Peregrinating Pair: Cordoba

We're winding down our time in Spain and opted to take the train from Malaga to Cordoba. Honestly, it wasn't a mistake, but Cordoba isn't really the place we'd hoped it would be. It's certainly warm, and the jasmine is in bloom here too. Tho after a little botanical confusion I will admit we are enjoying both jasmine AND orange blossoms. Chemically, their scents are very similar. But Cordoba is a place that just feels like it missed the mark.

It has a pedestrian zone, but allows in a large number of vehicles. So even then you think you are on a car-free street, a car or scooter will roar past you. There are large dead zones. Whether this is due to zoning, or loss of businesses from Covid, or something else entirely, it feels odd to have a busy area and then blocks of just nothing. Shutters down, nothing open, deadness. Feels a bit creepy. The tourist shops are unbelievably kitschy. There are hideous flamenco dresses for sale everywhere, made of very flammable materials. Bad music is abundant. It is also the run-up to the Easter holiday so group and student tours clogged up the streets. There's something terrifyingly zombie-ish about 50 people with earpieces shuffling past.

And even the crown jewel of Cordoba - the Mezquita-Catedral (Mosque-Cathedral) - left us depressed. It's an architectural abomination. The original and expanded mosque had glorious, mathematical aesthetics. Then a Renaissance cathedral was chopped into the space, destroying sight lines, arches, and leaving a trail of overwrought and overdecorated ugliness. It's bizarre, and sad. If you've ever watched the Yellow Submarine movie, you might recall the leader of the Blue Meanies saying, "A thing of beauty: destroy it forever!" This was an embodiment of that.

So, we adapted. Lots of walks. A visit to the (blessedly empty) cemetery. Several ramblas over the Roman-Era bridge and along the river. Adherence to the siesta rest periods, as it hit the 80s. And enjoyment of the very. very strong sangria.