Friday: I woke up bright and early, super excited to see Dennis. Luckily, before I got on the bus to Málaga, it occurred to me that yes, Dennis might be leaving from New York Friday night, but that didn't mean I would see him Friday night in Spain. (In my excitement, I temporarily forgot about the six-hour time difference). So instead of seeing him that day, I spent two hours changing my bus tickets and moping around. (But I did get to see the Lorax in Spanish that night, so it was all good).
Saturday: Finally, the real day arrived to see Dennis. His uncle, Chuan and I met him at the Málaga airport, and Chaun drove us to his lovely neighborhood in Málaga, where we frolicked in the neighborhood park and then met Chuan's wife, Ni Jia and daughter, Xuan Xuan. Xuan Xuan is only eight but already is fluent in Chinese, Spanish, and English...which made me feel great about myself. Dennis' first dinner in Spain was at a Chinese restaurant. But the food was delicious and the fish was nice and fresh, since Málaga is on the coast, so I doubt he minded waiting to try Spanish food. (I know I'm in Spain and shouldn't say this, but Chinese food is better than Spanish food any day).
Sunday: We awoke bright and early for our bus ride to Córdoba. We had a bit of a scare when the guy at our hostel in Córdoba, Hostal la Fuente, told us we couldn't stay there unless we both could show passports (Dennis didn't have his) but after giving him lots of sad and confused looks, he let us in. The hostel was of the typical Córdoban style: white walls, lots of tiles, a large patio, and plants galore. Everywhere you look in Córdoba you see buildings like this. It's quite a fairytale land. The first thing we did, after eating a Spanish-style lunch, was see the Mezquita, a huge, breathtaking cathedral with a nice medley of Visigoth, Arab, and Christian influence. We wandered around the Jewish sector, payed homage to Maimonides, and visited the Synagogue, one of three in all of Spain, the other two being in Toledo. After a kebab dinner, we headed towards the hostel, but obviously the Semana Santa processions (parades honoring Christ that last the whole week and are especially popular in Andalusia) completely covered our street, and there was no way to get through. So we killed time at an overpriced but beautiful bar on a balcony overlooking the city.
Monday: As I'd been confused about the timing of the trip due to my inability to grasp time differences, I'd booked us the wrong bus tickets back to Málaga, so we had to trek to the Córdoba station to get different tickets. On the way we saw some Roman columns and a mausoleum, both of which were kinda cool but maybe took more time to find than they were worth. We also explored the Calahorra Tower-Museum, which was interesting, but what I enjoyed even more than the museum was its location: it's situated on the Roman bridge overlooking the Guadalquivir river--quite a sight. After getting our new-and-improved bus tickets, we spent quite a chunk of time looking for the Palace of the Marqueses de Viana, but when we arrived it was closed. But it was OK because we had some nice sangrias at a nearby tapas place and then tried to just get lost in the city for a while, which wasn't that hard, considering we get lost even when we're not trying to. We stumbled on a middle school basketball game and pretended to be fans for a while, and when our stomachs started growling, we had some traditional Córdoban food.
Tuesday: The Castle of the Christian Monarchs greeted us in the morning, with its expanse of gardens and towers. It rained while we ate lunch and stopped raining right when we were done. The clouds were quite nice to us on the trip. We meandered around the museum of Bellas Artes and Julio Romero de Torres (who's native to Córdoba) before having an early dinner of tapas (by early, I mean 7pm-- we definitely got some weird looks from the waiters for dining so "early"). Of course, the Semana Santa crowds decided again to congregate right in front of where we needed to be: the Hamman Arab Baths. This time, we pushed through with all our force because we had baths to get to! The toll that all the pushing took on our muscles was undone by the baths and massages. Afterwards I felt like a human cloud/cotton ball.
Wednesday: We trekked once again to the bus station to head back to Málaga, where we spent the afternoon with Chuan and Xuan Xuan at beaches in Maracas, Málaga, as well as an absolutely stunning park with plants and animals of all shapes and sizes, and then we headed to the port, which was a bit on the tacky side (very comparable to Virginia Beach).
Thursday: We went to Frigiliana, Málaga with Chuan and Xuan Xuan. I've decided I'm moving there. It's similar to Córdoba and parts of Granada with the Arab-influenced white houses, brightly-painted doors and windows, and potted plants. But what makes it especially special is that it's on a hill overlooking the sea. White cottages+seaside location=perfection.
Friday: Adios to Dennis, hola to Granada.
Saturday: Well, here I am blogging. Guess I'll go live my life now so I have more to blog about in the future. Buhbye.
Saturday: Finally, the real day arrived to see Dennis. His uncle, Chuan and I met him at the Málaga airport, and Chaun drove us to his lovely neighborhood in Málaga, where we frolicked in the neighborhood park and then met Chuan's wife, Ni Jia and daughter, Xuan Xuan. Xuan Xuan is only eight but already is fluent in Chinese, Spanish, and English...which made me feel great about myself. Dennis' first dinner in Spain was at a Chinese restaurant. But the food was delicious and the fish was nice and fresh, since Málaga is on the coast, so I doubt he minded waiting to try Spanish food. (I know I'm in Spain and shouldn't say this, but Chinese food is better than Spanish food any day).
Sunday: We awoke bright and early for our bus ride to Córdoba. We had a bit of a scare when the guy at our hostel in Córdoba, Hostal la Fuente, told us we couldn't stay there unless we both could show passports (Dennis didn't have his) but after giving him lots of sad and confused looks, he let us in. The hostel was of the typical Córdoban style: white walls, lots of tiles, a large patio, and plants galore. Everywhere you look in Córdoba you see buildings like this. It's quite a fairytale land. The first thing we did, after eating a Spanish-style lunch, was see the Mezquita, a huge, breathtaking cathedral with a nice medley of Visigoth, Arab, and Christian influence. We wandered around the Jewish sector, payed homage to Maimonides, and visited the Synagogue, one of three in all of Spain, the other two being in Toledo. After a kebab dinner, we headed towards the hostel, but obviously the Semana Santa processions (parades honoring Christ that last the whole week and are especially popular in Andalusia) completely covered our street, and there was no way to get through. So we killed time at an overpriced but beautiful bar on a balcony overlooking the city.
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| La Mezquita |
Monday: As I'd been confused about the timing of the trip due to my inability to grasp time differences, I'd booked us the wrong bus tickets back to Málaga, so we had to trek to the Córdoba station to get different tickets. On the way we saw some Roman columns and a mausoleum, both of which were kinda cool but maybe took more time to find than they were worth. We also explored the Calahorra Tower-Museum, which was interesting, but what I enjoyed even more than the museum was its location: it's situated on the Roman bridge overlooking the Guadalquivir river--quite a sight. After getting our new-and-improved bus tickets, we spent quite a chunk of time looking for the Palace of the Marqueses de Viana, but when we arrived it was closed. But it was OK because we had some nice sangrias at a nearby tapas place and then tried to just get lost in the city for a while, which wasn't that hard, considering we get lost even when we're not trying to. We stumbled on a middle school basketball game and pretended to be fans for a while, and when our stomachs started growling, we had some traditional Córdoban food.
Tuesday: The Castle of the Christian Monarchs greeted us in the morning, with its expanse of gardens and towers. It rained while we ate lunch and stopped raining right when we were done. The clouds were quite nice to us on the trip. We meandered around the museum of Bellas Artes and Julio Romero de Torres (who's native to Córdoba) before having an early dinner of tapas (by early, I mean 7pm-- we definitely got some weird looks from the waiters for dining so "early"). Of course, the Semana Santa crowds decided again to congregate right in front of where we needed to be: the Hamman Arab Baths. This time, we pushed through with all our force because we had baths to get to! The toll that all the pushing took on our muscles was undone by the baths and massages. Afterwards I felt like a human cloud/cotton ball.
Wednesday: We trekked once again to the bus station to head back to Málaga, where we spent the afternoon with Chuan and Xuan Xuan at beaches in Maracas, Málaga, as well as an absolutely stunning park with plants and animals of all shapes and sizes, and then we headed to the port, which was a bit on the tacky side (very comparable to Virginia Beach).
Thursday: We went to Frigiliana, Málaga with Chuan and Xuan Xuan. I've decided I'm moving there. It's similar to Córdoba and parts of Granada with the Arab-influenced white houses, brightly-painted doors and windows, and potted plants. But what makes it especially special is that it's on a hill overlooking the sea. White cottages+seaside location=perfection.
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| Frigiliana! |
Friday: Adios to Dennis, hola to Granada.
Saturday: Well, here I am blogging. Guess I'll go live my life now so I have more to blog about in the future. Buhbye.
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