Adventures in Cordoba

This past weekend Olivia and I went to Cordoba! There is a bus that goes from Huelva directly there and the ride takes about 2 hours. For this trip Olivia and I tried out couch-surfing for the first time (https://www.couchsurfing.org/). It was definitely an interesting experience. On a short notice, a host from Cordoba named Ricky took us in for Friday and Saturday. He is from Britain and teaches English with Academia Britanica (one of the best, largest and oldest English academies).

Cordoba is a really cool historical city. It used to be one of the biggest and most important cities when the Ottoman empire still had control over a lot of the Iberian Peninsula. This means that the Arabic influence is very present in Cordoba and there are lots of old churches and other buildings such as a the ruins of a Roman temple.
This is Calle de las Flores in Cordoba >>

Upon our arrival Olivia and I wandered around the city center and ate some dinner at Cien Montaditos (100 Sandwiches). We found one of the main plazas in the city and had a little botellon there with our favorite Don Simon white wine. We then met our generous host and went out with him for some night life in the city. We first went to a hookah bar where we met an American working in Madrid and her Spanish boyfriend and a man named Torbjorn Pedersen. Meeting this guy is a crazy awesome story that I will write a separate blog post on! We then proceeded to drink the night away at a few different bars around the city until 7am as is the Spanish style of partying. On a side note, for reasons unknown Spaniards love the musical Grease and at several different outings at bars/clubs I have heard the sound track play. Puzzling.

We slept in too late that Saturday but still managed to visit the Mezquita. The Mezquita is amazing! When the Arabs ruled over Cordoba they built a mammoth mosque. It's decoration is extremely intricate and ornate and the columns and arches seem to multiply endlessly, as if you are looking at them by a series of mirrors. You should just google image it, it's amazing. But that's not it--when the Christians took back control of the area they built a large cathedral inside of the mosque! The cathedral is incredibly ornate and beautiful as well. So the building is a very odd combination of Muslim and Christian elements. My description doe not even come close to telling about the place.

We also had to try the Salmorejo since Cordoba is famous in Spain for it. Salmorejo is a popular Spanish dish that is usually a thick garlic tomato soup. We ordered a traditional Salmorejo and an asparagus and jam flavored one as well. They were both wonderful. We also stopped at another restaurant that a Spaniard recommended for us. Salinas is known for its high-quality traditional food. It was great and the waiter gave us a complementary glass of the house's sweet wine which is always a plus!