Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all!
Today we left Granada and via the bus made our way to Córdoba. It was a beautiful scenic drive through rolling hills covered with old olive trees and dotted with white hill towns. We went to our hotel Las Casas de la Juderia, in the historic old town.
This is a photo of the outside of the Mezquita on our way to lunch. It was a beautiful and bight sunny day!
For lunch we had middle eastern/Moroccan food at Bocaito Andalusi, it is a tiny place but good food.
We enjoyed walking around the city to get our bearings. On the way back we walked along the Guadalquivir River. The Guadalquivir is among the longest rivers in Spain and it has several distinctive characteristics. Its natural environment is one of the richest and most varied areas of plants, birds and animals.
The Roman bridge of Córdoba
The Albolafia Mill on the Guadalquivir!
This is is Plaza del Triunfo (Triumphal Arch). It is dedicated to the Archangel Raphael, the guardian angel of the city.
It is an unfinished Renaissance arch, which was designed to give King Phillp II a royal welcome, but he arrived before its completion so the job was cancelled!
Triumph of San Rafael of the Gate of the Bridge.
The Bell Tower/Minaret just outside the Mezquita
We then entered the Mezquita (The Mosque-Cathedral). What a unique and amazing place.
Inside the Mezquita you are blown away by the beauty. There are more then 800 red and blue columns are topped with double arches. The archways appear to go on forever.
The Mihrab, is the mosque equivalent of a Jewish temple's Aron Kodesh (Torah Ark) or a church's high alter.
Imagine, the original mosque at prayer time, with dirt floors covered by many different large carpets with more than 20,000 people praying at once....saying "Allahu Akbar, la illa a il Allah, Muhammad razul Allah" "Allah is great, there is no god but to Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet"
The dome inside the Mihrab is also quite amazing.
Check out this organ
We then walked over to the Alcázar (Castle of the Christian Monarchs). It was one of the primary residences of Isabella I and Ferdinand II of Aragon. They donated the castle to the Inquisition of 1482, and it became central in the church's effort to discover "false converts to Christianity" - mostly Jews who had decided not to flee Spain in 1492.
The Alcázar has beautiful gardens with pools and a couple of towers
Christian Kings in the Alcázar and ever present water features.
As you enter and exit you see the statue of King Alfonso X of Castile, known as "The Wise"....his eyes seem to be staring!
Once we finished we went back to our hotel got into our room and relaxed before our Thanksgiving dinner!
We had a reservation at ReComiendo (Their mission state is "A Place where food will make you smile and Enjoy Equally" we were NOT disappointed. We chose the 12 course meal to replicate what Thanksgiving feels like at home.....eat a lot of good food!
Check out some of our courses:
When each of our courses was brought out the Chef Periko Ortega, would explain what it was and how to eat it.
We started with snacks of plantains and tortilla chips with spiced mayonnaise. Then we had "Medicine" tomato emulsion with Bloody Mary spices as seen blow
The the "Wedding Plate" chips and nuts wrapped in edible cellophane
Then olive oil on a spoon, which on their web site they say "The trap is not everything it seems"
Then some baby shrimps served with cheese and nuts in a hand held cone.
Then my favorite "The Clothes Line" interesting twist on a caesar salad
Then "The Lollypops" cherry covered foie gras lollypops
BTW they paired wine with most of the dishes, 5 different types and the total cost was just 49 euros!!!
Next we had a typical Córdoba dish with egg, mushroom, popped quinoa and DRY POWERED OLIVE OIL, red wine caviar with smoked salmon.....first time I ever had "dry olive oil" it's the white puffy stuff on the top right
Then a mushroom dish with a poached egg and smoked eel.
Followed by a dish first served without the soup stock, which is poured in after it's served to you, it includes almonds, wine, prawns bacon and black garlic and traditional Córdoba soup.
Then Beth had cod on potato purée (I had calamari on creamed garlic) with FOAM....another first for us to eat FOAM!
This was followed by Iberian pork, under the shoulder, slow roasted for 18 hours......yummy!
Then desert started....deconstructed creme brülée with citrus caviar, brown sugar, lemon and rosemary ice cream.
Then this deconstructed cheesecake, raspberry sorbet and chocolate with crunches at the bottom
We forgot what this aperitif drink is but it too was great
We are Thankful on this Thanksgiving dinner!
Friday, November 25th
The last day of our trip and it's raining again!
We started at out at one of only 3 Medieval Jewish Synagogue's still existing in Spain today. This one in Córdoba and I heard the other 2 are in Toledo.
The Synagogue, situated in the heart of the Jewish Quarter of Córdoba, is unique in Andalusia and one of the best preserved Medieval Spanish synagogues. According to the inscriptions found in the building, it was built in 1314 and 1315, and was in constant use right up until the Jews were expelled from Spain. A small courtyard leads to a narrow entrance hall. On the right is a staircase leading up to the women's area and in front lies the main hall. The Jews were expelled in 1492, and afterward, the building was used first as a hospital, then as the Hermitage of San Crispin and finally, an infants school. It was declared a National Monument at the end of the 19th century.
This statue is of Moses Maimonides. He was born in Córdoba and raised on both Jewish scripture and the philosophy of Aristotle. He left his biggest mark as the author of "The Guide for the Perplexed", in which he asserted that secular knowledge and religious faith could go hand-in-hand.
Next we checked out the Museo Taurino Córdoba, about the history and traditions of bullfighting, actually quite interesting.
We then checked out the Julio Romero de Torres Museo. We loved his paintings.
Lastly we visited the Baños califales of Córdoba.
Then to the train station for our AVE train ride back to Valencia.
It is hard to describe in words or images what these three cities are like. We enjoyed our visit in spite of the rain. We would prefer to deal with rain verses the tremendous heat and tons of tourists these cities have in the summer.
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