Cordoba day 3 photos

Cordoba day 3

We got up and headed out for breakfast at about 945. Luckily Chris isn't leaving Cordoba til tomorrow morning so even though we checked out we left our bags in his room. Our breakfast was a lovely wee place where I got pan tomate and a coffee for €1.80! Chris and I had half portions of toast but K had a full portion, that girl loves toast!

After breakfast we went to the Julio Romero De Torres museum. It was a beautiful old building across a shared courtyard from the Bellas Artes museum. The Julio museum was great, his style is mostly female figures from the early 20th century, very influenced by flamenco. Afterwards we popped across the courtyard to the Bellas Artes which featured all artists from Cordoba from way back to modern. It was really good (and free!) but not as good as the Julio one.

Afterwards we slowly strolled north heading for the Patio Museum,  stopping to take loads of photos en route. It was a beautiful morning so it was a really nice walk. We stopped for a wee refreshment pre museum, Toerzy dos bebidas has a caña and a fanta,  Chris had water and K had some pepsi. We also shared a wee plate of crisps and Chris ate some free olives.

The patio museum (Palacio de Viana) featured 13 different patio gardens round a big house (palace?). We decided to get the gardens only ticket cos that's what Cordoba is famous for and it was really cool, each patio had a different name and story.

Post museum we wandered about some more then went to El Gallo for a tapas lunch. It was crazy busy with locals but we managed to snag the last free outside table.  We shared some jamon croquetas, cheese and pork in sauce and Chris had a wee tapa of calamari to himself too. It was super cheap and we didn't have much cos we thought we'd go elsewhere for more but we were actually too full! I've only had one patatas bravas this holiday so I better have some pre-flight tonight!

We wandered about some more, drinking in the sights and the city. We finally remembered to see the famous Calle Flores (flower st) which is exactly what it sounds like. It was weird being back down near the Mezquita cos it was rammed with tourists whereas the rest of the city is pretty chill.

We went back to the hotel to grab our bags then bid Chris adios, he was heading back to bed and we were heading for the train. We got to the train station pretty early because we're paranoid like that. The train back to Malaga went smoothly except an old Spanish woman being raging (facially only) that she had to share a foursy with us.

We got back to Malaga at 530, 4 hours before our train was due to leave so we headed to Plaza Mayor for a snack and some fun. Plaza Mayor is kinda like an open air xcape, loads of restaurants, cinema, bowling, air hockey and a shopping centre across the car park. It is one stop past the airport which is why we went cos we only had a couple of hours. We played a game that is like old school air hockey and wandered about for a bit before going to 100 montaditos. Sundays are Euromania at 100 montaditos (everything is €1) so we had a couple of wee rolls each (montaditos), some tinto verano each (red wine with lemonade) and shared a chicken and bacon salad. It was very delightful and super cheap! We spotted that it was doble mania at La Sureña (2 for 1) so we thought we'd get some bravas there. We got bravas, tortilla, a tinto verano (me) and a shandy (k) for €5! Then the disappointment, the bravas were wee potato wedges in a thin spicy sauce. It tasted nice but didn't quell my bravas longing. We had to get to the airport so we didn't finish it but we were really full at this point anyway.

The airport amd the flight home were uneventful which is my favourite kind of flight.  We even landed a wee bit early at 1130 (0030 to our Spanish minds).

So that's it over, I'm currently on the bus to work at 8am on Monday morning and I'm sad it's over. It was a super holiday, I recommend Cordoba highly but a few days is enough to do do everything, the hotel was amazing (Hotel Carpe Diem), the weather was great and travelling with Chris was a lovely experience.

Cordoba day 2 photos

Cordoba day 2

We got up this morning to discover that Chris' sneezes from last night had turned into a full on cold which wasn't a great start to the day.  He dragged himself to breakfast at Don Pepe where me and K had churros and he had toast and butter but you could tell he was suffering. The churros were great, proper thick porras style ones and the venue was great - a proper locals' joint.

Once sated we headed to the Mezquita, the mosque cathedral. It was incredible,  totally rammed with beautiful moorish arches from its time as a mosque juxtaposed with all the opulent Catholic imagery expected from a major cathedral. It was relatively busy but I still managed to get photos without people in them. We were in the for ages and we were all super snap happy. When we came out I could tell that Chris was flagging so we went a wee walk through the old Jewish area then stopped for a drink and a snack at Cafe Bar Metropoly near the Alcazar. I had a slice of the delicious local sweet tart Pastelón Cordobés. K had some toast and butter and Chris had a roll and chorizo.

Our next stop was the Alcazar, we enjoyed the towers, the mosaics, the ruins of the old baths but most of all the opulent gardens. The gardens were topiary and water fountain mad. There was even a tree cut to look like a castle.

It was about 2 when we came out and Chris was done in so had to go for a lie down. He told us he didn't want lunch so we headed towards some restaurants I'd heard about via the old synagogue. It is only one of 3 synagogues left in spain from when the Jews were expelled hundreds of years ago. It was quite wee but interesting to see and the preserved detailing was incredible.

As we headed for lunch a big posse of middle aged men in similar suits passed us and I suddenly realised that some of them were security. Everyone got really excited and one the guys was waving at everyone and shaking their hands. K asked a woman who it was and she excitedly exclaimed "Rajoy!". Turns out he was until very recently the prime minister of Spain but lost his majority at the recent election, in fact only yesterday he told the King that he couldn't form a government. Spain is kinda without a government just now and may have to have another election!

After out excitement we went to Casa Rubio for lunch, we were lucky to get a table cos it was rammed! Unfortunately, we didn't manage to snag an outside one. We shared some salmorejo, some hard goats cheese, moorish potatoes and croquetas. It was all absolutely wonderful, the potatoes were like patatas bravas but in a light curry sauce.

Stuffed, we headed back to the hotel to check on Chris. He was still feeling rubbish so after for chilling for a bit me and K popped out for some fro-yo. K loves fro-yo. We both had liquid turron as our topping and were very pleased with our choice. K fancied a coffee so we had a wee wander then stopped at Mercado Provenzal cos we managed to grab an alfresco spot. Turns out it was crazy cheap, 40c for a caña cheap! 2 coffee and a caña came to €1.80 - understandably it was a very popular place.

While we were sitting there we got a text from Chris saying he felt a bit better so he came and joined us. Hurrah! After some chilling we headed to a fudge shop that Chris had wanted to visit but kept being closed when we passed. Delighted with his swag we headed back to the hotel roof terrace to plan our evening. On the way back I bought a bottle of local Cordobeer IPA to enjoy on the terrace.

We got our regular spot on the roof and sat there chilling as the sun went down and an ever increasing number of stars filled the sky. We decided on a dinner destination but it was still a bit early (this is spain afterall) but Chris wanted more of the olives from last night so we headed down there for a drink.  Unfortunately, it was too busy so we went elsewhere but Chris wasn't impressed with his olives. It was about quarter to nine so we thought we could safely go for dinner,  especially as we'd chosen a very popular joint. However, when we arrived at Bodega Campos it was still pretty empty. We order anyway and slowly the place started to fill up. By the time we left it was very busy. Dinner was good but not super amazing. I enjoyed last night's much more. K and I both had pork wrapped in bacon with potatoes and peppers with a grape sauce and Chris had pigs trotters stuffed with iberico pork and foie, he said it was very rich but very good. Chris wasn't up for an extended evening so we walked him back to the hotel and went to Califa, the craft beer bar/microbrewery, round the corner. We sat outside trying some local brews and chatting. I had a delicious IPA and k had a less delicious wheat beer. As we're total lightweights we decided to call it a night shortly after 11 and we're now back in our room. Lots to do tomorrow before heading home!

Cordoba day 1 photos

Cordoba day 1

The day started on a low note as our favourite purveyor of churros, Casa Aranda,  wasn't open when we arrived.  We dusted ourselves off and went to a lovely old school cafe next to the food market for a more savoury breakfast. I had pan tomate, coffee and freshly squeezed oj and k had toast and butter and a cola cao. It was a total delight and we watched the hustle and bustle of the market from the window. The whole lot only cost €6 too so that was a boon.

Fueled up we headed for the train station to catch the train to Cordoba. It was a beautiful journey with olive groves as far as the eye could see for most of the way. We also a lot of wild bunnies!

We arrived in Cordoba where, after a short panic, we found Chris. We hopped in a taxi to the hotel and even though it was only 1030 they checked us in. We had to hang on the roof terrace for a wee while while our rooms got ready but we enjoyed the view and took the time to plan our day. The roof terrace has a fully stocked 'honesty bar' but I just had a wee 7up in a retro can.

We dumped our stuff in our room and headed out. Our first stop was Casa Santos for a wee slice of the biggest tortilla I've ever seen for elevenses. We ate it outside perched on the wall of the Mezquita and it was delicious. We walked down past the Mezquita to the roman bridge and over the river. We had a wee wander about on the south of the river by the tower and took approximately 700 photos. It was pretty warm at this point but a bit overcast so the photos aren't as good as I'd hoped. We were ready for a sit down by this time so we stopped at a lovely place called Las Cuevas for some beverages (vermouth/wine/diet coke) and a wee tapa of salmorejo. It was a lovely square outside the Archaeology Museum with nice shade from trees.

We went to the Archaeology Museum once we were refreshed (free to eu citizens) and Chris declared it the worst museum ever! It was fine but he was just getting hangry. It was 3 o'clock by this time so we set about getting some lunch. I really fancied a place called Taberna Gongora that I'd seen online so we headed through the windy streets in that direction. Or so we thought but we suddenly found ourselves back at our hotel! When we eventually got there it was super busy but we got a table quite quickly. It was a proper old school Spanish bar with taxidermy and even coat hooks made out of some sort of pig feet. We ordered a few things to share - grilled asparagus, oxtail croquetas, albondigas (meatballs) and flamenquin which is an andulcian speciality.

The food was incredible and afterwards we thought it was time to head back to the hotel which meant Chris could watch his favourite Spanish TV show. It was basically like Spanish loose women but really long. There was a lot of shouting.

We went up to the roof terrace in time to catch the sunset and hung out up there for a while. We headed for an al fresco beverage at Plaza de la Corredera which we all said reminded us of the square in Bilbao. We wandered about for a bit then K's need to pee forced us to have another sit down, this time with a view of the Mezquita. Chris said that the free olives we got with our drinks were the best olives he'd ever had.

Finally it was time for dinner so we walked up to Taberna la Montillana and were delighted to find they could fit us in (it was very busy). I'm delighted they did cos dinner was fantastic. We shared a big salad and patatas bravas to start then K amd I both has beef that had been cooked for 42 hours (delicious) and Chris had a ham risotto with macadamia nuts (delicious). We finished up by sharing "chocolate 3 ways", it was really good but we were all super stuffed by then. Chris enjoyed dinner so much that he says he is going to email lonely planet to get it included in their next guide. This being Spain it was after 11 when we finished dinner so we decided to call it a night,  we've got a lot to do tomorrow!

Malaga photos