Santa Cruz to Córdoba 22km

I was awake early, long beofre the bar downstairs was open. It seems to be a popular stopping place for folk to get some breakfast on their way to work. We got up slightly later than normal, there was no need to rush as we were going to get the bus into Cordóba, and we had plenty of time, so we went downstairs for breakfast.

The bus was late but the bus stop was practically right outside the bar. It didn't take long for a queue to form, some people going to work in the city and some who looked like they were on a shopping trip. The bus was incredibly cheap €2.10 for a journey over 20km, it would have cost significantly more for the same length of journey back home. It felt like we had only been on the bus for 15 minutes when we arrived in the city.

The Post Office was just 10 minutes walk from the bus station, but it took a while to get all the paperwork done. If you are sending an international parcel they need a sender's address in Spain, of course I didn't have one, and I was staying in a different place each day. So they put the address of the Post Office in Cordóba and the computerised system was happy with that. It cost me €37 but it also took almost 2kilos out of my bag.

We walked through the city to our hostal, stopping at a cash machine on the way. Google Maps is quite useless at times but we got there eventually. The owner greeted us with a cold glass of very freshly squeezed orange juice. I am allergic to orange, it makes me itch but it would have been rude to refuse, so I drank it all and made a note to take an extra antihistamine as soon as I could.

The room was ok, but not really worth the €70 we paid for it, but it was all about location. we were only 2 minutes walk from the Mezquita, and there were plenty of taxis. I had found an independent outdoor store, but it was on the opposite side of the city and we did not have time to work out the public transport if we were going to visit the Mezquita as well. So, I splashed the cash on a taxi. The shop was small but very well stocked, they had Scarpa, Salomon, LaSportiva and Merrell as well as other top brands - never buy cheap hiking shoes for a camino. I had read some positive reviews of the Merrell Moab3, and they had a pair in my size, The staff were really great, and made sure that they fit me properly, and the bonus was they cost about £50 less than I could have bought them for in the UK. The only problem was that I would have to wear them in live on the camino - with the expectation of blisters as a result. However, I believe that acceptance is the key to happiness and I had a full blister kit in my first aid pack. The owner called for a taxi for us, and we were soon back at the Hostal with plenty of time to visit the Mesquita.

You had to book tickets online, so Ken did that on his phone, and in we went. It was amazing, everything I had hoped it would be and more. I was astounded to be able to get quite a few pictures with no people in them, it was very busy - there was also a festival of some kind on all week. As well as being a major tourist attraction, it is also a working church, and in fact there was a service on whilst we were there. It was a bucket list moment for me. I had wanted to visit it for most of my adult life and I never imagined that I ever would, and I was so glad we did. I was glad to to be able to share the moment with my friend Ken.

Since we were in the city we decided not have a menu del dia and went for an Italian meal. It was without doubt the worst Italian meal I have ever eaten. In fact, it was so bad that I promised Ken that on our last night together in Merida, I would buy him an Italian meal at a proper Italian restaurant. After dinner we went in search of supplies for tomorrow, and then it was time for bed.Læs mere