Candy Cane Arches For Days

Our one night in Córdoba led to a rushed morning, as we hustled after breakfast to make the 9:30 am mass at the Mesquita. They only have one daily and I had said to myself back in 2014, if I ever come back, I want to attend mass.

We hopped in a cab and headed down to the city center and rushed through the courtyard. The guards kept making sure we wanted to go to the mass and even asked us if we were Catholic - I showed him my rosary bracelet and one of them chuckled.

My family was in an awe of the beautiful cathedral within the mosque and my mom just kept smiling at me. My parents found the experience so unexpected - I guess because they didn't have any expectations and didn't know much about Córdoba.

During mass, I noticed people partaking in confession to the side and my mom quickly followed suit. She told me she asked the priest if she can say her sins in Korean and he said of course. At the end, he said "très madonnas" and my mom was like, I know that's 3!

They ushered us quickly out after the mass, so we couldn't take any photos. From 8:30 am to 10 am, entrance is free and mass goers are technically not tourists and unfortunately, we couldn't motivate to get there before the mass. So we planned to rest in the courtyard, buy tickets, and head back in. Here are some outside photos:

However, once we tried to buy the tickets, we learned there was a special event and it was closing until 1:30 pm for a special blessing of students starting out the new academic year. So I suggested we go down to the Roman Bridge which is just behind the mosque / cathedral.

And here, we saw a parade of students holding school flags, following behind the cardinal who was being trailed by photographers. The students were raucous and a sight to see - kind of like the parade of soldiers we saw yesterday at the Royal Palace. Here's a collage while we waited for the students to come off the bridge:

Once the students were gone, we walked on and across the Roman Bridge - here's a shot of what it looks like:

We then walked over to the Alcazar, a 14th century castle for the King and Queen, and strolled in a few of the rooms and ultimately sat outside in the beautiful gardens. You can see remnants of the Arab and Roman origins the castle was built on. Here, there is a statue of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella with Columbus. Since this was my second visit, I rested beside my parents as they opted to just take it all in rather than run around the Alcazar. You can see the lovely shots of the garden as we enjoyed a short stroll:

Then we walked over to the Jewish Quarter and found the Synagogue which is one of three medieval synagogues in Spain, built in 1315. Here you can see some Hebrew on the walls in this small room:

Nearby, we visited one of the 14 Fernandine chapels, San Bartolomé. It's very small with a courtyard and apparently there are about 13 of the chapels throughout Córdoba still standing today that were built in the 14th century. Here's a collage of the chapel:

I find Córdoba to be so charming with these small alleyways, whitewashed, and beautiful courtyards and plants everywhere. The people of Córdoba really love their courtyards which is helpful when you want to rest and hide from the steaming hot sun. And all here, a blend of 3 cultures: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and with architecture from all of these in addition to Roman remnants. It's really interesting being back in this lovely city and sharing it with my family. 

We stopped in a gelato shop and enjoyed some ice cream and coffee on our walk. My mom was torn between the flavors and ended up eating my mango sorbet while we chatted with the friendly ice cream shop lady. 

After the rest and the ice cream, we finally made our way back to the Mesquita for our official visit. Here are many pictures from the visit as I'm just in awe of this place:

I can get enough of the candy cane arches! I even have one photo from my 2014 visit framed in my office:

My dad wanted me to take this one of him:

Here's the mihrab, telling us the direction of Mecca, if Muslims were allowed to pray here:

Here's a pretty window:

The Cathedral where we attended mass this morning was installed in the center of the mosque:

I took this one of my mom next to her confession booth and her très Hail Mary's:

After our official Mesquita visit, we lunched at Ordóñez where we sat outside snd were overwhelmed by the many good options. Ultimately, we ordered 3 risottos - spicy chicken, oxtail Córdoba style, and seafood. Plus a goat cheese salad, calamari, fried eggplant, and salmorejo - the local famous cold tomato soup. It was hearty and we were making sure we wouldn't be too hungry on our car ride later.  

After paying our check, we started to head to the taxi stand and walked a few blocks, when we heard "sir, sir!" Apparently, my dad left his pills in his pill box on the table. Not a big deal as my dad had many in his suitcase, but we all remarked how kind and surprising it was that the waiter found us, as we had already made several turns down different alleyways. I guess it's pretty easy to spot 4 Koreans as we're not in one of those massive tour groups. 

The taxi ride took about 10 minutes and once back at our hotel, we rested for a bit and washed up. Around 4:30 pm which is when the Hertz opened up after the siesta, Justin and I headed one block to the train station and picked up our rental car which ended up being a tiny red Mercedes.

So glad I downloaded Spain maps to my Garmin as there are so many roundabouts. It took us several turns to just drive one block. We creatively packed this tiny car which was the only automatic that Hertz had between Córdoba and Granada (and I even checked several Hertz's in Madrid), and we headed off for our 2 hour drive southwest to Granada. My mom and I are pretty sure we could pack the car more efficiently for our next ride, but we had to pack the car quickly as other cars wanted to do drop offs / pickups in front of our hotel. Here's a funny collage including my parents with 2 suitcases in the middle back and our trunk cover / flap which we dismantled and brought to the back seat:

Driving was pretty uneventful and the Spanish drivers sure are speedy and love to tailgate. Our parking experience was a bit more nutty as our hotel, Melia Granada is on a one way street and very busy. So we quickly unloaded the luggage with my parents, and Justin and I went to the self park garage next door. After making our way down a few narrow levels, we found a spot for our 2 nights here.

So a busy day on our first day in Andalusia Spain. No big issues, but I can tell my dad is getting a bit tired, but is masked by his high spirits.

On another funny aside, my brother has compared our experience traveling with our parents to "The Family Guy" scene where Peter is Moses leading the Jews in the desert after he says that one of the Commandemnts is not to read aloud billboards. But I prefer this from "Forget Paris" with Billy Crystal who's father-in-law recites jingles and reads out signs: https://youtu.be/asx5amnfHpU

It just makes me laugh as my parents read out car dealerships, point out stores, and since day one, everyone seems to point out every Asian restaurant they see - Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai. It just cracks me up!