We Went to Córdoba! – Joanne – Academia Manhattan

¡Hola, amigos! The title says it all: WE WENT TO CORDOBA! Man oh man, what a great day trip.

We began the day a little earlier than usual with a bus ride at 7:45AM to the train station in Pedroches.

From there, we took a 20 minute train ride to Córdoba where the fiesta beGAN. When we walked out of the train station, I felt so ALIVE. Even in the early morning, everybody was hustlin’ and bustlin’ in their own ways and I just LOVED the energy. I was also very excited to see the familiar sites of Burger King and Starbucks (you BET I got some Starbucks, woo)!

Before our Córdoba tourist adventures could begin, we decided to grab some grub at a local cafe not too far from the Judería (Jewish Quarters).

I would just like to say: everything in Spain is so yummy. For example, I had a croissant with ham and cheese and it was the best croissant with ham and cheese I ever had in my life. And of course, our breakfast staple, a round of café con leche. Now, THIS is something I will be adding to my diet in America.

From breakfast, we walked towards the Judería where we explored some of the local gift shops and started a day taking loooooots of pictures.

We also explored the Synagogue a little bit since our supervisor, Lucy, told us that it was one of the three original synagogues remaining in Spain. Honestly, it was a little funny to see because it was like an 8 by 8 room with like nothing in it except a few artifacts and some Hebrew writing on the stone wall. But it was 0.30 Euros for #culture. So 0.30 Euros well spent!

From the Judería, we ventured towards the Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs. While we were in line for our tickets, my friend Anna saw a group of high schoolers from her hometown. Little did we know that we could run into her HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH TEACHER while exploring the medieval fortress! It truly is a small world. Anyways, the Alcazar was BEAUTIFUL, holy moly:

We spent a good solid hour here before heading off to the Mezquita; but before we walked over we HAD to grab some tapas and sangria for the #culture. We were STOKED about the sangria.

Our last touristy-adventure was to the Mezquita! That was also very cool and we nerded out and spent an hour and half exploring the Mosque-Cathedral.

After the Mezquita we were SUPPOSED to go to Goiko Grill, a famous burger place in Córdoba, but they were closed until 8PM and if we had gone, we wouldn’t have been able to catch our train SO WE MADE THE BEST DECISION EVER AND WENT TO A PLACE CALLED “Breakfast Club & Co.”

Throughout this entire trip, I’ve been craving two things: salads and burgers. ON THAT DAY, I HAD THE BEST BURGER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AND I WAS A VERY HAPPY GIRL. We ended up talking with the owner for a little bit and we found out he used to live in Chicago and New York City. We love America.

Post-happy lunch, my friends and I walked around and explored the city a little bit more.

We popped into this one store called “Natura” and wow, everything was very pretty and very eco-friendly. 10/10 recommend. I ended up purchasing a cute pair of earbuds with zero-waste packaging. AND the bag that they gave it to me in had instructions on how to HULA DANCE. HOW COOL IS THAT. IT’S SO FUNNY.

Our day came to a blissful end at a park 5 minutes away from the train station. We grabbed frozen lemonades and hung out around a playground. I think we low-key scared the Spanish children but we had fun!