Hiking in Yunquera and exploring Cordoba

Shawn and I were invited to join a local couple on one of their favorite hikes in the area.  Jon and Marie have lived in numerous countries, including the U.S., and settled in Alozaina over a decade ago.  Jon is very active, enjoys biking and hiking among other things, and plays music.  In fact, he was singing and playing his guitar the first time we went to music night downtown.  Marie is a porcelain artist and enjoys singing as well, although we have yet to hear her perform.  She was also the person who invited us to church the weekend before.

Jon and Marie picked us up on Wednesday, February 12th, and we drove to Yunquera, another small town about 10 km away.  It was a bit chilly and windy that morning, but it doesn't take long to get warmed up around here.  Even an "easy" hike gets the heart pumping.  We walked for about two hours and then stopped for a drink before heading back to pick up Aliah from school.  Here are a few photos from the trail.  Unfortunately, my photos do not do this area justice.

 Looking back at Yunquera from the trail.

There is a home in this next photo that looks like it was created from a cave.  You can see the white front that they built and painted.  What an interesting place to live, all tucked into the landscape!

On Thursday, February 13th, we headed to Cordoba.  Shawn was asked to speak at the university there, so the girls and I tagged along for the ride.  We took the bus to Malaga and then the high-speed train to Cordoba.  This was our first time taking a train in Spain.  It really is a nice way to travel.

We rented an apartment for the weekend in the San Basilio neighborhood.  Our rental agent met us at the apartment to give us the keys and also gave us a map with his favorite places marked.  We went to dinner at a restaurant a few blocks away.  Haila asked the waiter for his recommendations, and we ordered them all.  Way too much food, but a really nice variety of Cordoba specialties.  Our first course was eggplant fries, and they were amazing!  We also tried rabo de toro, aka bull's tail.  It's slow-cooked and super tender, but the girls were a little apprehensive.  They both tried it and liked the flavor but left the bulk of it for Dad to eat.

Here's a pic of us girls across the street from our rental.

Shawn was speaking on Friday, so the girls and I set out to go shopping.  Aliah needed new tennis shoes, Haila was looking for sandals, and both of them needed white t-shirts for school events.  I didn't think the souvenir shops would sell those things, so I found a mall within walking distance.  I also found a shop that sells leather shoes made in Spain, so we decided to make that our first stop of the day.  The shop was tucked away on this narrow street and had the cutest shoes.  Haila found the perfect pair of wedge sandals.

We passed the Mezquita on our way to the mall.  This is one of the main attractions in Cordoba, so we saved a visit for Saturday when Shawn could join us.  It's an amazing building and Aliah really wanted to go in, but Haila and I convinced her she could wait.  There was shopping to do!  And boy, were we right!!!  Both girls found what they needed and then some.

Happy Valentine's Day from the mall shoppers!  Aliah was already wearing her new tennis shoes in this photo.

Aliah also found the perfect fanny pack (Thank you, Auntie Lisa for the early birthday gift!) and a pair of sandals.  I didn't even realized they matched until I took this photo.  In addition, she found the white tee and leggings she needs to wear under her costume this Friday at school plus a Garfield tee.

Haila found a pair of jeans, a white tee, a swim suit, Stitch pajamas and a pair of fur-lined faux Converse.  It was a good shopping day.  We were channeling our inner Grandma Carol!

On Friday night, we walked to the Hippie House (Cordoba's version of Ragstock).  This store is known for selling vintage Hawaiian shirts, and Haila needs one for school next month.  We walked in and thought we were crashing a party.  In turns out this shop is part store, part bar.  Everyone turned and watched us as we walked through the crowded bar-part to the store-part.  Unfortunately, all the shirts were long-sleeved and way too big for her.

We moved on to another restaurant recommended by our rental agent for dinner.  Cordoba is known for it's courtyards, and this restaurant is located in a glass-covered one.  We tried more eggplant fries, this time with honey (see below), and two more Cordoba specialties, salmorejo and flamenquin.  Salmorejo is a cold tomato soup served with bread.  It's really thick, kind of like hummus, and totally delicious.  Flamenquin looks like a sausage, but it's really ham rolled inside pork loin and then deep fried.  Oh, it is good.  Not as good as a brat, according to Aliah, but dang good none the less!  Needless to say, we were fat and happy when we finished and took a cab home.

We got out the door about 9 AM Saturday morning and headed straight for the Mezquita-Catedral.  This place is amazing, and it's history is rich.  In a nutshell, it was originally a Mosque and now contains a very elaborate Catholic Cathedral.  Here is a link to it's website in case you are curious to learn more after seeing our few photos.  https://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/  I can't even put into words how vast yet intricate this complex is, so I will let the photos speak for me.  It's a feast for the eyes over 1000 years in the making.

It was chilly when we left the Mezquita-Catedral, so we set out to find coffee and cocoa.  We ended up at a restaurant with no cocoa, but we discovered an amazing local olive oil, Tierra Laguna, instead.  The waiter asked if we wanted something in Spanish, and Shawn said "Sure" not knowing what he was saying "Sure" to.  He brought us each a piece of toast and then asked if we wanted tomate.  Tomate is grated tomato that looks like jam.  He brought tomate and a bottle of Tierra Laguna oil.  It is amazing how something so simple can taste so amazing.  Hmmm!  I'm still thinking about that toast.



The name of the restaurant was El Caballo Rojo, or the red horse.  Just outside the door is the stone mosaic in the photo below.  Artistry is everywhere here, including under your feet.  Having done a mosaic myself, I appreciate the amount of effort it takes to create something like this.

The girls and I were looking for scarves while in Corboda, which we plan to use when we visit Morocco next week.  As you will see, we eventually found one that was calling each of our names.  It was fun searching for just the right ones.  Here is Haila in hers.  Notice her favorite animals, elephants, walking up and over her head.

We spent most of the day walking around Corboba, visiting various plazas, parks and monuments.  There is a lot to see.  Much more than I realized.

Plaza de la Tendillas

 Monument of Courtyards' Carers

 Templo Romano

 

 Monumento a Manolete

In Jardines de la Merced, a lovely park with a central water fountain, we stopped to give our feet a rest.  While sitting on the bench, we noticed a lady feeding the pigeons.  Haila immediately said she reminded her of Liana (Klemm).  Then Shawn mentioned something about the bird lady from Mary Poppins.  He hadn't gone to the play, so he didn't realize that Liana had played the bird lady in her school's production.  It's funny how they both connected the scene with a different Mary Poppins memory, Shawn's from the movie and Haila's from Liana's play.

Plaza de la Corredera

We decided to go to Mercado Victoria for an early dinner.  It's like an international food court in the middle of a park.  It wasn't our best meal in Cordoba, but it was an excellent people-watching venue.

We wanted to explore a little that evening as things look different after dark.  We started at the Roman Bridge and worked our way back home.  The sun was just setting as we got to the bridge.  Then we headed past the Mezquita-Catedral.  Haila and Aliah were enjoying taking pictures.  It was fun to watch them, and I noticed an older Spanish woman watching them and smiling as well.

We realized Saturday night that our apartment was very close to another main attraction in Cordoba, the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos.  We got up on Sunday morning and headed straight there.  At first, we thought it might not be open yet as there was no line.  The day before the line was down the block.  It was open, and it was beautiful.  We were lucky enough to be there ahead of the crowd so it was easy to get up the spiral staircase into the tower.  What a wonderful view.

 

 

I think visiting the Alcazar was my favorite part of this trip.  The gardens were so peaceful.  I bet it would be even more beautiful when the gardens are in full bloom.  Inside were a number of mosaics that were excavated from the Plaza de la Corredera, one of the plazas we had visited the day before.  Again, these mosaics were originally installed on the ground like stone rugs. The amount of work put into creating these mosaics in the first place would have been incredible... but then to move them and mount them on the wall.  It was inspiring in many ways.

Here are several pictures of the Triunfo de San Rafael de la Puerta del Puente, an 18th-century monument featuring the Archangel Raphael, the guardian angel of Cordoba.  As far as I'm concerned, Raphael is doing a great job protecting the wonderful history of this gorgeous city!  I hope we'll be back to see more.

We enjoyed our last few hours at an outdoor cafe next to our apartment and then rushed to the train station.  And I'm not joking when I say rushed... in true Conley fashion, we were literally just in time!