Southern Spain: Córdoba, Granada, and Sevilla

This is Spain. I have been wanting to come to this region for a very, very long time, so my birthday gift to myself was a 7am train from Madrid to Cordoba with my friend Jonathan to explore this life goal: Andalucía, southern Spain.

Entering Córdoba’s Mosque – Cathedral known as Mezquite is like stepping into the word sanctuary. An immediate calmness and stillness envelopes you once you cross the threshold.

Over the past 1000 years, its original mosque features have survived largely intact even when the Catholic Church took over and converted it to a cathedral.

Tucked in amongst Córdoba’s narrow cobblestones streets are often hidden courtyards designed to keep residents cool when the temp often exceeds 40C in the summmer months.

By nightfall, we reached our final destination for the day, Granada, where my friend Keiron lives, and whose parents were visiting. So we ended the day with a final birthday dinner celebration.

And also squeezed in a flamenco performance in one of the caves overlooking the city.

We also found ourselves in the middle of a festival celebrating the Eucharist – Feria Corpus Cristi, one afternoon.

And, of course, we got to be overwhelmed by the immensity and grandeur of the Alhambra.

I spent almost every afternoon like this . . .

Until we got to Sevilla. Then the afternooons turned into this . . .

And this.

And evenings with an amazing new friend, Seleka. Shout out to Michael for introducing us. And to Seleka’s friends who took us under their wings and showed us an extraordinary weekend of tapas, drinks, and dancing all weekend long.

And then more Sevilla sights.

And lots, and lots of tapas.

By the end of the week, I was thinking of ways to spend more time here — like a few months out of the year . . .

It is totally possible.