On to Córdoba!

(This post was typed up on Tuesday, July 16, and published 17 July.)

I was so surprised…that driving down tiny European streets is terrifying (though I should’ve known, really).

Last night, Russ and I walked back down to the Plaza Mayor of Torrejón de Ardoz, where he had vino tinto con limón (red wine with lemon), and I had a Coke. I just needed the sweet sugar and caffeine to keep me awake for the walk back to the hotel.

After returning to the hotel around 1 am, we woke to find that it was already 10:30—way later than we meant to sleep in! After all, we had an appointment to retrieve our rental car at 9, and still had a 4-hour drive to make.

However, after showers and some bus managing, we made it to the airport, got our luggage back (yay!) and hopped in the rental on the way to Córdoba. After a quick stop at McDonald’s (we know, we know, but we wanted to hurry on to Córdoba!) for lunch, we were on our way.

It’s so interesting seeing the countryside of a completely different country. It seems almost like the US when you don’t see the buildings or the Spanish signs. Finally getting into Andalucía gave us views of the typical Spanish-style houses and buildings, small, white-washed towns hidden in the hills, and many giant, cardboard bulls. I couldn’t tell you why…haha

When we made it into Córdoba, we had a…difficult time, to say the least, navigating the streets to find our hotel. On the bright side, I found a fairly-priced, chic hotel in the middle of the city. On the downside, this meant navigating down tiny, one-car-width cobblestone streets. At one point, we literally had about two inches of space between each side-view mirror and a wall of stone. It was terrifying.

And Spaniards Do. Not. Move. They expect you to move for them. I don’t know what happens when they encounter each other in the street. Probably it just turns into Dr. Seuss’ The Zax, if you know that story. Or if you don’t look it up, I guess. haha

So, well, we eventually accidentally found the hotel and decided to park (for 15 euro extra) under the hotel—trust me, it was well worth it.

Once we finally had our stuff in the hotel and could move freely, we headed down to La Judería (or the Jewish Quarter), where beautiful, Moorish details dotted the traditional Spanish architecture. We spent a few hours wandering the streets, stopping to eat some tapas when we were hungry.

We had some delicious tapas that night, first trying some vino tinto con limon (red wine with lemon), which actually turned out to have some carbonated soda in it—delicious—before finding a tapas bar and picking a several to try. My favorites were the bull meat and croquettes. Seriously, don’t try to find good croquettes in the States—I did, and was sad to find that nothing compares to authentic Spanish croquettes. They’re probably one of my favorite foods, even though it’s mostly just fried mashed potatoes with meat. So good, though, trust me. And the toro meat was just as delicious—we scraped the dish clean. With these tapas, we may also have had another pitcher of sangria. I know, alcoholics. But that’s what Spaniards do! They drink wine a lot! Regardless, it’s our honeymoon and we’ll do what we want. :]

Soon after (about midnight or 1ish), we headed back to the hotel and are now ready to pass right out.

And in the morning, Sevilla! Buenas noches, amigos!