Medieval Fair in Cordoba

During the Middle Ages Cordoba was one of the most populous cities in the world. It had been a capital in pre-Roman times (of the Iberian people), a capital to the Romans and again for a Moorish kingdom--- it sits on the bend of a giant river surrounded by fertile plains. We've begun to figure out that as realtors say, 'location is everything'. A Neanderthal Man dating back to 35,000 B.C. has been found in Cordoba so apparently Cordoba's good location is something that was obvious going way back.

Cordoba is filled with super-narrow streets that open to small plazas and continue on with hair-pin turns into even smaller lanes. This design is incredibly efficient for keeping the spaces cool but terrible for modern cars! We were crazy and attempted to drive to our hotel. It was like driving on a bowling alley lane. I took these pictures from the front seat. I spent most of the last part of the drive with my eyes closed. 

It got more narrow.

So many 'streets' were closed for the Medieval Fair that we ended up having to hire a taxi to lead us to our hotel. Here he is leading the way.

Rick has the calm of a saint and has handled driving small villages with jokes and grace. He admitted in Cordoba however that the roads were so narrow and there were so many people that he was really nervous that he'd run over someone's toes. Many times, people squished themselves against the walls of the lanes as we squeezed by- here's a 'big' road still full of people that were practically under our tires.

We finally arrived at sunset. We were worried our hotel would be loud because it was on a busy road with buses roaring by. Our host said not to worry and we walked across the street, up big steps, passed a cobblestone plaza and it was suddenly quiet as a tomb. Here is the view out to Cordoba from our entryway.

Gigi was very sick so J waited patiently to make it to the fair- when we did it was an explosion of people, color and food. The Spaniards love a good time and they seemed to be savoring the fair with great gusto.

There were tons of regional delicacies for sale along with mounds of homemade food that looked incredible.

First kid-friend to identify 'Pulpo Paul' and explain why this octopus became famous enough to have a candy named after him wins a Spanish souvenir!

The hottest selling items besides the suckling pig were bows and arrows. Here's a picture of J's crossbow and Gigi's Bow, Arrows and Quiver. (note the non-PC Native American carving!)

Today we were excited to have a very brief Skype session with J's good friend. The connection wasn't terrific (I thought he said 'froggy' when he said 'Karate'!) but it was wonderful to hear his voice and see him for a brief second. Our cottage walls are so thick we have to put the computer up to the window to get a bar of Wifi!

Miss everyone!