Juan Carlos I Park

Yay!! We finally had an uneventful travel day. This time around, it was an easy 10 minute walk to the Madrid train station. It’s surprising how quick things go when you know where you are going. I even had time to go back to Customer Service to see if they had found John’s e-reader and there it was! We had a 10 am ticket for our journey to Córdoba, 400 km south, which took us 1 3/4 hours on the speedy train. Our first impressions of Córdoba were positive as we walked along streets lined with orange trees, what looked like maple trees, and palm trees. It was sunny and 14 degrees. Our hotel, the Eurostars Palace, was a 20 minute walk and conveniently located to all the sites. It wasn’t a palace at all but a very modern 4* hotel with an unusual glass shower and tub combo (2 shower heads and the water just drained through the floor).

We went across the street to the old town, entering through a gate in the wall built by the Romans in the 12th century. We had the best tapa lunch at Casa Rubio where we discovered our new favourite tapa, lightly battered aubergine deep fried and drizzled with cane syrup, a Córdoban specialty. John was tired and went back to the hotel to rest. I explored the old town, the new town, and the Jewish Quarter. It was all very fascinating with narrow streets and hordes of people. This city is known for it’s patios, where the homeowner will leave their heavy wooden entrance door ajar so that you can enter to admire their landscaped patio. Before heading back to the hotel I decided to find a supermarket so that I could pick up wine, water and Coke Zero for John, all the essential food groups. Afterwards I got disoriented with all the twists and turns I encountered in the old town as it definitely was not built on a traditional grid system. My map app was useless so it took me nearly an hour to find my way through the maze to the gate, one of 7, where we had entered. It was very frustrating as my shopping bag was heavy, it was dark, and it had started to rain. My fitness tracker reported that I had walked over 10,000 steps or nearly 10 km. Now I needed a nap!

We had a light dinner at a nearby place called Victoria Mercado. It was similar to the food booth area at the Forks, only larger, with a good variety of restaurants to choose from. Although it was late on a Wednesday evening the place was packed with locals. The Spanish people seem to love eating, drinking and having a good time with friends or family, any day of the week.Læs mere