Advertisement
Published: April 9th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Cathedral of Córdoba
As seen from across the Rio Guadalquivir. We decided that we would go to Córdoba later in the afternoon and stay until the evening and eat supper there. It was Jill´s 26th birthday and she wanted to have some kind of unique celebration. I suggested that we do a tapas crawl. For the uninitiated, tapas are small plates of appetizer snacks. A meal can be made by trying a variety of small dishes. There are also ½ raiciones, these are equal in quantity to about two tapas dishes. Then there are the full raiciones, these are regular plate size servings. More on the tapas crawl later.
We also had decided to sleep in late and drive into the small neighboring town of La Carlota for a bit more grocery shopping and looking around. One of the students had come down with a sore throat so we needed to find a pharmacy for some medication.
We slept in until 10:30! Touristing is physically wearing. We had been on the go since we had landed in Madrid and we needed a good nights sleep.
After taking care of the sore throat business, Beth and I went off in search of a place for coffee and a bite to eat. We
A closer view
The term "cathedral" derives from "cathedra" or seat of the bishop. found a place that gave off the “good food vibe” and we settled in for a cup. I asked if a fried egg and ham sandwich (bocadillo) could be made for me. Absolutely, they assured me. And it was very tasty.
As it turned out, the owner was the one that waited on us. He turned out to be a friendly chap and we chatted for quite a while. It impressed him that we were staying in nearby Las Pinedas and that we had rented a house. “Yes,” he said, “you need to see us (the Spanish people) as we really are and not just visit the tourist places.” He also liked that we had chosen to come to that location and to come to La Carlota to shop and just generally hang out.
We chatted about life in general as a couple of old guys will do. He was quite wistful that life had gone by so quickly and that he had not been more adventuresome in his youth. (Yeah, I resemble that remark.) He also pointed out his son that was also working there and said that he was encouraging his son to be more adventurous and to
The seat of the bishop
The white modern design of the chair is in direct contrast to the ornate main chapel. go visit the United States. “After all” he said, “he has learned to speak English and should take advantage of that.” He also complained that the son showed no inclination to get married and that he wanted more grandchildren. One grandchild was not enough he complained.
The son came over and the father explained who we were and why we happened to be there. His son appeared to be a good bloke but a fairly complacent individual. I told the son that my frequent advice to my students is: Live the life less ordinary – live life with imagination.
While we were in La Carlota a couple of students and I went to find a fishmonger. We did find one and I asked him about public parking in Córdoba. We ended up with some good fish and clear concise directions to a public parking spot. We then headed back to the house to drop off the food and leave for Córdoba.
Thanks to the good directions we easily found the parking lot and immediately headed to La Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Cathedral of our Lady of the Assumption) aka as La Mezquita, the Great Mosque of Córdoba.
St. Michael
I dig the fiery bolt in his hand. This is world heritage site. The original cathedral of Saint Vincent was expropriated and destroyed by the muslims to begin building the mosque in 758. This is a historical fact and it happened during the much touted tolerance of the time. The reality is that the muslims were tolerant of only those things that benefited or suited them. Very much like today, so not much has changed. By the way Spanish Muslims have petitioned the Spanish Government to allow them to pray there. The Vatican and the Spanish authorities have nixed that idea. As soon as Muslim countries become tolerant of other religions and beliefs then they can be allowed to worship there. Until then, I´m with the Vatican and the Spanish government.
We spent quite a bit of time in there. What struck me the most was how cold and dark it was inside the building. La Mezquita is quite unique and we took our time exploring the place. After finishing the visit some of the group decided to do some souvenir shopping in the historic Jewish quarter that surrounds the cathedral. Beth and I decided that we would go looking for interesting places to eat tapas and then
Old Testament beard
This caught my eye. we would regroup for the tapas crawl.
The object of the tapas crawl was to go to a tapas bar and sample one round of tapas and then move on to another bar. Each person would order a different dish and then pass the plate around for everyone to sample. The only ground rules were that everyone had to at least take a taste and then decide whether they wanted to eat more of it or not. I will taste anything and will eat just about anything that is prepared well – think Anthony Bourdain. But I understand how some folks have a tough time eating something that is completely out of their experience.
This by the way is a very Spanish thing to do. One goes out with friends early in the evening to a tapas bar to socialize. Everyone shares some tapas and then moves on to another locale. During the summer when it gets very hot one will eat dinner at a later hour when it begins to cool off. One very nice development is that smoking has been banned in restaurants and tapas bars. I despise the smell of cigarette smoke so that pleases me immensely.
Facinating interior
It was hard to get good light to take photos. The evening was a complete success. Everyone tried everything from blood sausage to oxtail stew. It was interesting to see how some of the group skeptically tasted something and then pronounced that they liked it. The students took pictures of the different dishes before we started eating from them. We all had a blast doing this. I was extraordinarily pleased that the group was willing to try dishes they might never have tried back home. They took to heart the advice that I gave them: One comes to immerse oneself into the culture and social fabric of the people. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, if you can’t do that stay at home.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.122s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 13; qc: 66; dbt: 0.0854s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb