Monday, September 07, 2009

Wow, it's hot

From Madrid I caught the fast train, the AVE, to Cordoba, and arrived to 40°C heat.

For my birthday in July, Mai Li bought me a North Face winter jacket for my trip.

The prime tourist attraction in Cordoba is the Mezquita, the grand Moorish mosque which set the architectural style for the region, but having seen this two years ago I focussed my attentions on those things I missed on my last visit here. I stayed in the Judería, the atmospheric old Jewish quarter of narrow lanes to the north of the Mezquita, and visited the ruins of the 10th-century Moorish palace city, the Medina Azahara. The best restored and most spectacular part of the site, the throne room of Abd ar-Rahman III, was closed for further restoration, probably in anticipation of Cordoba hosting the European Capital of Culture in 2016. Having missed this already in 2007, I was bitterly disappointed.

Back in Cordoba, I was accosted by a gypsy on the street when she abruptly put a sprig of thyme in my hand and commenced a palm reading. “No, no,” I said.

“Un momento, por favor,” she replied, and then told me I was “muy fuerte” – very strong – that I would live a long life, and I would have lots of babies. She then rubbed her fingers together and said, “coin.” I said no, and she gave me a look that made me avoid running into her again.

At the Meson de la Luna I had the menú del día for lunch. The first course was gazpacho, a cold tomato soup which was so refreshing in the hot weather that I proceeded to dump the contents of the bowl into my lap. This did not go down well with my white pants, which suddenly became stained and wet. Gypsy curses are very swift.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

He he he. That's funny. Not the soup in the lap per se, but the description of same and the associated curse. And all for the sake of one lousy coin . . . . .