We did it Córdoba!

It is 7am, and I am walking to catch the bus for our cultural excursion trip to Córdoba, Spain, with my friend. We ran into an issue on our way there, making me anxious that we might miss our bus. Once we reach our meeting point, we see that our group has started walking in a different direction from our last trip. I look over at my friend, confused, and before we can begin to walk towards them, the streetlight turns red. We wait, but we can see the group slowly disappearing into the darkness of the early morning. Once we get to the other side of the street, we continue to follow them, and before we know it, we have lost them. We start frantically looking for the bus. I start calling a friend who is also attending this trip, but I get no answer. After 15 minutes of looking, I get a text from her: “We just left. Where are you?” Well, I am not on the bus. 

At that moment, my friend and I decided to sit down and figure out what we should do next. Luckily, IES Abroad Madrid provided us with options in case we missed the bus. We look at these companies to try to find a ticket to Córdoba. Due to the rain, many trains had been cancelled. After desperately looking for one train, we found one! That would leave in one hour. Once we realized the time crunch, we left and took the Metro to Puerta de Atocha. We arrived and had to ask multiple questions to a service attendant, who was extremely helpful and patient with us. After 40 minutes of back and forth, we made it to our train. Although this experience was stressful, after taking a little time to think about it, we realized it was a much-needed adventure. In two weeks, we have a trip booked to Barcelona, and now that we know the station, we will hopefully have a better experience. A couple of minutes later, IES Abroad staff reached out to us with instructions on arrival. 

The three hours on the train passed by quickly, and before we knew it, we had arrived in Córdoba. Our hotel was truly beautiful, and we had a great view of the city. On the first day, we got a tour of the Mosque-Cathedral, and the architecture was remarkable. During our tour, I kept thinking about my lecture from my class called Spanish Art and Architecture. We just learned about iconography, and I kept being reminded of it when I saw the religious art pieces. My classmate and I kept looking at each other every time we recognized something from the lecture. Our tour guide had so much information about the city and the cathedral. After the tour, we were able to have spare time around the city, which we decided to spend shopping. 

After our shopping, we both were hungry. The problem was that it was only 6pm. One of the biggest cultural differences has been having dinner at 8:30pm rather than 6pm. My dining hall at my home institution closes at 8pm. Due to every restaurant being closed for their siesta hours, we went back to the hotel to look up some places for dinner. That is when we stumbled upon Massamore, an Italian restaurant. At 8:30pm we made our walk there and luckily were able to get a table without reservations. The restaurant was truly outstanding, and our waiter recommended the perfect meal. For the price, it was impeccable. After our dinner, we went on our walk at Parque Juan Carlos. I felt like I lived 9 lives at the end of the day.

The trip wrapped up with more tours the next day and a fantastic breakfast and lunch. This trip was truly magical and made me more excited about the future visits that I will be having in Spain and Europe. Even with all the stressful moments, it was a wonderful trip!