures along the way, and ending with a sunshiny and not terribly cold day, I would definitely say that we made the right choice.
Yea, I've found that directly translating idioms from English to another language doesn't really click with the locals. They tend to have their own idiom that means the same thing, but is totally foreign to us.
ReplyDeletePS: The picture of you and the dog is an instant classic!
ya idioms are very annoying. in case you were ever wondering, in Spanish, you don't "break a 50 euro bill" you simply "hacer cambio" (make change). They will stare at you really questioning if you ask them to break your money. haha I loved that dog more than anything. I'm totally craving some dog love. I had trouble not taking him home with me.
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