Córdoba: "Wherever you go, go with all your heart!"

Córdoba: Lets just say that I have fallen in love with this city.  From the flower lined streets and patios...

To the breath-taking ruins all around the city...

I absolutely loved every minute in the town.  All in all, we spent 4 days here and made enough memories to last a lifetime.  We saw many things we hadn't seen before and made countless new friends, some who live abroad and others who live in right in our backyard.  Thanks to the newly wedded couple for inviting us to be a part of such a wonderful event and letting us in on the beautiful secret that is Córdoba.

Crossing the Roman Bridge with the old city in the background...

Flowers, flowers and more flowers! Everywhere you look there are flowers in beautiful blue pots lining the streets, windows, doors, etc.  There is even a street called "Calle de las Flores". It's a narrow street, but once you make it to the end, you get a great shot of the flowers and the Mezquita (Mosque). 

I spent many a hours taking in all the flowers and taking as many pictures as I could.  Don't worry, I didn't include every picture I took, but just enough so you can see the las flores bonita.

Another part of Córdoba that I absolutely loved (besides the flowers) were the doors. They were all such fun colors and various styles.  

Have I mentioned that the food was also amazing! We had paella and a pitcher of sangria for lunch our first day and also our third day.  Note to self, paella is typically a lunch dish, so we had been forewarned to only get it for lunch and if we happened to a restaurant that served it for dinner, that we were in the wrong spot. We were happy to oblige.

Many a nights was spent here at the Plaza de Corredera.  It was a big plaza with numerous restaurants serving up delicious tapas, vino and cañas until the wee hours of the morning.

Traditional tapas I came to love included croquettes, salmorejo, queso manchego, aubergine con meil, and of course the tender slices of Iberico jamón.

And I can't forget the cañas, aka little beers.

After many cañas one afternoon, Ray and Carlos (one of our new friends from Spain) decided to have a USA & Spain drawing contest.  Of course, Ray had to complete the Spain side and Carlos had to complete the US side.  I think they actually both did a relatively good job, if only the original outlines had been drawn better (despite Colorado at first being up near Iowa and Macendonia, Bulgaria and Bosnia & Herzegovina being completely out of order).

One of the main attractions of Córdoba is the Mezquita. It was originally built as a Catholic Christian church by the Visigoths.  Then it became divided into Muslim and Christian halves when the Muslims conquered Spain in 711.  It was shared until 784 and then demolished and rebuilt into the grand mosque.  Yet following the Reconquista, it was converted to a Roman Catholic church.  I tell you this story because it sheds light on the the decor and vibe of the mosque.  It is a Roman Catholic church; however, there is a lot of Muslim and Islamic influence seen within its walls.   Ray was curious to see if anyone was home...

Inside was quite a sight to see.  There were pillars and arches everywhere, about 856 columns to be exact, made of jasper, onyx, marble and granite.  These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings.  Back in those days, the double arches were a brand new concept, thus allowing for higher ceilings.  

  

Pepe found a friend in our hotel... There's a saying..."You can pick you friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." Hmmm...

Here's us at the rehearsal dinner.  It was at a flamenco club, complete with a flamenco singer and guitar player.  I was absolutely amazed by his fancy finger work.  I'm glad that I am attempting to learn to play the basic guitar, and relieved that I am not learning to play flamenco. Not sure I could ever have the fine motor coordination and dexterity to accomplish that.  

And here's us all dressed up for the wedding.  We decided it would be fun to get some pictures around the city before heading to the wedding, well since its rare for us to be this dressed up specifically when we are traveling.  

The last night we were in Córdoba we catered to the horse nerd in me and along with some of our new friends went to the Espetáculo Ecuestre at the Royal Stables.  I loved it! 

The first guy came out with a huge grey stallion with amazing free movements. 

There were pairs with women in traditional dresses riding side saddle.

My favorite had to be the dressage riders with all the technical dressage work. 

The ground work was pretty amazing too!

After the show, we were able to walk around the stables and check out the horses.  

We even were able to get up close with one of the horses. Pepe was so excited.

And so was I!

Here's to all the good times we had in Córdoba! Wonderful city, delicious food & drinks, and the best part was all the friends we met.  Looks like we have some people to visit later on trip.  I can honestly say that I left my heart in this magical city.