All Aboard-oba for Córdoba

I will readily admit that the title of this blog post is the worst pun I have ever created. But don't lie, you chuckled.

So, on weekends, CC-CS (our program provider) often plans "Optional Leisure Activities", which should be more accurately named "Trips to Awesome Places for Americans". Plus, then they could be called TAPAs for short, and that would just be funny. But I digress. On this particular weekend (the weekend of the 11th... sorry, I've always had difficulty with chronological order), we went to Córdoba, which, like most Spanish cities, has more history than it knows what to do with. For instance:

"Hmm... how will I get into the city? I know! I'll use that bridge the Romans built."

Some of the highlights of the trip were the royal gardens:

Have you ever seen natural colors so bright that they were painful to look at? Now you have.

one of only 2 pre-Inquisition synagogues that still exist in Spain:

Note the cross: It only survived because they converted it into a church.

And, of course, the Mezquita of Córdoba, with its tell-tale red and white arches:

The geometry used to make this building makes me so happy.

But the coolest part of the day was had outside of the Mezquita, in the Patio de los Naranjos, where a traditional wedding celebration was taking place. I blew my "I'm a Spaniard too" cover and ran to the front like a super-tourist, just to get this video for all of you back home: