8 hours in Córdoba

One of the amazing things about living abroad are the day trips that you can take. Sure, I do love traveling to other countries and the further away spots in Spain. However there are some weekends where you don’t want to be away the entire weekend. Day trips are perfect for this. This was exactly how I saw Córdoba, Spain. We only had 8 hours in Córdoba.

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How to get there

If you find yourself in Spain and want to pop around to nearby towns, villages and cities, there are several ways you can travel. Here are a few:

Alsa bus. This is a bus company that services just about all of Spain. There are other bus companies as well. This one seems to be the biggest one.
BlaBlaCar. This is an application you download onto your smartphone. Regular people who are already driving from one place to another and have space in their car can post their journeys. You can then search for where you’re looking to go and see what journeys are available that day. I’ve used this countless times to travel between Malaga and Granada.
Renfe. This is the train system that goes throughout Spain. There is a train that goes between Granada and Córdoba. However it’s always a bit more expensive than the bus.

We opted to take the bus. The earliest one was leaving the bus station at 8:30 a.m. Perfect!

Arrival

The bus station is about a 10-15 minute walk into the center of the city. I had made a list on my iPhone that included these places:

When I travel, I like to have a rough idea of what I would like to see. However I also hate sticking to a rigid schedule. I’ve discovered so many cool things in cities from just wandering around. So hence, I made this list. And I’m happy to say that we made it to every single one of these spots except for the Galeria de la Inquisition. Oh well. Next time.

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos

This was the first item on my list that we stumbled upon. Be warned … if you go on a Sunday, there will be a line and lots of people. However the line went fast and it was amazing. I especially enjoyed the garden spaces surrounding the property.

A little history … This property is an ancient fortress. It was also home to Catholic monarchs for eight years. The architecture is from the days of the Spanish Inquisition … so very old world Spanish. The bottom level consists of several courtyards including one for women (because that time period was of course sexist).

There are four towers in each corner of the fortress. There are also several pools outside and lots of oranges growing in the trees. I wonder if people ever try to eat them?

The gardens

This was probably my favorite part of the entire fortress. It was just absolutely beautiful and breathtaking.

Cost: Adult: 4.50 euros, student under 26 2.25 euros

Address: Calle de las Caballerizas Reales, s/n 14004 Córdoba, España

Lunch

Lunch is always my favorite … or really anytime I eat food. You get a sense of the place and the culture. We found ourselves wandering around Callejas de las Flores around this time and found a little spot offering two courses, a drink and a dessert for 10 euros. That sounded great.

I opted for spaghetti, fried fish and the seasonal fruit. Said fruit was an orange served on a plate. Oranges do grow everywhere in Córdoba, so it was delicious.

Restaurant: Taberna el capricho

The flowers

Córdoba is known for it’s lovely flower pots and patios. In fact every May, there is a festival called “Los Patios de Córdoba” where everything is beautifully decorated with flowers. I’m totally planning to come back for that! We also got a little sense of the flowers walking around.

La Mezquita

This place was quite a treat to visit. It’s a famous mosque-cathedral in Córdoba. It was originally a small Christian tempe, but when the Muslims conquered Córdoba in 711, it was divided in half. So Christians got half and Muslims got half. They peacefully shared it for maybe 60-70 years. Then the Christian part was bought out and demolished. The built a grand mosque on the grounds in place of the old building. In 1236 it came under Christian rule again under the reconquista. Another interesting fact: Since the early 2000’s, apparently Spanish Muslims have been petitioning to pray in the cathedral. They keep getting denied (source wikipedia).

The Roman Bridge

We ended our day trip in Córdoba at the Roman Bridge. It was originally built by the Romans and then reconstructed by the Muslims. It now is a bridge you can walk across and take any pictures on.