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27 April 1870 — Cordova | |
Wednesday. 27th [April 1870]. In the morng Giovanni informed us that the Burrs had arrived last night abt 11 having ridden from Gibraltar by Ronda quicker than they had expected. We breakfasted and then dressed to go out to the cathedral & the Governor came at that moment & so accompanied us & also Mrs Palmaroli’s friend. We were quite enchanted with the Cathedral & it is immensely striking as you get inside the walls to find yourself in a patio filled with fine orange trees, cypress & palms and in the midst an old Moorish tank—then on entering the building itself one finds oneself in a forest of columns supporting the Moorish arch that from want of bases look as if by some fairy touch they had all sprung up thro’ the floor. One can hardly believe oneself to be in a christian place of worship so much of the old Mosque remaining & so slight has been the alteration. We lingered there some time & then were going to the Academy when I felt tired & Mrs Burr brought me home leaving the others to go on after wh. Henry came & picked me up to go & call on the de la Vega de Armijos whom he had found last night at the Theatre. We found them in & they showed us their house which is rather a nice one & they arranged that they should come at 4 o’cl: to take us for a drive so we went back to the Hotel and sat quietly reading till they came to fetch us in an omnibus drawn by three mules. They drove us out of the town up the Sierra to their Huerta and we soon left the high road & found there was no road at all but we were going over ploughed ground between olive trees. However we got up very well to the Huerta where we got out & climbed up a little further thro’ oranges lemons pomegranates roses &c to the house. There were all manner of ferns growing nightingales singing & it was a most lovely spot with a view all over Cordova & beyond it & over all the country round. The house at the Huerta is not much more than a peasants cottage as the original villa had been destroyed by fire. After resting a little while we climbed still higher to a cave in the rock where the path terminated & where we found a table & chairs & some luncheon wh. had been brought in a basket & there we learnt that a surprise had been prepared for us—knowing that we wished to see some Spanish dancing the Marquis de la Vega had invited some very rich Gitanos who are also his constituents to come up to the Huerta & to dance & sing to us. It was very picturesque to watch them winding up the hills with their bright coloured shawls & flowers in their hair & to hear their voices laughing, shouting & singing & strumming the guitare– There were 3 girls & three older women, their mothers or chaperons & 2 or three youths besides a boy & girl of abt 8 or 9 & a first rate Spanish Andalusian singer named Roja. They were all given seats & refreshments handed & the boy & girl began by dancing then each of the women in turn. They danced very decorously & well with a curious movement from the hips but the most graceful thing was the movement of their head & arms. Mme de la Vega & I had a packet of almond sweets wh we threw by handfuls at the head of the dancer, as is the custom to express our delight. Roja also sang some Spanish airs very pathetically & by the shouts of delight & oft repeated “gracia” I conclude the words were very appropriate. Perpetual toasts were all the while going on—but only the married women drank the girls only wet their lips– However after putting it to their lips they handed us the glass to do likewise & to refuse this would be an insult. They were also immensely delighted with the cave as so much reminding them of their own habits & they cried out Vivà la duena! In the midst of it all the scene was immensely added to by the storm which grumbled in the distance & a few flashes of lightning & then it grew nearly dark being past 7 & we thought it was time to turn home so we bid them good night & went for our carriage. It appears that as soon as we had turned our backs the girls lost their shyness & one begged for a bottle of wine “For us two—all to ourselves” & their omnibus wh followed ours home resounded with singing & shouting which proved they had lost no time over the wine. The Vegas brought us back to the hotel & we then dined & recounted our adventures to the Burrs & then went early to bed. | |
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