Jules Heartly| September 2024

Travel Blog

Traveling to the international book fair, CIESART Don Quijote de la Mancha, to talk about my book In the Shadows of Gunshots (Rehenes en Misa in Spanish) I’ve arrived to this city.

Yes, I’m writing to you from Córdoba, a city that has infected me with its history. But it’s not just the history of the Mezquita, or the ebb and flow of civilizations like the Romans, Arabs, and Spaniards. Nor is it merely the surprise of learning that Córdoba was Spain’s first city to reach a million inhabitants when Madrid and Barcelona were yet to be born. It’s not even about the thousands of columns that once marked the distance to Rome along the Augustan Way.

No, this time, as with others, the stories that captivate me are those of the people who now call this labyrinthine jewel home. The old town of Córdoba, with its narrow, winding streets like arteries pumping life through the city’s ancient heart, is a living tapestry woven with tales both old and new.

Take Juan, for instance, a retired man who spends his mornings in the shadow of the Mezquita-Catedral, its imposing presence a sentinel over the city’s past. Like a human bridge spanning centuries, Juan shares the rich history of this place. He speaks of the muezzins who, in times past, climbed the minarets five times a day to call Muslims to prayer – a practice later replaced by the Catholic bells, their peals now echoing through the jasmine-scented air of the Jewish quarter.

Then there’s Rafael Crespo, a 68-year-old guitarist whose life is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. In his youth, he made music as part of an Andalusian group, his fingers dancing across the strings like flamenco dancers on a moonlit plaza. When blindness struck 30 years ago, he thought music had become a closed chapter in his life’s book. But ten years ago, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, he picked up his guitar once more. Now, having recorded several CDs and reinvented himself as a singer-songwriter, Rafael shares his music in the classic streets of old Córdoba.

His melodies float through the air, mingling with the scent of orange blossoms and the whispers of ancient stones. Rafael’s wife, Genoveva, is by his side, a testament to love’s enduring power.

Despite claiming she “doesn’t have a musical ear,” she travels daily from the town of La Carlota, her devotion as steadfast as the Roman bridge spanning the Guadalquivir. She serves as his guide and support, their partnership as harmonious as the blend of cultures in Córdoba’s rich history.

And of course, there’s the story of Antonio and his partner Carmen. They’ve already established a restaurant near the Palace of Justice, where the aroma of their dishes mingles with the scent of history. Now, this very week, they’ve opened a takeout place in a tiny Cordoban alley.

Here, in the maze-like streets where every corner holds a surprise, the rent for a mere 20 square meters costs three times more than their full-service restaurant. Yet they persist, serving up typical Cordoban cuisine as delicious as it is authentic, their flavors as rich and complex as the city’s past.

These stories, like the intricate patterns of the Mezquita’s arches or the lush beauty of the patios during the Feria de los Patios, remind us that Córdoba is not just a museum of the past. It’s a living, breathing city where history and modernity dance together in the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves of orange, tangerine and lime trees, and where each cobblestone holds a thousand tales waiting to be told.

So next time you visit Cordoba let your eyes see beyond its marvelous ancient streets and monuments and allow yourself to hear the stories whispered by the rare breeze and its river waters, the new tales that keep making this city an unique and alive one.

Thank you for reading my blog and for sharing your also unique interesting travel stories.

Remember to follow me on Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter (X) @JBRadiant.

www.JulesHeartly.com