Córdoba

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Today I woke up at 7:20 to make it to breakfast at 8:00.  We boarded the bus around 9:00 and headed to Córdoba.  We got there around 11:00 and had until 1:30 to explore.

Córdoba is very small so there was no way of us getting lost.  First we went to The Cathedral of Córdoba.  Beneath this cathedral is a hidden cathedral that traces back to its Visigoth origins.  This cathedral used to be a Mosque.  It was so beautiful and grand inside.  Around every corner there was something new to see!  And there is so much history in this cathedral it’s so cool.

Next we went into the town to souvenir shop.  I got 2 postcards.  This was the first time we experienced beggers and gypsies.  The beggers were tiny, thin women carrying babies and infants begging for money.  They came right up to you and would say, “give me money.”  We were told not to make eye contact and just ignore them.  Some of them were quiet aggressive but I just held my bag and moved on.  It was so sad to see the babies though.  They were in the sun all day and that is just not right.  We also ran into some gypsies trying to sell us rosemary twigs.  We heard if you touch the twig they will make you pay a lot of money for it so we just walked by them fast and ignored them.  After this we grabbed a quick bit.

During this time I met 2 different people from America all because I was wearing my Oneonta tank top.  The first two guys were from New Jersey and they were backpacking through Europe.  Next another older women came up to me and told me she was an Oneonta alumni.  What are the chances!  She told us all about Madrid and that we would love it.

After that we walked around the Jewish Quarter and stumbled upon Galeria de La Inquiscion.  It was very interesting.

Next, we walked over a bridge that was a few hundred years old!  Córdoba was absolutely beautiful and quant.  The buildings and the cathedral made this town what it is.  I was so glad we got to stop here on our way to Madrid.

We got on the bus at 1:30 and headed for Madrid.  We stopped at a bus station from 4:00 to 4:35 and bought snacks for the final stretch of the journey.  We got to Madrid around 7:00 and then had to drive through the traffic to get to Colegio Mayor Universitario Mara where we will be staying for the next four weeks.  We got in around 7:30.  We checked in and went up to our rooms.

My room number is 710.  There are 8 floors in total.  We each have our own room and bathroom.  The boys are on their own floor and while they are never allowed on girl’s floors we can go on their floors.

I was presently surprised when I walked into the room.  There is a twin bed, a desk and chair, a closet with a small dresser, a 5 tier shelf, another dresser and a night stand.  The bathroom is small but perfect for one person.  The room was bigger than I had seen in pictures and I was lucky because I got that extra dresser.  The only downfall is that the room is SO HOT!!  There is no AC and during the day it gets to around 100 degrees here.

After we went downstairs for dinner and then went to go buy fans but at that point the stores were closed.  I was overwhelmed from being hot and tired that Olivia let me borrow her fan for the night.  It was so sweet of her.  I didn’t sleep at all because the sheets were sticking to me and it was so hot.