Cordoba

I went to bed at about midnight on Friday. I was nervous because the bus connection with the train was a little iffy and I wanted to make sure it was going to be ok. If I missed the connection I wouldn't get to the bus station on time. i went to bed a little anxious, but excited for the trip.

On Saturaday I woke up at 5:45a. I had laid out my clothes and bag the night before so I was all set to go. I got dressed and checked the bus times again. I chose to trust the schedule and prayed that everything would run smoothly. After breakfast I walked to the busstop. My bus came right on time and dropped me near the train station. The train came 15min later then my schedule said that it would, and I hoped it would be ok. As it was Jenny and I had planned to meet at the bus station 30min before we were scheduled to depart. The train ride was uneventful. I then took one metro and transferred to another metro. It wasn't until my ride home that I found out I could have taken the train all the way to the bus station, but at least now I know. When I go to the station I found Jenny without too much trouble. We found our bus and had the seats in the very front row.

For the first few hours of the bus ride Jenny and I chatted. We always have plenty to talk about. Teaching (she teaching enlish to 2-5year olds), traveling, grad school ideas... After a while we started chatting with the bus driver. Edit: Jenny started chatting with the bus driver. He was a young good looking Spanish guy from Cordoba. He kept telling Jenny not to translate for me or I wouldn't never learn Spanish. The two of them talked some and I tried to follow the conversation. The 5 hour bus ride went very quickly. Before we knew it we were in Madrid and it was about 2pm.

We found a map from a car rental place and started walking towards our hostel. Of course, being the blonde that I am, I forgot my paper with the hostel address and directions. Luckily I remembered the name of the street it was on and the general vicinity of it. Once we got a map I found it no problem. As we made our way through the streets we got our first taste of the city. It was great. It was warm and sunny. There weren't too many people or traffic. The buildings were old but in good repair. The hostel was about a mile from the bus station. We made it quickly and easily

Once we found the hostel we set our bags down and locked up some things. We were sharing our room with two other people, but they weren't there. We took off walking and pretty much walked all day. We found the mosque, some Roman ruins, and other miscellanious sites. We got back to the hostel around 11p. We were exhausted. Our roommates were there and they were great. Alex, a girl from New Zealand and a British guy. Both were young (18ish) and taught English in southern Spain. They were funny. We all had a nice chat, then crashed out.

In the morning, our bunkmates headed off for the bus station and Jenny and I rolled down to breakfast. We had juice, cereal, and toast. Then we went back up to our beds and relaxed, chatting until till it was checkout time. At noon we headed out to explore more of the city. We found the Alcazar de los Reyes Christianos (the Palace of the Christian Kings). It was beautiful, like an oasis. The views from the castle towers were great and the garden was gorgeous. We had lunch at Plaza de la Corredera and then headed back to our hostel.

Our bus left for Madrid at 6pm. The ride was a bit longer than the first one (or maybe it just felt like it). Jenny and I chatted some more, practiced my spanish, and slept off and on. Once back in Madrid I took a train from the bus station to Tres Cantos then walked the 30 minutes home. When I got home I was happy to get off my feet and get into bed.

I will get pictures up as soon as I can.