Day 81 - Córdoba - October 5

Day 81 - Córdoba - October 5

Well after a long day, I have arrived in Córdoba. It started of course in the morning, as most days do now. There was a time when my days began after moon, but that was long ago. I got up at 7am. I wanted to get some breakfast and get down to the Consigna and Renfe office, which fortunately are about fifteen feet from one another, as soon as they opened to try to straighten out this kerfuffal. The nice young woman who helped me check my bag when I first got to Santiago was there waiting for someone to come with the key. I told her what happened and that I remembered her saying they close at ten, but I guess it was different on Friday. She was surprised and said she hadn't said that. I believe her. She is a really nice person and liked the bears that first day. I must have misremembered it. 

When the person came with the key, she told them about my problem and even though they weren't open yet they went and got my laundry all nice and clean. Then I went to the Renfe office to check out solutions. I was afraid I would either have to stay in Santiago another night or go to Madrid today and get a room and then take a train to Córdoba tomorrow or Monday. Because in Spain all the schedules change on Saturdays and Sundays. In the meantime I would be paying for the hotel in Córdoba because it was too late to cancel. But luck was with me. There was an 11:50 train from Santiago to Madrid, but I had to change trains in Ourense (no big deal) and it wasn't an AVE which meant slower. But they had a train that would then get me from Madrid to Córdoba by 21:45 (9:45pm) Hot Dang!

While I was waiting for the Renfe office to open I saw Cheryl, Mary, and Aleida on their way to work. We chatted for a few minutes. Then all of a sudden I saw Maddie the Irish woman I met in Samos and then ran into at a café stop later. She was having knee problems then and I hadn't seen her since. I thought about her often and was hoping she made it to Santiago. She did! We traded emails and pictures. 

So I went back to the Monk House (a great place to stay by the way, right next to the Catedral) packed my suitcase up with my clean clothes. Then I went down to give Daniel the pants he had put in with my wash because he's going to London and wanted a clean pair of pants. He was still asleep when I knocked on his door. I guess he was woken in the middle of the night by the smell of cigarette smoke. You are not allowed to smoke in this building, but I guess one of the people on either side of him had decided this rule didn't apply to him or her. So they stood at the window and blew the smoke out the window and the smoke blew back through the open windows in Daniel's room woke him up and he didn't get back to sleep for a while. 

So I sat with him and chatted while he had breakfast, then took off for the train station. I got on the train, no problem. The transfer at Orense is a no brainer. You get off one train, walk two feet across the platform and get on another train. The train to Madrid went to the Chamartin station, but the train from Madrid to Córdoba left from the Atoche station. I'd never been in this situation before, but I knew you could get from one to the other on the Metro. I love Metros, they are so handy and convenient. But sometimes they involve changes cars which often involves going up and down a bunch of stairs. I had a back pack and a suitcase. But luck was with me again. Before I got off the train I heard that if you were on a long distance train, your ticket included the price of using the cercanicas to get around town. You just needed to go to the counter and get your ticket validated. That and a big schematic map on the floor that showed the cercanicas going to the Atoche station. So I went to the counter and got the validation and a little ticket. I always like validation. There were some confusing moments in this process. For one thing there were several trains that said Atocha. The was Atocha Pro Pio, Atocha this and Atocha that, but no Puerta Atocha. Secondly when I got off the train at Atocha, it was at a different place than I'd ever been at the station. But, with a few questions and the kindness of strangers, I made my way to the train to Córdoba.   

All the way on the trains today, the further south we went, the warmer it got. I arrived in Córdoba at 9:45pm and it was 26C which is 79F, balmy compared to Galicia right now. I got my room. It's really nice, small, but comfy. Well except the door doesn't seem to be able to lock from the outside and the curtains don't pull all the way across the sheer curtains and my room is off the patio. But, hey, you can't have everything. I'll find out about the lock in the morning.  

After I dropped my suitcase and back pack I went in search of nourishment. There is a little bar restaurant next door,

so I sat outside on the sidewalk and had a yummy ensalada mixta and coca cola light. There was a lovely yellow bird, canary I think in a cage on a stand between the tables. The bird serenaded me while I ate. 

Now I'm tucked in, ready to sleep a sound sleep.