Markets and siestas

Yesterday, for the first time since my arrival in Córdoba, I left the historic district and entered the modern one. This was not too difficult, since it's about three streets from my house, which is right along the border.

My reason for leaving the familiar historic district was to visit El Arenal, Córdoba's Sunday market. I wound up getting a little lost (as I've mentioned before, Google Maps isn't the most effective thing ever in Spain) and arrived at the market at around 1:30, half an hour before the start of the siesta.

I was expecting a long street market like La Batte, the Belgian market that stretches on forever (I only succeeded in walking the length of La Batte twice in the two years I lived in Belgium). Instead, El Arenal was much smaller and square-shaped. The goods were more or less what I'd expected: fruits and vegetables of varying quality, pickled goods, intimates, and knockoff clothes. The one stand that really caught my attention sold pretty abstract paintings for prices as low as 15 Euros, but the thought of lugging a canvas back with me didn't appeal to me. I did not walk all the way around the market because I'd arrived so late-- I wanted to get back before siesta began.

Supposedly the crime rate is higher during the siesta, but that's not the real reason you should stay off the streets. The Spanish siesta isn't just a cute tradition, it's a necessity. In the morning, before 10, Córdoba is actually a little cool; you can get away with a very light jacket, although you'll regret it as the hours progress. But by noon the heat has really set in, and at 2 it's absolutely brutal. A twenty-minute walk, like the one ahead of me yesterday, feels like an hour.

The other reason it's a good idea to take a siesta is that Spanish people stay up really, really late. If you're living somewhere where noises from the street are audible, you have to adopt Spanish hours to a certain extent. Sufficient sleep demands an afternoon nap.