travelswithalice

October 03, 2021

Cordoba

Saturday, October 2.

We’re at Hotel Conquistador directly across from the Mesquita.

We can’t get much closer than this. The room is small and austere but comfortable. And with lots of walking on the cards, the location is unbeatable.

The Alcázar can only be accessed by registering at least a day in advance but the nice lady guard let us in anyway. All it took was a “Please, can we see it today, please?”

We had a quick visit in a limited area that didn’t include the garden which was booked for a concert.

I love the way the building is designed to shelter from the intense Andalusian sun and let in cooling breezes.

The mosaics are beyond belief.

When we first came to Cordoba fourteen years ago, we discovered a pretty little restaurant called La Fragua. It made quite an impression on me; I wrote about it then. We eagerly sought it out again this time, had drinks at the alley bar, and booked for dinner later.

We returned after the requisite 4-hour siesta break and ordered the Cordobes menu for two. The salmorejo was wonderful, the fried berenjenas equally delicious, but the main dish of flamenquin was not good: it was very dry and the loin was tough. We sent it back and accepted the croquetas that the manager suggested as replacement.

The evening was ruined for us despite the free round of drinks he threw in for goodwill. There was a palpable air of horrified disbelief at this brazen insult to the exalted Flamenquin of Cordoba. I’m sure I didn’t just imagine the dagger looks that followed us as we left.

Sunday, 3.

Madinat al-Zahra was awe-inspiring. It was also also disheartening, seeing the complete and absolute devastation wrought not by the passage of time but by wanton destruction and looting. The overcast sky added to the air of mystery and melancholy as we trudged along the vast area of ruins, trying to visualise the grandeur of what has been called “the ornament of the world.”

La Mesquita.

Gorgeous. The only reason I was desperate to go back to Cordoba.

La Mesquita 2007

For me, nothing can compare to the sophistication, the majesty, the reverence, the religious experience that is this building. Not any church that I’ve seen anyway. Not St. Peter’s, not Notre Dame, not Chartres.

Our three days in Cordoba have been a resounding success. The hotel, the people, the food, the wine. Of course the food! Salmorejo, mazamorra, berenjenas, and flamenquin, the last having been restored to its rightful place as Cordoba’s prize tapas by our latest restaurant discovery, Moriles de Ribera. And now, berberechos too!