Traveling Solo - Córdoba and Sevilla

Dear readers, permit me to start with a strong comparison:

Traveling is like sex!

We can make sex by ourselves, it’s a necessity, gives us pleasure, releases the tension and we can focus in our own pleasure. But there are no doubts that sharing it with someone is much better, much more intense and interesting. To travel is the same! Traveling alone one can go at his own rhythm where and whenever one wants, but is sad not to be able to share the views, the landscapes the feelings.

It was with that though in my mind that i left in one more adventure in Spain, like a lonesome cowboy of the 21th century.

The latest music Cds, car straight to highway and there he goes on his way to the unknown horizon, that in this case was Córdoba. What the old west cowboys didn’t have while crossing the plans was traffic jams! Yes… 2 hours of traffic jam only to leave Madrid and make the first 70km!

With 6th and 8th of December national holiday everybody was going out of town… and that’s the end of the romantic lonesome traveler story. The time passes watching and studying the roads map try to find alternative ways.

Arriving at Córdoba it was hell to find accommodation, cause of the waves of tourists. I had high expectations about the city and they were fulfilled. All I had heard about wasn’t exaggerated.

It’s the city with the biggest Arabic influence in Europe, so is easy to feel that a person Is somewhere else in an Morocco city with a Spanish “sense”.

In my life I already visited near thousand churches, but Córdoba Cathedral managed to impress me! And also impressed the Spanish king, that after conquering the city to Muslims was enchanted with the splendor of the place and didn’t order to put it down. Rather than that he ordered to build a catholic cathedral, inside the Muslim one. Entering the trough the main door and you are easily impressed by its dimension and the full mixing of architected styles. A gothic portal, followed by another one in Arabic shape, a cross follow by a moon. Spectacular!!

The gardens of the cathedral lightened by the morning sun, with his light touching the orange trees, the palm trees and the portals creating mysterious shadows. Making the Arabic inscriptions shine in a golden color and giving a magic touch to the place, and we are already somewhere else rather than Spain. Speaking about orange trees, is hard to take a photo in a city of Andalusia and don’t get one on it. I liked the Christmas decorations, on the fruit trees, better than on pine trees.

To all this you have to add what Andalusia has in its best, the tapas, the small terrazas, the melodic accent of the locals, their warmth and friendly behavior, all that positive energy passes trough you, or maybe its just my “holidays eyes” that see everything pink??

Traveling alone one can sightseeing much faster and in 24hours the city was visited. I wanna mention the breathtaking scene on the other side of the river Guadalquivir with his famous Roman bridge and also the tasty and cheap food. I recommend “Salmorejo” (cold tomato soup, strong stuff for the cold nights of winter).

The decision of visiting Sevilla was taken on the moment and the fact of having a contact there helped me in that decision. Rather than returning to the boring highway I took the national road the goes always near the river, visiting the Arabian ruins of “Medina Azahara” and the castle of “Almodôvar del Rio”.

Is good to change a bit from the urban tourism and see something more typical.

After installed in Sevilla, already late, I made a walk trough the centre and had the luck to watch a students’ serenade. Compared to Portuguese ones, those guys look a bit flashy with all those orange strip and panty legs, robin hood style, at least they play and sing nicely.

If there is a city that sums the most icons of Spanish culture, that must be Sevilla. The clothes, the bull fighting, the word “Olé”, start to sing a “boleria” with a stranger, the energy and mood for party, the statues of saints a bit everywhere, the “cañas” e “tapas” and the list doesn’t end. Yes, Sevilla is Spain!!

After a full breakfast on the sun, the visit to the interesting places this time with company, and thanks to local knowledge, see details and places impossible only with a guide book. Thanks Rosana for showing me “the other Sevilla”… Glorious the rally “Tapas” we made!

8th December national holiday and the typical family lunches on restaurants, the run to Christmas gifts, but what really impresses is the huge warm gathering in a lot of squares. People drink on beer in front a church, smoky bares and discos full of people in their best clothes. Everything at 5 p.m.! Olé!!!

As in every little village in deep Portugal there is a “café central”, also in Spain every town has a “plaza de España” (even Lisbon has one). The thing is “Plaza de España” in Sevilla brings justice to the name, a huge circular square, with decorative panels for every Spanish city. If you want to feel the behavior and physical differences, even accents, of Spanish from all regions of Spain, you have to visit this square.

Little groups of tourists gather in front of their city panel to take the typical photo. Showing that we all are the same! We all like to find a bit of our home when we are far.

Sevilla trough the centuries always fought to be one of the biggest cities of Spain. So this square was originally built to have rowing competitions, a sport with long tradition in town. A lot still to see, but the proximity with Portugal, let the promise of repeating the visit.

I finish with a curiosity. Sevilla in 1992 attended the World Exposition of culture. Rather what happen in Lisbon Expo 1998, the area of the exposition is still empty with the pavilions of the exhibition. Of course there are projects to build luxurious buildings and shoping malls promising a “New Sevilla”. There are such projects has Lisbon had, but the locals reject them cause they don’t want big social differences between neiberhoods.

Additional note to Spanish national holidays:

Strange that the 1st of December isn’t holiday in Spain. Aren’t Spanish people commemorating the Portuguese Independence Day??

6th December is the day when Spain returned to Monarchy after several years of Franco dictatorship.

8th December… well… there is an advantage of living in a catholic country.

The most wanted english version

After piles and piles of letters asking for an English version, after so many complains from my best friends all around this Europe, here it is.

“The big official opening post of the east pilgrim in English”

Is just not the same to write in English… Somehow the English versions will be always smaller than the Portuguese ones. Less vocabulary, means less adjectives, less imagination, with your mother tongue is always another story. I will give my best!

Just following all the thousands of readers’ wishes, I will try to keep it update and all the new posts in Portuguese translated to English as soon as possible…

Of course that, in return, I want to receive all your feedback. Whatever they are silly or deep, is in your comments that I earn the motivation to keep writing it in English.

Christmas wishes to all of you…