The Modern Nomads

Our next stop in Spain was the historic city of Córdoba. This city, founded by the Romans, is famous around the world for its Mosque-Cathedral. It’s got a great historic old town that is full of narrow streets, lively taverns and beautiful flower filled courtyards.

Where we stayed

We had our second stay at an NH Collection Hotel and were truly impressed! These hotels are beautiful and strategically placed to provide the best experience when staying there. The NH Hotel Amistad Córdoba is made up of two noble houses from 17th and 18th century palaces, its traditional courtyards, archways and woodwork have been restored to their 18th-century glory, with a few carefully-chosen modern touches. Plus it’s right in the historic heart of Córdoba!

Getting there

If you remember, we have a car and we’re driving from Granada to Córdoba and that always has potential for issues when trying to manuever through these old cities. And, this was no exception. The hotel is in the old pedestrian district and therefore you have to be careful when driving through the streets but the issue was that one of the streets that yahoo and google maps tried to take us down was closed for restoration. We tried several times and tried to get rerouted (which in these old towns can be a 15 minute reroute each time due to all the one way streets) and eventually gave up and just found a public parking garage and walked to our hotel with was just a 5 minute walk through some tiny cobblestone streets. Now I know why they say only use backpacks when traveling to cities like these. We luckily were able to stow most of our luggage in our rental car in the parking garage and just had our carry-on sized Osprey to deal with since we were only scheduled to be here for two nights.

And did I mention that this hotel was AMAZING! It could not have been in a better location!

Our guide met us at the lobby of our hotel the next morning for a 3 hour tour of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, the Andalusian Alcazar of Cordoba, and the Córdoba Synagogue. Our guide, Isabella, was very knowledgeable in the history of Córdoba and was born and raised in this area. We learned a lot about the neighborhoods that are in and around this old city and the history of Córdoba in general.

The first night we had dinner at Casa Rubio, which was one of the top picks on the app Wanderlog. And it was pretty good but on our second night we took another suggestion from Wanderlog, Bogedas Mezquita, and it was FANTASTiC!

We also stopped in Casa Pedro Zimenez for a sweet glass of wine to end the evening, or afternoon since it is still about 100 degrees at 5pm (we are calling it an early night!). We had an amazing dish that consisted of orange slices cinnamon walnuts and drizzled in olive oil. And WOW. This is the perfect summer time light sweet and if you haven’t ever had it you should try it!

I mentioned earlier in this post about the beautiful flower filled courtyards. There is a long history of these beautiful courtyards in Córdoba and if you travel here in May you can actually visit during The Courtyards Festival of Córdoba!

During May, the people of Córdoba proudly open the gates of the courtyards in the old quarter of the city during the days of the festival. The courtyards that participate in the competition spend weeks getting ready for the occasion! The whitewashed walls are covered with pots full of geraniums, carnations and jasmines, just to name a few. They can be visited at practically any time of the day and the hosts always give a warm welcome. Click the link below to read more about this lovely tradition:

Since 1921, the Town Hall has organised a competition of Courtyards and Crosses in the first week of May, and the owners decorate their houses with many flowers planted in beds and pots, which either hang from the walls or are placed on a paving specific to Cordoba to try and win the prestigious award offered by the authorities.

https://www.turismodecordoba.org/-en-1-1#

And who doesn’t love a travel story with a little adventure, drama, or mishaps. Well, we have one for you. When packing up to leave the hotel we couldn’t find the keys to the rental car. Thinking back to 3 days prior, we realized we may have left them in our rental car which was parked in a parking garage 5 minutes away. The car had our other luggage including our scuba dive gear. Luckily all was good and our luggage, AND CAR, were still sitting untouched in the parking garage. Here is a little video story of that mishap: