Road to Iberia VI:
I have been taking forever to get this finished, but here it is.
13 March Thursday. We had a little trouble finding a place to eat breakfast - most places were still closed at 8 am. My kind of town. Finally ate at the little cerveceria La Mezquita, then went overt to find Emily and Joey. Joey shuffled down half asleep. He'd been up very late the night before chivalrously escorting a friend to the big bus station at 1 am. A very pretty friend who has apparently been bumping into Joey all over Europe. He said he and Ems would meet us at the Mezquita in Códoba - when I said it was a big place he said "Oh, we'll find you." So off we went to the train station.
It was a bright new place, very clean. The trip to Códoba only took 40 mins across flat agricultural country. When we got there we took a bus down near the Mezquita and then walked. Went into the jardín there - it was huge, but packed with people including large groups of students all more or less heading towards the entrance. We got tickets and went in.
It was amazing - I had heard how big it was but to actually be there almost puts it into another reality. It was like walking through a forest of stone columns that simply went on until they were lost in the gloom. And then you realize just how screwed up the grand design is by having a Christian Cathedral jutting up in the middle of it. From outside it looks like someone had simply airlifted a cathedral in and dropped it right on the mosque. Whoever told the architects who were so proud of their work "You have destroyed something unique in order to make something that could be seen anywhere" got it exactly right. Though, as the guidebook says rather smugly, without that piece of architectural vandalism the whole place would have been destroyed. A capsule history of Spain.
Carmen admitted that we were never going to meet up with Joey and Ems in such a huge space. Once we were inside it swallowed even the hordes of school children so that you were no longer aware of the masses pressing in: as if a river suddenly dissipated away in a spray of drops. After two tries we got them on the phone just as they were arriving at the station. We met them at the bus stop and found a restaurant on the plaze - we could eat outside. At first it looked a little fancy and a bit pricey, but the food was wonderful. Well worth it.
Leaving Cordoba: 13 March Thursday. We left the Sobrinos down at the Mezquita and took off to walk back to the bus stop. Made a wrong turn - though I still do not understand how - and ended up going in the wrong direction. We had to hurry in the muggy heat to get back to the station to catch our train just at the last minute (but we made it, Joey!). 45 minutes later we were getting off the train in Sevilla.
That evening we walked down to the cathedral which as always was all lit up. Then we went down one of the streets leading away from the cathedral towards a large plaza in front of the ayuntamiento. There were rows and rows of folding chairs set up with people setting in them, listening to recorded military music. There were also uniformed bandsmen in what I took to be army dress uniforms of black and gold.
We walked on since it was getting late but came back as soon as we heard what was obviously live march music. When we came back to the plaza it was a drum and bugle corps marching into the plaza at ta very slow step. The music was wild - Arabian more than European. We stayed and listened for awhile. They were good, even though some of the bandsmen, male and female, appeared to be about 8 years old. There was one excellent trumpet soloist. Carmen told me that this was one of the neighborhood bands that would play in the Semana Santa processions.
After we listened to several more bands we decided we had to get serious about looking for a place to eat. Wandered around for awhile until we found ourselves near the cathedral and found Cerveceria 300 - what attracted my attention to it was that some of the more military looking bandsmen were going into it. Turned out to be a good choice - it was cheap, but light fare, which was just what we needed. It was a student type place, and the folks were friendly. I had two cañas of Cruz Campo beer, which Mr Sobrino despises. I kinda liked it. I think Sobrino is a beer snob [something long since proven]. And of all the things I have been accused of in my life, that is not one of them, ever. It was very late when we got back to the pension.
I have been taking forever to get this finished, but here it is.
13 March Thursday. We had a little trouble finding a place to eat breakfast - most places were still closed at 8 am. My kind of town. Finally ate at the little cerveceria La Mezquita, then went overt to find Emily and Joey. Joey shuffled down half asleep. He'd been up very late the night before chivalrously escorting a friend to the big bus station at 1 am. A very pretty friend who has apparently been bumping into Joey all over Europe. He said he and Ems would meet us at the Mezquita in Códoba - when I said it was a big place he said "Oh, we'll find you." So off we went to the train station.
It was a bright new place, very clean. The trip to Códoba only took 40 mins across flat agricultural country. When we got there we took a bus down near the Mezquita and then walked. Went into the jardín there - it was huge, but packed with people including large groups of students all more or less heading towards the entrance. We got tickets and went in.
It was amazing - I had heard how big it was but to actually be there almost puts it into another reality. It was like walking through a forest of stone columns that simply went on until they were lost in the gloom. And then you realize just how screwed up the grand design is by having a Christian Cathedral jutting up in the middle of it. From outside it looks like someone had simply airlifted a cathedral in and dropped it right on the mosque. Whoever told the architects who were so proud of their work "You have destroyed something unique in order to make something that could be seen anywhere" got it exactly right. Though, as the guidebook says rather smugly, without that piece of architectural vandalism the whole place would have been destroyed. A capsule history of Spain.
Carmen admitted that we were never going to meet up with Joey and Ems in such a huge space. Once we were inside it swallowed even the hordes of school children so that you were no longer aware of the masses pressing in: as if a river suddenly dissipated away in a spray of drops. After two tries we got them on the phone just as they were arriving at the station. We met them at the bus stop and found a restaurant on the plaze - we could eat outside. At first it looked a little fancy and a bit pricey, but the food was wonderful. Well worth it.
Leaving Cordoba: 13 March Thursday. We left the Sobrinos down at the Mezquita and took off to walk back to the bus stop. Made a wrong turn - though I still do not understand how - and ended up going in the wrong direction. We had to hurry in the muggy heat to get back to the station to catch our train just at the last minute (but we made it, Joey!). 45 minutes later we were getting off the train in Sevilla.
That evening we walked down to the cathedral which as always was all lit up. Then we went down one of the streets leading away from the cathedral towards a large plaza in front of the ayuntamiento. There were rows and rows of folding chairs set up with people setting in them, listening to recorded military music. There were also uniformed bandsmen in what I took to be army dress uniforms of black and gold.
We walked on since it was getting late but came back as soon as we heard what was obviously live march music. When we came back to the plaza it was a drum and bugle corps marching into the plaza at ta very slow step. The music was wild - Arabian more than European. We stayed and listened for awhile. They were good, even though some of the bandsmen, male and female, appeared to be about 8 years old. There was one excellent trumpet soloist. Carmen told me that this was one of the neighborhood bands that would play in the Semana Santa processions.
After we listened to several more bands we decided we had to get serious about looking for a place to eat. Wandered around for awhile until we found ourselves near the cathedral and found Cerveceria 300 - what attracted my attention to it was that some of the more military looking bandsmen were going into it. Turned out to be a good choice - it was cheap, but light fare, which was just what we needed. It was a student type place, and the folks were friendly. I had two cañas of Cruz Campo beer, which Mr Sobrino despises. I kinda liked it. I think Sobrino is a beer snob [something long since proven]. And of all the things I have been accused of in my life, that is not one of them, ever. It was very late when we got back to the pension.
posted by Clemens | 5:10 PM
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