of 30 years

Yesterday we woke up a little more slowly and then had breakfast. Coffee has been kind of a nightmare the last few days. Thee is a shitty machine at the hotel we were staying. Pretty much a bunch of buttons. Sometimes you get water, sometimes you get milk, you may get lucky and get some bad, bitter coffee mixed in. That has been great fun for me, since ya know, I barely drink coffee (not). 

We headed to the Madrid airport and picked up our car. I am going to skip the part where I talk about how obnoxious my dad was, and jump to the part where we were skipping past La Mancha de Quijote!!!! We drove past windmills, castles, olive fields, and many many beautiful hills.

We stopped an hour south of Madrid, in Toledo. It is a town made of dreams! What a picturesque place! It is a bunch of little hills, tiny streets, brick buildings, cobble stone. I fell in love with it. Unfortunately the Alcazar is closed on Wednesdays (wtf?) but the Cathedral is open daily. We paid 8 euros for the audio tour, and boy was it worth it!! It really is one of the most impressive churches I have ever laid eyes on. What a magnificent work of architecture. I don't really think words, or even pictures, do it justice. It's like the Vatican: you have to see it to understand the grandeur. After marveling over the beautiful cathedral, we walked around town for a bit. Then we headed out of Toledo and in to our next adventure, Cordoba!

We stopped on the way at a government run truck stop for some sandwiches, called bocadillos. Our server and bartender happened to be from Colombia. We talked to her for a long time about the safety, unsafety and issues with being from Central America. It was nice to connect with some that, like us, had left their country for a better future. 

We drove another hour and fifteen minutes and arrived in Cordoba. Not going to lie, it is run down. It reminds me a lot of Panama. We stopped at a Carrefour, a large big box store that we used to shop at when we lived in Mexico. The prices were unbelievable, compared to the insane prices in Madrid. We bought some fruit - which we have yet to have since we arrived in Spain and stocked up on lotion and shampoo. We left the store and arrived at our hotel. Even though it is a four star hotel, the location is not prime. We are in the south of the city, and past the bridges leading to the historic center. We asked our front desk guy about the typical dishes, and he gave us directions to a nearby delicious restaurant. We walked. We walked and walked. We came to get the car and drove. And drove. And no sign of this magical restaurant. Finally we ended up at a McDonald's. We had dinner at 10 pm. It was the first Big Mac I have had in many many many years. Then we drive back to the hotel and I had the most restless night since we left the US. There was some sort of leak. All I could hear was the click click click of the water dripping. I was wide eyed at 4 am and texting my brother about the fires. It was a horrible night. 

Today we woke up to FRUIT at our buffet table!!! Watermelon! Honeydew melon!! Oranges!! A WORKING coffee machine that made good coffee!!! Oh the greatness of a four star hotel. Thank goodness!!! We are now packing up and heading to the historic center for some amazing sightseeing and then we shall be on our way to Granada. 

Cheers!!!