Hi All,
Travelled to Madrid via Cordoba using bus. We have found that it is significantly cheaper than using the rail system.
Decided that we weren’t going to stay at Cordoba so had to store our backpacks somewhere but where exactly to store them was the question? They are not exactly hand luggage. We opted for the lockers at the bus station but there was an obvious size difference immediately so one pack needed to be partially unpacked in order to almost fit and the other pack almost fit without unpacking BUT the fit was so tight that we could have used a shoe horn to lever both packs into place and then Vanessa had to sit on the ground, protecting her back, and place both feet firmly on the locker doors in turn to close each locker.
Cordoba another gem of a place. It was the capital of the moorish empire in Spain before the crusaders booted them out and had a fantastic example of Islamic architecture which has been described as the greatest visual representation of homesickness ever constructed and was in my view vandalised by the Christians who put a church right in the middle of it. Well before these two groups were the romans whose building ruins were built upon. There was an impressive well restored roman bridge over the river next to the citidel.
We are seeing something a little different in the fields of Spain besides the kilometre upon kilometres of olive groves, citrus trees and grapevines we are now seeing fields of wind farms and solar panels whose faces are reaching for and turning towards the sun. The occasional 10 metre black bull also stands proudly in fields by the edge of the road.
Off to a bad start with the vino (wine) from Spain. Hard to believe but a 0.88Euro/litre cask of wine certainly leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Maybe it is time to spend a few extra Euro and get something that doesn’t taste quite so unappealing!!!!!
Bus travel in Spain is thus far proving to be extremely civilized and certainly on par with the Chilean bus services which are probably better than we are use to in Australia. Shame on you Australian bus companies!!!!
We have noticed an abundance of Spanish beauties on the streets of Spain and it is quite apparent that they were definitely not standing at the back of the line when breasts and legs were being handed out. Fortunately for David it doesn’t require too much rapid neck movements and thus potential whiplash as there are not just the occasional beauty but many in every direction. Walking on the 15th and 16th century streets of Madrid is like turning the pages of a Vogue magazine. The locals both men and women are extremely stylish and elegant and the only blight on the scene is the average, low maintenance, tourist who stands out like a sore thumb. Much like the Madrilenos that live within the city, Madrid is a high maintenance city with the old stone buildings requiring ongoing maintenance and the many gardens and parks also needing tending. We the visitor however do visually appreciate the efforts that are being made. Madrid is reputedly far less elegant than Paris and Rome so we can’t wait to see what these cities have to offer
Open air art gallery in the streets of Madrid in the form of fibreglass cows designed and decorated by world renowned artists and designers.
We spent the first night in Madrid in a hostel that was supposed to be designed as a ‘dream hostel’ by an experienced backpacker. It was alright but lacking soul and was as expensive as a cheap hotel and full of messy young American ‘backpackers‘ who were also soul less. It did have a nice kitchen, helpful staff and checkerboard tile bathroom and we had the dorm room to ourselves.
We got on the internet and found a bargain room in a hotel which was on special. We wandered over and found that it was on a street full of hookers and smack bang on the diving street between the Madrid gay community and funky not quite yuppy community. Perfect. Next day we move in and found that it was a hidden gem which was two weeks post renovation with the savvy owner Ricardo giving excellent help. We negotiated the rest of the week apart from Saturday night for a better price than the hostel.
Bye,
David and Vanessa
