Cordoba - I'm just not that into you

So I went to visit Cordoba for two days, because everyone talks about Cordoba like it's the holy grail of all Andalusian cities. And just like Barcelona, I've heard about how great Cordoba is for so long that I finally made the effort to visit it.

Well, I have to say that it was just okay. Yes, the Mezquita is old and big and well-preserved and the perfect specimen of an Islamic Mosque at the height of the Muslims' rule over Spain during the first millenium. But really, Mezquita -- I'm just not that into you.

Same for the Medina and the Alcazar. I guess, after being to Granda twice, I prefer the hillside ambiance and the gypsies and Sacromonte.

Plus, I had an annoying French man hit on me while I was happily eating lunch--sola--outside on the restaurant's terrace with all the other tourists. He walked up to my table and I thought he was the waiter at first until he started announcing in very bad Spanish--and in front of all the other tourists--about how he first saw me when I walked in, and how much pleasure I would give him if I would accompany him for lunch at his table in the smelly smoking interior of the bar.

Yeah, that would be: le not.

I looked at him straight in the eye, and said, "no."

I might have said, "no, gracias." But I don't think so.

So anyway, back to Cordoba...oh, yeah, not so impressed with its tourist sites. But I must admit that its saving grace was all the flowers. And I love flowers....

The InLaws!

So the second to last day that Dan was in Europe, we took a bus out to the suburbs in order for Dan to meet the inlaws. First stop: Monterrey, where my aunt and uncle hosted a fabulous Saturday paella for the whole clan.

This is Dan, meeting the inlaws. No commentary necessary. But I will say that all my hard work paid off because in the middle of the lunch, Nana said: "Fijate el acento de etse chico es estupendo!" Translation: The fact that I forced Dan to say "gracias" for the past two weeks with the Castilian zeta (or else face the wrath of Sassy Catalina) was totally worth Nana's praise!

These are my three guapisimo cousins!

Oh the ham. The ham...

More InLaw Pics

After we finished at Nana and Felipe's, we took a bus back to Madrid and then hopped on a train to head out to a different suburb to visit with Paco and his wife, Ana, and their two young daughters.

While the first trip to Monterrey was the traditional Spanish lunch, our second trip out to visit Paco was the more contemporary version of a Spanish reunion.

This is Dan--experiencing a formal family initiation. (Yes, these are the things you do for love.)

This is me, saying between my teeth: uhm...Danny, honey. Do you mind if we wait a few more years before this is us?