Ceramic Shopping in La Rambla

How do I begin to explain the fun we had today?!!  This was one of my most favorite days I've spent in Spain so far.  I loved exploring the shops and seeing the artistry from shop to shop.  People are so creative and it makes me happy!

We found our way to La Rambla, which is about 30 minutes away from Cordoba.  We were a little turned around when we got to town, but we stopped at the city hall building and got headed to the right part of town.

Our first stop was Titi's shop. She has been here for a long time and she paints her own wares.  We were like kids in a candy store.  Their was so much to look at.  Pottery everywhere...on the walls, on shelves, stacked on the floor and displayed on tables.  It was overwhelming, but in an awesome way.

This is Titi.

Then we wandered down the street and saw a shop, but the door was behind a closed gate.  Well, Judy rang the bell and it turns out it wasn't a shop, it was a factory!  The best part is that the guy let us in!  I'm not sure this was normal opperating procedure, but he did it.  We walked through the studio and he let us buy from his stock.  He was so accomodating, but he's a wholesaler for big businesses.  That's why we were so unsure if we were really allowed in.  I think he let us in because it was off season and their were only 4 of us.  We didn't let him down...we purchased!

I loved this old man.  He was working by the door when we entered the factory.  He just smiled and went back to work.  He got a little embarrassed when I took his picture, but said he didn't mind.  I wanted to give him a kiss because he was so sweet.

These ladies were excited to have us watch them work.  They were very nice to us and Judy helped us chat with them a bit.

Cherly & Kris

This was my favorite stop.  I bought a few things from here and will definitely return again before I head back to the states.  The ceramics from this shop were absolutely gorgeous.

A few funny things happened today:

• this morning as we checked out of the hotel, Judy and I were almost detained by the cops!  I was nervous, but if I'm going to be arrested in a foreign country I'm happy to do it with Judy.  We'd have laughed the entire time.  The issue was that we didn't have our passports.  We were stupid not to bring them, but we just forgot.  You don't think about it, it's not like we were leaving the country, we live here!  They wouldn't accept our drivers liscense or military id, it was such a debacle.  Finally after almost an hour they let us go, but the cops had to put us into their computer and looks us up.  In the end it was totally lame-O!  Besides, it wasn't very nice of them to do this as we checked out.  It should have come up before we stayed the night and paid for our room...sometimes this country drives me nutz!
• We saw a woman begging for money.  She had her son in her lap, who looked lethargic.  This tugged on the heart strings of my mom and she gave the woman an entire fistful of change.  Later we saw the cops kick her out of the plaza.  Then, the following morning, as we were checking out, we saw her again.  This time we laughed because as we watched she had her son running around the plaza.  Then she called him over and he settled into her lap and "assumed the position".  We all rolled our eyes, and this time Judy gave the boy a pear instead of money.  
• At lunch time we were hungry...right, that's a no brainer.  We stopped at a roadside cafe.  When we entered we noticed that it was all men, no women.  I wondered if we were allowed.  It turns out we were, but they don't serve food during the work week, only beer.  Hilarious!  I hate to be their employer when they get back to work! 
• We bought too much stuff.  We filled the trunk with boxes.  Judy and Cheryl were separated with boxes in the back seat.  Had some on their laps and by their feet.  My Mom carried boxes on her lap as well.  We were a funny sight when we stopped for gas and had to move things around to get in and out.  Funny to see...But soooo worth it!