Cordoba, Spain 2012

After spending two nights in Granada (read about it here), we took the train to Cordoba for two nights.  I had purchased my train tickets in advance on the RENFE website, not without some frustration I might add.  The train was an easy two hour and twenty minute ride to Cordoba. We arrived in Cordoba about 8:30pm and hailed a taxi for five euros to our hotel, Balcon de Cordoba, located literally around the corner from the Mezquita in La Juderia.

Balcon de Cordoba which was a beautiful small hotel.

It was my “splurge” hotel for the trip, and worth it!  Decorated in soothing whites & taupes with a beautiful courtyard when you enter, it was very peaceful.

Our room was very nice and beautifully decorated with a nice size bathroom and double sinks.  The only problem was  the only exterior window is in the bathroom – the others all open into the courtyard below.  If staying there again, I would request a room with an exterior window, but I suppose those maybe more expensive.

For dinner we went to Bodegas Campos.  It gets fabulous reviews but we thought it was only okay.  It did not help that they were out of a few things on the menu.  We had a salad with fried garlic, albondigas which was very good, and arroz con ribs – not what I actually wanted, but our first two choices they were out of.  I will say, my arroz con leche for dessert was excellent.

DAY 4

Breakfast at the hotel was a nice selection of the usual meat/cheese/pastries/cereals/fruit, but also included made to order eggs, Vienna sausage and bacon.  The price of breakfast is included.  The young woman helping at breakfast, who also ran the front desk during the day, was extremely helpful and spoke excellent English.

Our first stop was to the Mezquita.  We arrived around 10:15am and it still was not too crowded.  This is an amazing structure with a fascinating history of going from pagan temple to Christian church to Moorish mosque to Christian cathedral.

Next we headed to the Casa Andalusi and the synagogue.

Casa Andalusi is a typical old Andalucian house.  We found the architecture and interior interesting, and it is only 2,50 euro to enter.

The synagogue was a small and simple building dedicated to Maimonides, the great Jewish philosopher who spent part of his life in Cordoba.  The synagogue was built in 1305 and is one of the oldest synagogues.

From here we just ambled around the Juderia walking through the narrow streets and going into some of the more interesting shops.  A lot of nice silver jewelry stores in the area (I am a sucker for that and bought a ring, Lauren bought earrings).  We walked up to the Plaza Tendillas which is outside of the Jewish Quarter and has more brand name shopping.  We did not spend much time here.

By this time it was time for lunch.  One of the reasons we had decided to spend two nights in Cordoba rather than just do as a daytrip from Seville, was because I had read the food here was amazing.  So, after breakfast I had asked the lady at the front desk what traditional Cordoban foods she recommended and where she thought we should go.  She suggested Tabernas Salinas.  It was a bit of a walk, but soooooo worth it.  We loved this lunch so much we almost considered coming back to Cordoba for a daytrip while we were in Seville just to eat lunch here again – if the cost of the train ride was not so expensive we would have definitely done it!!

We had several regional specialties – salmojero – a thick cold tomato soup with ham and hard boiled egg – so delicious, we licked the bowl clean.  Fried aubergines (eggplant) with honey – so lightly fried, not what we think of heavy fried food here in the states.  Marinated anchovies – I started out by saying I was not going to eat any because I am not a big fan of anchovies but everyone insisted I try. Boy these were good and I ate my fair share.  Lastly ham with melon – again, incredibly delicious melon.  Each one of these dishes was a fairly good size, enough for us all to enjoy, and only 6,90 euro each.  Then we enjoyed deserts of arroz con leche, chocolate cake, and oranges with cinnamon and sugar (a dessert we had enjoyed in Morocco where chocolate and pastries are scarce).

Walked back along the river and crossed the roman bridge with the great views looking back across at the city.

We went back to the hotel and rested up on the rooftop with relaxing sofas and chairs and the most incredible views of the Mezquita.

For dinner we went to Regadera down near the river.

This is a small restaurant with just one “hippie” waiter – and it was excellent.  We had beef carpaccio, tuna tartar and a delicious mussel risotto with octopus carpaccio on top, and lastly the most incredible pork dish I have every eaten.  So, tender and flavorful.   I generally do not like pork, but if it always tasted like this I would eat it all the time.

DAY 5

Woke up, had a leisurely breakfast, packed and then headed to the train station.  There are so many trains each day from Cordoba to Seville that I did not bother to buy train tickets in advance.  We went on the 11:44am train and arrived in Seville about 12:30pm.

Next up four nights in Seville

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11 responses to “Seville, Spain 2012”

  1. This brought back plenty of memories for me. Thanks! Can’t wait to visit Seville again. I am currently writing up the story of my two visits to Andalucia. It was a fabulous part of Spain.

  2. Sounds like you’re having a good adventure, even if the hotel wasn’t ideal. I’d personally love to visit Spain.

  3. Tony Statham says:

    That was a great account of your stay.. `i’ll be visiting Sevilla again next April for the Feria.. Flamenco Week! I took my Philippine girlfriend to it last April and I’ve had my arm twisted to take her again. I’d bought her a lovely dress for 190 euros and she was hooked.. especially when she was asked to stop several times so her photo could be taken.. But Sevilla is a lovely city anyway and there is still so much to see and do there.

  4. Leah Shindelman says:

    This was great to read about as my husband and I will be there in October and I am still planning it. Have you written about your trip to San Remy de Provence? We will be there before Spain and I would like to read about your stay there.

    • Judy Gambee says:

      Leah – For some reason I never did get that written and posted, but you have inspired me to get that done!! I still have all my notes and pics. If you have any specific questions I can answer, you can email me at judy@fromhometoroam.com. We stayed in St. Remy and visited Les Beaux, Avignon, Pont du Gard, Aix, Gordes, Roussilon, Bonnieux, Lacoste, Menerbes, Cassis and did a wine tour with Olivier Hickman of Wine Uncovered in the region of Chateauneuf de Pape.

  5. Stephanie Le says:

    Hi Judy,

    Thank you very much for sharing! I very much enjoy reading your blog. BTW, I am from Vietnam but have not been back since I left my country in 1975. I do plan to go one day but my heart is in Europe. I have been to England, France, and Italy but wanting to go to Spain next. My thoughts are Barcelona, Granada, Seville, and Madrid. However, the more I read about the Andalucia area, the more I’m thinking about extending in this area and skipping Barcelona perhaps?

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks Judy!

    • Judy Gambee says:

      Stephanie – Glad you enjoyed the blog. We absolutely loved your country, Vietnam. Hope to go back again some day. I have not been to Madrid yet so hard to comment on that. I absolutely loved Barcelona – probably my favorite European city after Rome! I think a lot would depend on how much time you have. Barcelona is a little further away than Madrid from Andalucia. As you saw we did our time in Andalucia in a week (Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla). If we had more time there is much more we would have liked to have seen. If you have two weeks you could skip Madrid and do Barcelona and Andalucia. If less than two weeks then probably would be best to do madrid and Andalucia.

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