Happy Halloween!

Muahahahahahaha!!

Halloween is my favourite party holiday. As a girl, it's the one time of year you are allowed to leave your morals with wild abandon, wear the craziest/sexiest thing you can muster and not a soul will judge you.
The greatest part of the fun is deciding what to wear. This time last year my friends and I spent a month planning and preparing for Halloween. There's a fine line between sexy and trashy and it's important for a girl to not only know where that line is, but walk on it.
Seeing other people's creativity is quite a kick too. Just on Facebook I saw a friend as "the cool guy from youtube" wearing a massive cardboard youtube frame around himself.

But in Spain, it's not such a big deal. You'd barely know it was even a thing if we didn't all have a holiday on the 1st November. It seemed to be a very niche market with only a few people dressing up.

Oh, but when they do, they were very scary! Which is what I guess Halloween should be about.I saw plenty of ghouls and grungy emo angels. I suspect that for some, this is also the one time of year they can actually wear what they like, in a city that's probably 98% Catholic (don't quote me) and would find Halloween a little too pagan, I think some people would find it hard to be accepted if they wore the punk grunge look daily. This ain't no Camden. 

The first Halloween was a costume birthday party, and only having decided on the morning that I would go, I had only a few hours to hash together some sort of costume.
I ended up as a Native American. Think chick from Night at the Museum rather than Pocahontas.

The second Halloween started off as a few beers after work, me donning my home-made cat ears which I had worn all day in school and a black dress. Other teachers had also worn witches hats and face paint. Halloween with the students is always fun, playing games where they have to "trick or treat" for candy. It's a nice break from the daily grind of textbooks and some guy in some country doing some thing that they don't care about.

As is tradition of human beings when they don't have to work the next day (woop Spain!) we ended up staying out late and went to the ever popular irish pub, O'Donaghue's.
If I had ever thought that Córdoba had just forgotten Halloween, walking through the door of this pub was like going though a wormhole to a different dimension.

The whole place was covered in beautiful spiders webs hanging from zombies, skeletons, mummys, vampires, monsters, and other delightfully ugly decorations.
It was obvious that a lot of time and effort had gone in to decorating the place and for a homesick halloween kitty, it was definitely appreciated.

Going there with a few teachers from my school and their other halves, it was nice to meet some other Spanish people. I really hope that my Spanish will improve over the next month to the point where I can have a conversation. I was glad I made the decision to go out and not chicken out home which is what I almost did!

The drinks at O'Donaghue's were massive!!! It took us girls a long time to finish one drink, but mysteriously, the ice didn't melt! Culture tip #17 they put a lot of alcohol in their mixed drinks! I was prefectly happy sipping on my mammoth wine glass of vodka lemonade for the rest of the night.

The night was perfect for me. It wasn't crazy, we had a good group in a place with amazing atmosphere. The music could've probably been better but it was hardly noticeable.

The next holiday now will be my favouritest of them all: Christmas!!!

Flamenco!

It'd be madness to come and live in Spain without going to see a Flamenco show. So I took the opportunity to go when my mum came to visit. She had come during Columbus Day, which just so happened to be on a Friday this year, and to mark the holiday, the show had guest performers from other parts of Spain.

The show opened with traditional singing, Spanish guitar and ambient lighting while we sat in a patio under the stars.

It was a warm night (for us Brits anyway) but the dancing was hot. The dresses hugged their hips as they swirled and sauntered, stamping their feet in time to the music.

Flamenco music has a distinctive 12 beat rhythm, and it's the most common although there are also dances to 3 and 4 beats.Try keeping in time clapping and at first, it's very difficult and requires way more concentration than you think it would as they clap away apparently with ease and minimal brain power.

Facial expressions were part of the show as the dancers would not only show passion with their feet but also on their faces. It demanded the audience to take them seriously; there was power in their movements and fire in their soul.

Every dancer chose to wear the traditional flamenco colour of red. Each dress was ornate and beautifully put together, perfectly tailored to curve with every contour, and flip with every kick.

I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a fat flamenco dancer. The 15-20 minute performances were high energy and fast paced. After each performance, the dancers were breathing heavily and sweating.

This guy was the Michael Flatley of flamenco. The tappy shoes weren't that far off either. He was the grand finale of the show, with fast footwork and enough passion to make you pregnant just by looking at you.

Seeing flamenco live was spectacular. It far exceeded my expectations in entertainment value. It was good value for money at €20 per person including a free drink. We were able to reserve a table at the time of booking the tickets which ensured our great seats but even the worst seats in the house would have still been great.

I'm going to try and find lessons that fit around my schedule - it's a perfect combination of cultural integration and great exercise! And if not that, then I want the pretty dress and an excuse to pin a big flower on my head!

Palacio De Viana

The Palacio De Viana is one of the biggest private palaces in Spain that's open to the public. There are 12 patios or gardens, each with it's own name and theme. The palace itself is an accumulation of the different architectural styles from the 14th century to now.

On a sunny Sunday morning, I went to check out the Palace mainly in preparation for the maternal visit so I would know where it was and what it would be like.

I think she would enjoy it, with all the trees, flowers and fountains, it was also a brilliant cultural experience, with a brief glimpse in to Córdoba's aristocratic past. 

This garden looks a bit like a jungle in this picture, but it had hedges that made it into a maze and it is the biggest garden of the twelve.

I love the symmetry of this palm tree contrasting against the blue sky. If England had palm trees, it would probably be easier to go back!

This patio had painted tennis balls on the ground but I wasn't sure why - other than for decorative purposes. They weren't secured down, so a gust of wind could've turned it in to a ball pit, but luckily for them, this is Spain, and the weather is nice for the most part.

I love the walls covered with terracotta pot plants. In May, the flowers are in full bloom and that's when people from all over Spain will come to Córdoba to see all the beautiful blooming patios.

The palace gardens were so romantic, it would've been a perfect setting for some period drama. A story about forbidden love perhaps, a cultural/class divide where the protagonists have to sneak around and hide in the gardens.

I can't wait to see what it'll look like in May!

Cordobese Cuisine

Spain is famous for many different dishes around the world. From paella to churros, olives to oranges, there's plenty for the palette.

This region of Spain is particularly famous for it's olive oil. They are the largest producer accounting for 30% of the world's olive oil, 75% of which is produced here in Andalucia. They have it with everything, even in their cupcakes.

My first breakfast here, we had toast. I opted for margarine as there was no butter. But everyone else drizzled olive oil and a sprinkling of sugar. I had never thought of that combination before so the next morning that's what I had. Man, it was so delicious. I look forward to breakfast now just so I can have it again. Sometimes, I even have it for dinner. It's so good.

Dinner is usually a smaller lighter meal, as lunch is always the big one. It's later than we have it in England too - usually at 9:30pm. This schedule took absolutely no time at all to get used to. It was nice to have a big lunch and a small dinner as I never felt completely stuffed before I went to sleep.

The thing that I like to make the most is a cheese toastie. But of course, there's a Spanish twist.
The cheese is called Entrepinares Cheese, produced in Valladolid, Spain. It's a semi-cured mixture of cows, goat and sheeps milk.
With that there's a type of sausage that can only be bought in Murcia that doesn't have a special name. It's bright red and soft enough to spread.
The bread is, white. Standard.

Desserts are also pretty good here. One day Miriam presented me with this:

It's a mini Pastel Cordobés which is basically puff pastry filled with a pumpkin jam. Amazing.

And for something a bit more towards the strange there is blood sausage. A Spanish style black pudding.

Don't let the name deter you. It was delightful. I can't wait to have this again at some point. It might be called blood sausage but it doesn't taste like blood. It was fragrant and full of flavour. One little bruschetta was the perfect portion size. 
I can't compare it to black pudding as I've never tried it. Believe it or not, I've never had the guts. But after this, I would definitely try it!

There are lots of other things that I've tried since I've been here but didn't take a photo of. 

Like the family's rabbit rice. "The best rabbit rice in the world!" as quoted from everyone. It was delicious, delicately flavoured with herbs and spices which turned the rice yellow. It was also my first time eating rabbit. It didn't have a strong taste, but it was very tender.

A very famous dish here is gazpacho which is a cold veggie soup made with tomatoes, cucumbers and other things. The family make it often and it's the perfect refreshment for a hot sweaty day.
Special to Cordoba and this region of Spain is Salmorejo, which is a thick version of gazpacho often added to other things such as tortilla patatas or sometimes just dipped with bread, crisps and whatever else you can get your hands on! It's very popular in the house and cries of happiness are always heard when it's made. 

With so much delicious food and olive oil, I don't know how the women here stay so slim!