Last Saturday I went with roughly thirty or forty students to Córdoba, which is a smaller city in Andalusia. We left Sevilla at 9:00am and arrived back around 6:00pm. It was roughly an hour and thirty-minute bus ride, which wasn’t too bad.
This was my first experience leaving Sevilla since I had arrived two Saturday’s prior. Looking out the window as we departed for Córdoba the landscape was what I had imagined by also completely different than I thought. It reminded me of the valley back home, flat lands with green grass everywhere. It also reminded me of visiting family in Illinois and the midwest.
Side note: I usually love looking out the window when I fly, especially when I’m flying from the East Coast back to California. I don’t know why but the few times I have flown internationally looking out the window is the absolute weirdest experience I have ever had. The land looks so different than anything I have ever seen in the United States and I think it is in those moments where it really hits me that I’m not even close to home.
Anyways, that same feeling I got on the airplane when I went to Finland last year or when I flew to Seville is the feeling I had driving to Córdoba. The land looks familiar but I knew it was land I had never seen before. Anyways, it was weird.
Moving on…so when we arrived we first went to the mosque-cathedral. I took my tour in Spanish so no promises that the information I am about to share is completely accurate but this is what I think my guide said. The mosque-cathedral was first a church for Christians until Muslims conquered Spain in the year 711. In the 13th century, Córdoba returned to Christian rule and the building was converted to a Roman-Catholic church. Throughout the cathedral, you can see how the building has changed hands numerous times. Instead of taking down the entire structure each time a new group occupied the city the group would build upon what was already there.
Original Roman flooring One part of the Mosque
The Catholic section of the same building
After taking a tour of the mosque-cathedral we went to a Jewish synagogue. The one located in Córdoba is one of three left standing in Spain. It now only consists of one small room and a small patio/garden. After stopping at the synagogue we went to our last stop the Alcazar (or palace). We toured the building, the gardens, and climbed to the top of the tower. It was beautiful but I still think the Alcazar in Sevilla is better.
The gardens at the Alcazar & the tower
After the tours were over my friends and I searched for tapas and gelato...lets be real, when am I not in search of either of those things. We found some awesome tiramisu and later gelato (I think I’m overly ready to go to Italy haha). I realized when I got home that basically my lunch was dessert and that I did this on accident (I promise it was on accident, I can see my mom and dad saying “sure it was” as they read this), but when in Spain right?
Overall, Córdoba was really interesting! It’s so much smaller than Sevilla but I’m glad I had the opportunity to see it, especially since it was a free excursion.
If you are looking for more information on Córdoba check out these links below:
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