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!

Sunny Spain With Accordions

Our last day in Madrid and again we leisurely got up and had our last breakfast in our hotel. After checking our bags, we headed out and walked up to the Banco de España metro stop. Along the way, I pointed out the Westin Hotel that sits prominently in front of the Neptune Fountain and Puerta Alcalá. Here's a photo in the median down to Puerta Alcalá and then down Gran Via, the large road that cuts through Madrid:

We took the metro a few stops and got off at Opera where we rested in front of the Royal Theater as pictured here:

Just on the other side of the theater, is the Royal Palace. The royal family no longer lives there and it's just used for special occasions. Here are some outside moments:

As we tried to find the ticket office, we heard some drumming and a parade of soldiers with instruments, different horses, ponies pulling canons, and soldiers marching on beat. What a special sight to see! Apparently, they were practicing for a special visit next week for a foreign ambassador. Here is a collage of the parade experience:

While we waited on the security line, we enjoyed the music of an accordion player, so I gave him some change as I do when I enjoy any street musician's talents. A nearby beggar saw and so I gave her what I had left which was like a penny and she gave it back to me. Apparently, beggars can be choosers.

Unfortunately, the discount for senior citizens only applies if you are from the European Union. My brother said in Spanish to the woman manning the ticket booth, "does it help that my father is really really old?" She roared with laughter, even snorted a little. I chirped, "un chiste!" My favorite thing to say in Spanish, which means "a joke!" And she laughed even more. What can I say, Korean Americans speaking Spanish are charming.

In the courtyard, we asked a nice Chinese man to take these photos:

But what is magnificent and really impressive, is the grand staircase as pictured here:

Unfortunately, photos are not permitted in the palace, but we enjoyed the Goyas, tapestries, ceilings, chandeliers, Stradivarius violins, and jewels. The rooms were beautiful and we meandered through in a much calmer fashion than we did in Versailles. It's a bit of a catch-22 when you can't take photos - there's a higher sense of calm and you enjoy the moments more without the excitable tourists, but then I don't have my own photos of the visit to share on the blog.

We finally left the Royal Palace and headed to the Sabatini Gardens which sits just behind it. Here, we sat and enjoyed the fresh air and wonderful weather. Again we listened to accordion players playing Frank Sinatra, Despacito, Time to Say Goodbye, and Ave Maria - quite the eclectic set! Here's a collage from the gardens:

We walked down the avenue and I suggested we pop into the Cathedral which I've never been to before. I'm so glad we did - it was beautiful and a bit modern in design and color, as you can see below:

I was also in awe of the Chapel which is only for prayer and not for tourists which I had to remind Mama Kim who desperately wanted to snap a picture. I've been to many chapels within Cathedrals and this one was so unique. My mom said it looked like if a Klimt painting was a chapel which is pretty accurate.

It was time for us to head to La Musa Latina where I had made reservations for lunch and which was about 500 meters away. However, it was a bit deceiving as it was a bit hilly. Nonetheless, we made it 10 minutes late which the restaurant said was totally fine, and made our lunch even more satisfying as we chugged water and a sangria.

I feel like the weather is a lot hotter than it says it is, because the buildings are much shorter and so the sun beats down on us more. I asked for us to be seated in the coolest part of the restaurant and the hostess placed us underneath the air conditioning.

We opted for the tapas tasting menu that feeds 2 and ordered several more to supplement. All was delicious: hummus, salmon, ceviche, potato stuffed with meat, fried green tomatoes, dumplings, shrimp salad, calamari, carpaccio rolls, mushrooms, beef in a cream sauce, and a dessert plate of cheesecake, passion fruit yogurt, and apple crumble.

Full, but not stuffed, we walked up and down hills back to Calle Mayor which cuts through the city center and over to Chocolatería San Gines - the most famous churro shop in Madrid. It had expanded since I was last here in 2014 and there were many tourists. A coffee, cappuccino, churros, and giant churros called porras pictured below made a fantastic afternoon snack while again being serenaded by an accordion player:

Afterwards, we went to the bus stop and boarded for a few stops, so my dad could conserve his energy and rest a little after the hilly walks. But we made it to the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza, which completes the famous Madrid Museum triangle.

Justin went off to what I thought was check my dad's backpack and returned wheeling himself in a wheelchair rental. You can see my dad run to him with excitement in the collage with a picture of the front of the museum:

We wheeled around my dad and walked the various floors and saw Dali's, Miro's, all the impressionists, and etc. You can see in the collage an O'Keefe, Lichtenstein, Dali, and Chagall. I'm pretty sure I took the same photos on my last trip here, but I just love them:

After wheeling my dad around who said that he started to get sleepy, we headed across to the Prado as we wanted to visit a second time during the nightly free admission. We wanted to see paintings we missed last night and because Justin skipped out on it yesterday as he was not feeling well.

We only waited 20 minutes or so, sandwiched between a Brooklynite and some Turks and they all borrowed my map and floor plan to get acquainted with the museum. I assured them there will be enough time and pointed out the must-sees as it was all their first time while this would be my third.

Justin went off to see the main masterpieces and my dad, mom, and I went to more obscure rooms. My mom was delighted when we walked by Velasquez's Las Meninas again. We also saw Goya's "Maja Clothed" and "Maja Naked", side by side and his "The Parasol". We also visited with Titian's paintings and sat on a comfortable bench to soak in his large paintings. Here's a collage of us all celebrating that we saw the Prado museum two times in front of the statue of Goya - I'm sure that others thought we were being stereotypical Asians:

With Madrid conquered, we went back to the hotel to get washed up, check emails, picked up some sandwiches from a small restaurant around the corner, and get our suitcases. We headed to the main road for our 2 minute drive to Atocha train station. We ended up having to split into 2 cars as our suitcases didn't all fit in the small taxi's trunk.

At the train station, we met and made it through security and on the train. In Europe, you're assigned seats which I explained to my family and after a bit of a cluster putting our suitcases in the storage compartments at the end of the train car and an impatient old man who got annoyed we even had suitcases, we were finally on our way to Córdoba. We ate our sandwiches and tortilla and rested during our 2 hour high speed train ride south to Córdoba.

We're staying one night in Córdoba at the AC Hotel Marriott which is one block from the train / bus station / rental car pickup. We checked in and set up our early wake up calls. Also, I preset the GPS with various location addresses that I had downloaded Spanish maps to, so we could be prepared tomorrow for sight seeing and driving - yay for Papa Kim with less walking planned for a few days!

Mezquita

Today is the first day of rain. It's not suppose to rain after today and hopefully will stop this afternoon per the forecast. My intent this morning was to get up for the opening of the Mezquita by 8:30 am. There's nothing like walking through a religious or historic site when there's no one around (case in point, our sunrise visit to Machu Picchu). However, I haven't been able to shake off this cough / cold and only got up a little after than I originally wanted to.  Nonetheless I did get up early enough to stop into a café for a chocolate croissant and tea and make it to the Mezquita a little after 9 am. The church allows free entry to about 9:20 am. During this time, I got a quick overview of this Mosque turned Cathedral and enjoyed the Courtyard of Oranges just outside of the main entrance.

As I walked around and took initial pictures of the many arches, a security guard had walked away from a chapel in order to turn off some lights as they were asking folks to exit, yet there was a priest inside the chapel and the gate was locked. The priest needed to leave and knocked on the door, and although the key was in the door, I didn't think I should open it. I found the security guard and I yelped the first thing that came to my mind: "El Padre, El Padre necesita a salir!" The guard returned quickly and he and the priest had a conversation about why he left his post and they both turned and thanked me while chuckling. My first good deed for the day - in a church no less. 

I left the Mezquita and walked down to the Guadalquivir River and Roman bridge. There's a gate on one end and at the other, in the Torre de la Calahorra, a Museum about Muslim Andalusian life. The bridge was nice and a French tourist asked me to take a photo of him and here, he returned the favor. I'm trying to point at the bell tower of the Mezquita:

I returned to the Mezquita a little after 10 am for the proper entry time. The forest of columns in red and white and the arches abound, surrounding a Catholic Cathedral and with religious paintings all over. An example of columns and the red and white arches:

At the opposite of the entrance is the Mihrab which faces Mecca, an archway into a room where tens of thousands could kneel and pray. Here's a picture of the entrance and then a close-up of an arch next to it:

I spent several hours soaking it all in - the main cathedral, the ornate wooden choir, and the many chapels that lined the sides. Here's a photo of the altar and ceiling in the Cathedral:

I stopped into the chapel where the priest was locked in called the Parish of the Tabernacle of the Holy Cathedral Church. You can't take photos inside and is only for prayer. I prayed the rosary with the bracelet I was wearing - a gift from my god son's mother. My Sunday school kiddies would be so proud!

I walked around some more and then made my way to the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. This is the Castle of the Christian Kings with a tower, Arab baths and pools, and a well-manicured garden. Built in the 8th century, Ferdinand and Isabella lived here and was the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition and supposedly where they planned the discovery of America. There indeed was an "Ocean Room" with a bust of Christopher Columbus. I took lots of photos of flowers and the fountains. Here's a collage of a view from the top of the tower (you can see again the bell tower of the Mezquita and old Córdoba city), one of the pools, and a statue of the royalty:

After walking up and down the tower and around the gardens, I made my way back to the third oldest Synagogue (I had tried yesterday) in Spain, the other two being in Toledo. The line to get in took about ten minutes, but the crowd seemed larger and the line longer, as we were waiting on a very narrow street / alley. The Synagogue has just one room and there is only one way in and one way out. Here's a photo:

Afterwards, I decided it was time for lunch as it was around 1 pm. I made my way to the Plaza de La Tendrilles which is one of the larger squares in Córdoba. Here, a few gypsies tried to approach me, but one was on crutches and when I looked up from my map and noticed them, I immediately walked away. The woman seemed to get frustrated that the man on the crutches didn't walk faster. Honestly, I am surprised how few beggars I've seen thus far - I had been warned especially in Toledo and at the Mezquita - only one woman tried to give me a sprig of rosemary. Perhaps, similar to when I went to Brazil, since May is a low tourist month there are less panhandlers, or perhaps I have a larger bias from when I was in Italy. 

I finally found Plaza de San Miguel so I could eat at the Taberna San Miguel El Pisto which is known for great traditional tapas according to my guidebook. The restaurant was kitschy and I ordered the namesake, which was a fried egg over ratatouille. Since I only ordered a half portion, I also ordered melon and ham with a glass of Rioja. 

After lunch, I walked north to the Plaza Colón which was a big park and then headed east. I was trying to find a second Fernandine chapel, the Church of Santa Marina. However, when I arrived, I learned it reopened at 7 pm. The website for Córdoba tourism unfortunately didn't have all the times of the Fernandine chapels, but my guidebook said San Bartolomé which I saw yesterday and this one were the best. Fortunately, I was in the same neighborhood as Viana Palace, a former residence of a Marquise. The home has 12 patios / courtyards. Considering Córdoba is known for their courtyards, I thought this would be a good place to visit and was a suggestion from my Medina Azahara tour guide. For some reason, the museum was free today - Cyn for the win! The patios, flowers, and fountains were really lovely. You can really see the blend of Islamic and western styles with the various tiles, pools, and arches. Here's a collage of photos:

I then walked over to the Plaza de la Corredera which is a main square and entirely enclosed and walked by the Roman Temple on my way back to the hotel. Here's a photo:

On my walk, I made eye contact with a very distressed seeming middle-aged couple. As I passed them, I heard their GPS say "turn around and walk straight" in English. I turned around and asked if they needed help in Spanish and they just yelped "English"! There were Brits and were totally lost looking for their hotel. As I no longer needed my map and was heading to Granada, I gave it to them and pointed them in the right direction as their hotel is right in front of the Mezquita. The woman called me "an angel." When traveling, especially alone, you always have to "pay it forward"! My second good deed for the day. Also, I think they were depending on the GPS and in an old city like this, an old-fashioned map is the way to go!

I made it back to my hotel to rest on the lobby couches before my train which was at 7 pm. My feet and legs were about to fall off - I've had shin splits for days from all the walking. 

I arrive in Granada close to 10 pm and wasn't sure if I'd be up for finding food when I arrive, so I decided to grab some food at the Mercado Victoria. This market about one block from my hotel has been super convenient! I ordered a Salmorejo (the Salmon gazpacho that Córdoba is famous for) and a pincho of pizza. I headed back to my hotel, picked up my checked luggage, said goodbye to Adolpho, and walked to the train station. Amanda would have enjoyed my rolling wheels on the European sidewalk. At least it isn't the Roman cobblestones of the old city!

The train was about 2.5 hours and I hopped into a cab which took me to the Ibis Hotel and crashed for the night.