One cannot talk about Andalusia without noting Andalusian cuisine. Let me rephrase that: One shall never talk about Andalusia without noting Andalusian cuisine, and why should one, if you are in Cordoba and you have already visited La Mezquita? Of the multiple places we reviewed, we settled on GastroTaberna La Albahaca, and what a choice! The food started with Salmorejo – A puree made from ripe tomatoes, bread, garlic, and of course, olive oil. I had serious doubts when the appetizer was ordered. I remembered my dislike of tomatoes and hatred of soup, let alone cold soup, and I was expecting something bland. However, it was only a matter of minutes before I was hit with a cavalcade of tastes. The second appetizer was Mazamorra – Another cold soup made out of almonds, stale bread, garlic, and of course, olive oil. The main meal consisted of another Andalusian food, Flamenquin, and Rabo de Toro, or oxtail, with meat so tender it was falling off the bone. Our waiter was a great gentleman who discussed the details of the food in Spanish and then described the general idea to me in English. As we were leaving, he saw my content face and asked me how the food was, to which I responded I wish I could have all the oxtail they had there. He responded that he had over 50 kilograms and he was not sure if I needed that much, but all joking aside, in spite of all that was going on around the world and the tumultuous year that resulted in this trip, there were a couple of hours in Cordoba when it felt like nothing in the universe needed to be improved upon.
And then, of course, there is the Roman Bridge of Cordoba. The main bridge on the Guadalquivir river for 20 centuries. In his masterpiece, “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals”, Oliver Burkeman writes that each generation has at least one person who lives to be 100 years old. Now assume that this person’s life began when the life of the 100-year-old in the previous generation ended, and you realize that you are only 46 people away from the Great Pyramid of Giza. That is the sense that the Roman Bridge of Cordoba gives you, and honestly, the majority of the city. You walk on the same bridge that Seneca walked on, and yes, you are only 20 people away from him. You walk through the city gates that Averroes went through, and that is when you realize that we may not be very different from the ones before us.
The bridge was constructed by the Romans in the first century and then reconstructed during the Umayyad rule in the eighth century. Not much has changed since then other than multiple reconstructions, except for the statue of Arcangel Raphael that was put in place in the 17th century (during the visit I actually thought it was a fairly recent addition). Street musicians are always playing their songs on the bridge. As they should, as where else would one find such magic requiring music?
I have also added photos of the city as seen from the 12th century Calahorra Tower.
