last stop, Cordoba

We stop for gas before turning off the main interstate because the

back road that we are taking to Cordoba seems less populated and I don’t want to take a chance of needing gas in the middle of nowhere.  We see a tower in the distance and decide that we could make another stop like the Elvas stop, but it turns out that we are in a tiny little whitewashed town with

 one way streets and a run down ancient (or medieval) we’re still not sure, tower that they’re renovating at some point through EU monies.  So, it must be something important, but it ain’t important enough yet to charge admission to it.  We continued on to Cordoba

and climbed some big mountains and came out the other side down a steep incline to Cordoba in the distance.  Nothing looks distinctive in the skyline, yet this is where the Great Mosque is which is the second most visited Moorish site in Spain behind Alhambra, 

 which is too far to drive to comfortably on this trip.  Again, I’m using Michener as a guidebook here.  John has booked us in another 4 star hotel tonite on hotels.com and I’m not sure why we are getting these awesome rooms for giveaway prices, but I like it.  I

 know that the travel season for Spain is July and August when actual Spaniards take their vacations, but why don’t I get better prices for a comfort inn in nowhere Kentucky, if I can book an awesome resort in Cordoba, Spain for nothing?  Beria, Kentucky ain’t got 

nothing much to talk about and it’s $69 for a night at the sleep inn there any time of year.  But I digress.  We get lost in the hills around Cordoba because the map is not very specific on exits out of roundabouts and this is a deficit in Google Maps for sure, because that’s all you have in Europe and it’s pretty freaking important which exit to take and there are no street signs

 in a roundabout.  So, we get lost, get found and finally make it to the resort where Oscar and I walk around and find a peacock, while John gets frustrated with check in, because this place is way too high class to be putting up with cheap hotel finders like us.  But

that’s just the desk staff, everyone else is very accommodating like at any resort.  We get to take some time in the pool and actually use the swimming suits that I lugged around thinking that we would be able to get in the ocean.  This was a nice little refresher after the Spanish sun

 and we got looks again for actually getting in the pool in the mild weather because it’s only 75 degrees or something….After the dip in the pool it is finally dinner time in Spain which starts at about 8:30pm.  God forbid you get hungry at a different time of day and I realize why McDonalds and other fast food places have made it here.  Because you can go in 24 hours a day and get anything on their menu.  We are told at 1pm that they’re not serving lunch yet at most places

 only cold things, dinner service doesn’t start until 8:30 and most eating establishments aren’t open in between, which is why tapas are so important at happy hour around here.  After a nice dinner out on the terrace of the resort and Oscar falling in love (and John a little too) 

 with the cute, young waitress that most likely has hair to her feet when it’s not braided on the top of her head, we have a good night’s sleep and start early the next morning.  We’re going to try to check in for the flight home and make sure that we are sitting together and that 

I have a bulkhead seat for Oscar to sit in my lap if we’re not sitting together.  I tried to do this before we left home, but because British Airways sold us the seat, but Iberia is running the plane, neither Iberia or British Airways could access the seating list before we left.  So, I’m stuck trying to call Iberia from the front desk because room phones don’t call out and I’m on hold for 30 minutes before I give up.  I tell John that we’re just going to take a chance that someone got something done in one of the previous phone calls and go see what we wanted to see in Cordoba.