Road trip to Córdoba

I can describe the first night here in one word. Cold. Two layers and lots of blankets won’t be enough for tonight.

After getting out of the cold bed we got ready in the cold bathroom and then ate breakfast in the cold dining room. The apartment is on the sixth floor of a complex on a mountain so we are pretty high up. The wind is so loud and strong that it constantly rattles the windows. It kind of freaks me out. Today we had a typical European breakfast of sandwiches and pastries. It was all very delicious. We then got in the tiny car and drove for two hours to Córdoba. I slept for about 95% of the drive so I missed most of the olive tree groves that Maria got to see. The car has this cool feature where it beeps when he reaches the cars maximum speed which is 125kmph (about 77mph). It beeped a lot and it is really funny because Alonso yells at the car to keep going every time it happens.  The funniest thing is that they listened to heavy metal in the car!!

Córdoba has both Roman and Islamic influences and is very beautiful. We walked around on the small cobblestone roads and did some shopping. I love how all of the roads are paved differently and how some have designs. They also have a lot of orange trees all around the town. We happened to be there on the day of a parade and we got to see lots of dressed up horses with their riders dressed in old fashioned traditional Spanish outfits.

 After a very large lunch we got to tour The Cathedral of Córdoba. Mass is held here every day and then it is open for tours in the afternoon. It was originally the San Vicente Basilica but it was destroyed during the Islamic period in order to build a Mosque. In 1236 King Ferdinand III reconquered Córdoba bringing back Christianity. The Christians were eager to take back their sacred place and they built their Cathedral within the existing Mosque. I was very beautiful with lot of columns and arches. The Alter was very large and intricate and there were plaques built into the floor. You can read more about it at www.catedraldecordoba.es if you want.

Next we went to a museum at the Torre De La Calahorra. We took an audio tour and mine was in English. This was very exciting for me since nothing has been in English including all of our conversations. The tour was about the history of Córdoba and we went from room to room. Each room had realistic dioramas of people, instruments, and buildings. We also got to go on the roof and see Córdoba from above. On our way back down from the roof we took a pit stop at the bathroom. This was quite an experience because when you open a door to a bathroom you expect to see the bathroom. Instead there was a stairwell that went down. It went down for a lot longer than I expected and the stairwell ended with a tiny one stalled bathroom that Maria liked the smell of. You can read more about the Torre De La Calahorra at www.torrecalahorra.com if you would like. At this point it warmed up for about an hour and I got to take off three of my layers.

We left Córdoba and drove to a small town called Archidona where we stopped for drinks. The place we went to looked like a cave inside and was very dark. I got some hot tea and the teabag came in a tiny box about an inch high. I thought that was very cool so I kept the box. The rest of the drive back to Malaga was up and down twisty mountain roads and I had to get my sea bands out. It was a very beautiful drive and I managed to stay awake for most of it.



Normal dinner time in Spain is 9pm.
This very different from the 6pm dinner I have in Gainesville and by the time we sat down to eat I was very hungry. Maria and I got to help cook a little bit which was fun. For dinner we had salad and pasta with pesto and of course wine. This time we approved of the wine. It was made in Malaga and it is a little sweet and not too strong. Just the way Maria and I like it. For desert we had figs and cheese and some left over pastries from breakfast. Everything was very delicious.



Tonight Maria and I came to the conclusion that Alonso is an older version of Armando. It’s the way he smiles and he tells jokes with a straight face. He also tells the same kinds of jokes. Seeing the resemblance makes it even funnier.


We have a very exciting outing planed for tomorrow that I can’t wait to write about!

Like my cliff hanger ending?  

 

 

Welcome to Malaga

The logical thing to do after being awake for 34 hours is to go to sleep but instead I’m writing this blog post to update you on our very long and very exciting journey to Malaga and our first 11 hours here. The question of the day is how many Taylor Swift song lyrics I can logically use in one blog post. We’re about to find out.

GRAB YOUR PASSPORT AND MY HAND

Maria and I met in the Miami Airport Friday to begin our long trek across the pond. The flight was completely packed and the plane was huge. It was an interesting adventure to say the least. We had the kind of turbulence that makes you think of the television show Lost. Needless to say my stomach dropped a few times and Maria and I exchanged many worried glances. Sleep was next to impossible for me due to the fact that the airline provides only enough leg room for one of Willy Wonka’s Oompa Loompa’s so I chose to enjoy some of the free inflight entertainment. I got to watch The Intern and Date Night. I laughed so hard at The Intern that I received some strange looks. I spent the rest of the 8 hour flight listening to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice occasionally drifting off into a light uncomfortable sleep. Maria chose not to take advantage of the free inflight entertainment and got some good sleep. We managed to make a friend who was also connecting to Malaga so we decided that once we landed we should follow her since we only had 20 minutes to go through customs, security, and go across the airport to our next gate and board. We were convinced we weren’t making that flight.

WELCOME TO NEW YORK MADRID, IT’S BEEN WAITING FOR YOU

People were actually waiting for us. Airport staff was waiting to give us bright orange express passes so that we could skip the lines in customs and security. The security guy at customs didn’t say one word to me. I thought that was weird. Maria’s guy asked her questions. My security guy probably looked at me and said I’m not talking to this American. At security the machine went off on me and I had to get patted down and Maria forgot to take her iPad out of her bag and had to go through the security line again. The extra time we took in security canceled out the time we saved with the express passes so we sprinted through the airport to get to our gate in time. We are hoping we were at a really high altitude because that run really wore us out. We made it in time and got to take the short trip to Malaga with a plane full of crying children. Good thing they were cute. It was on this flight that we got to see the Mediterranean Sea and Malaga from the sky for the first time.

I CAN SHOW YOU INCREDIBLE THINGS

Malaga is located on the water and it is a very beautiful city. Alonso, Maria’s family friend, picked us up from the airport and drove us though the city in his tiny car to his apartment. After settling in for about two minutes we were off again for a walking tour of the city. Our first meal in Malaga was hot chocolate and churros. Yummy! We continued walking around the city and Alonso stopped at a bar so that Maria and I could try some Spanish wine. We aren’t big fans… We were big fans of the Roman Amphitheater that we got to see. We did lots of window shopping and listened to street musicians. We then went back home to have some down time. That didn’t last long and within 15 minutes we were on our way to pick up Clara, Alonso’s wife, from work. We all went out to lunch together where we ate way too much food. It was lots of meats and bread and of course, more wine. We still aren’t fans.

ITS GETTING COLD, I’VE GOT MY BIG COAT ON

After calling home and checking in we got very bundled up for our final adventure of the evening. When I say bundled up I mean yoga pants, jeans, two pairs of socks (one pair fleece lined), 

6 layers on top, ear muffs, boots, and gloves. Sounds like it was below freezing and snowing doesn’t it? Nope, I’m just a Floridian. According to my weather app it was 48 degrees Fahrenheit with 14 mph winds that made it feel like 43. Trust me, it was cold. This time we went out again walking in the city. We did some more window shopping and lots of shivering. Our favorite part of the night was when we went Teteria, where we got delicious Moroccan Mint tea and a Nutella and banana crepe. We ended up taking the taxi home because it was so cold. 

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN

This was said a lot today due to our severe jet lag. I kept falling asleep at the table or in the car and I kept getting friendly reminders to keep my eyes open because it wasn’t time to go to sleep yet. Our word of the day is Friturday. This is because our Friday and Saturday were not separate so since the days were combined we combined the words as well.

I WISH YOU WERE RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW

Although we are having a blast we miss our family and friends and we wish that others were here with us having this amazing adventure.

In case you didn’t count, I successfully used 6 different lines from Taylor Swift songs in this post.

We are signing off at midnight here and we hope that you have a good rest of whatever day it is for you.

Introduction

Hi Everyone,

I am leaving for Spain on Friday for Spring Break! While I am there I will be posting summaries of my day and pictures to keep you updated on my adventures. I am very excited about this trip as well as getting to share my stories with you! Feel free to leave comments or questions!