Thursday, April 30, 2015

April 30 - Córdoba to Cabra

I am using new iPad software to create my blog. The post from yesterday missed the first part of my trip which was pretty boring. It was not important. I tried to insert some photos without any luck. I looked at the Help function so that I could do it properly. Here is a photo that I took in the Mezquita that I tried to add yesterday.

Success!

I had an early breakfast this morning. Cindy and Jane showed up later. We decided to leave at 9:30. This gave me time to program our route into my GPS. A lot of good that did. Our objective each day is to follow the cycling route. When we started down the major highway, I knew that something was wrong with my GPS directions. We turned around at the first available off-ramp, retraced our route, turned off the GPS routing feature and began using the cycling route sheet. This led us onto some beautiful country roads. I am very jealous of our cyclists and frustrated that I cannot ride with them.

Towns that we passed were Santa Cruz, Fernan Nunez, La Ramba, Montalban de Córdoba and Montilla. We squeezed into a parking garage in Mantilla and went on a search for snacks. We found a small pastry shop and had some fat pills and coffee. Then we wandered down the main very narrow semi-pedestrian street to get a feel of the city. The street was lined with retail shops, banks and civic buildings. There were no tourist shops and no tourists other than us. When we saw Barry and Martha going past us, we turned around and walked back to the garage. The congenial attendant helped me pay at the machine and then directed us to the exit. It is not easy to maneuver our big car in compact spaces.

We drove our last leg to Cabra still following the cycling route sheet. Once in Cabra, I had to enter our hotel into the GPS or we would have been hopelessly lost. Our hotel is about 2km out of town. It is nestled in olive groves and has a beautiful garden and patio surrounding a nice swimming pool. The weather is perfect for a swim - sunny and warm.

Being lunch time, I went directly to the hotel's cafe. I ate a Spanish version of a club sandwich along with a large beer. Then I took it easy until Happy Hour.

We are now in a wine growing area. As a treat at Happy Hour, we had some of the Spanish version of sherry. It was a nice change from the normal beer and wine.

Dinner at 8:00 was another marathon of small courses, several of which we couldn't identify. It is now after 10:00 and I am ready to wind down for the day.

 

No comments: