April 2026
This city was visited as part of an Erasmus-style tapas tour of Spain: Madrid, Granada, Sevilla, Córdoba, Barcelona
My advice: play this audio and enjoy the rest of the read. For context: at some small Jewish museum, this guy showed off his multilingual skills—singing in several languages without a hitch or accent, telling stories in several languages, and just taking it all in stride. Major respect to that guy
I didn’t really know much about Córdoba before the trip. Just some city on the way from Granada back to Barcelona. We decided to go there purely because the trains were convenient
And the city turned out to be immediately pleasant and green
Especially after Seville, which is nothing but roads
Córdoba finally won my heart when we went out for lunch. The whole meal cost just 7 euros, and they gave us literally endless wine and lemonade
We rented an apartment not far from the historic center, and I have to admit that Cordoba is, in general, a pleasant sight everywhere
Street signs
On the way to the historic center, I saw this road and had already thought that I’d have to look at nothing but cars again
Actually, it turned out to be easier—there’s only one road like that there
The historic center itself is very beautiful and reminded me of Granada, only with practically no hills
The standard tiles for the region
Beautiful—there’s nothing more to say
I think this is where I visited the mosque-cathedral—it’s like two in one
A great illustration of the history of southern Spain before the Reconquista
This fusion of two cultures really impressed me
Builders’ signatures
And this is the European part
It’s incredibly Instagrammable
It’s mid-April, and by the way, it’s over 40 degrees outside. I have no idea how people live here in the summer or how they plan to survive in this century
This sandy color dominates the city
Apparently, this city is part of the Camino de Santiago, which I’ve been planning to walk for 15 years in a row (ironically, for those who remember, I first saw this sign in Reading
The city is quite touristy; there aren’t many young people around, and most people speak French
In the city center, the buildings look like they’re straight out of a postcard—they’re incredibly beautiful
All in all, a pleasant surprise after Seville
I even found their style and font, even though they aren’t used anywhere else
By the way, Catholicism is visible everywhere. I have a mixed attitude toward religion; I mostly make jokes about kids, but seeing real Catholic kids in uniform is kind of cringey
Historically, there have been a lot of interesting people here since Arab times
A small courtyard with local artisan dudes.
Almost the entire south of Spain is paved with stones like these in the center
By the way, my complaints about the wide roads are totally legit. For example, here you can’t even see the traffic light on the other side of the street, so they have to put a duplicate one down below
A reminder that we’re in Spain, and a ban on violent video games
A second reminder that we're in Spain—cars right in the middle of the city, forcing everyone to step aside
This is what lunch looks like at a fancier restaurant. In other words, I still recommend finding the cheapest place and eating there. The food is actually tastier there
Basically, there were plenty of things to do and places to go
Many museums, by the way, are free for EU citizens. They often ask at the front desk where you’re from. If you say the Czech Republic, you have to add—it’s in the European Union
In this garden, I performed a heroic deed and picked up a smartphone from the ground, returning it to the museum. I have no idea how anyone could forget a smartphone. On the ground. It didn’t fall there; it was carefully placed
We also found some cool traffic lights that usually stay yellow, and you have to press a button to cross
By the way, people rarely park in large squares in Spain
The revelation of the decade—underground dumpsters look exactly the same as above-ground ones
Just another museum
With a courtyard
With a mosaic
And featuring Spain’s defining characteristic—drinking fountains at every turn. This particular model was so cool that you had to turn it on with your foot
I highly recommend Cordoba. It’s pleasant, beautiful, interesting, and easy to get there by train
