This week begins in the Hotel Selu in Cordoba, Andalucia. I have gone for a short trip there to see the Patio Festival, where many households open up their homes' courtyards to visitors, who can admire their wonderful flower displays.
Monday, 9th May.
I woke up early after going to bed early last night. I have a shower, get dressed and go down for breakfast. It is a buffet-style breakfast, which is quite ordinary but there is plenty of it. I have a large breakfast as I don't know when I will be eating next. After a good breakfast, I head out around 10 am to look for some of the patio gardens.
I soon come across a homeless man playing the accordion, he is very good, so I leave him a tip and take a photo. I carry on walking and soon find a patio to look around. I take some photos and leave, looking for the next patio to look around. I walk through the winding streets of Cordoba and soon come across another patio to look around. This courtyard is different in that the home has three separate smaller courtyards to look at. It seems strange to walk through someone's home to get to an inner courtyard to look at their flowers. This home and gardens were beautiful I could see myself living here.
It took me about half an hour to find another patio to look around, but this one was not as big as the previous ones, and I continued to look around Cordoba. There were plenty of parks with cool shade, water fountains and places to sit and recover from my exertions. By about 1 pm, I hadn't found any more patios to look around, I had found a map of where the patios were but didn't know where I was on the map. I walked through a more run-down area and came out into a built-up industrial area near the river. Next to a busy roundabout, there is a beer tent. I sit down, get a beer and rest as, by now my feet and legs are aching.
I asked the man who served me my beer where I was on the map I had. He studies it carefully and then tells me that I have walked clear off the edge of the map and that I am about 3 km away from where I want to be but he did point me in the right direction. I finished my beer, got my breath back, and then headed off across the main road, where I followed the river back towards the historical centre of Cordoba. By about 3 pm I had finally found my way back to the hotel, I was shattered, and my legs were in a lot of pain so I went to bed for a few hours.
In the evening I went back out to find a nice restaurant for a meal. I found a nice restaurant called Casa Rubio and sat outside in the small cobbled street in the historic centre of Cordoba. The food was quite nice, and the service was good. I had a pork fillet, which the menu told me came from a pig that had only been fed on acorns. I hope the pig enjoyed the acorns. I enjoyed the pig. I had a glass of white wine with my meal to remember my mum. Today would have been her birthday if she had still been alive.
After my meal, I managed to get lost again for a short time. I found my way back and stopped at a nice ice cream parlour near the hotel. I asked for ice cream and water, but they did not sell drinks. The lady serving me handed me my ice cream and then disappeared, coming back quickly, she had got me a lovely cool glass of water. I must have looked rougher than I felt. I finally got back to the hotel at about 9 pm. My feet ached, my legs were like concrete pillars, and I was ready for bed. Before going to bed, I massaged some cream into my legs and I checked how many steps I had done on my extended walk. It turns out there was a reason my feet and legs ached. After being very sedentary for 6 months, I walked 16.5 km.
Tuesday, 10th May.
I slept very well last night but was awake by 7 am. I had a shower and went down to the dining hall for my breakfast. After eating my fill at the breakfast buffet I returned to my room for an hour or so before heading out to walk around the historic old town. I wanted to visit the Mosque of Cordoba or the Cathedral, as it is now.
I made my way down through the cobbled streets to the Cathedral and purchased a ticket, for 11€, to enter and look around. Before going in I sat down to rest my feet and ate an apple in the courtyard of the Cathedral. When I had eaten my apple, I went into the Cathedral. It was a fantastic building, the only one of its kind in the world. When the Mosque was taken over by the Catholics, instead of destroying it as normally happened, they kept it and built the Cathedral inside it. The stone arches inside are marvellous, and it seemed strange to see all of the Catholic relics, artwork and iconography now installed in the shell of a Mosque.
After leaving the Mosque, I walked to the side of the complex where my friend Bernard had told me there was a really good restaurant that had a great Menu del Dia. I sat outside the Casa Palacio Bandolero for a while just watching the world go by before heading in. I noticed several groups of people going in, only to come back out shortly after going in. I assumed they couldn't get a table as they were groups of around 10 to 12 people, but I could hear people complaining about not being able to go in. One Dutch tour guide was telling his group that he would not take anyone there again.
As I was on my own, I decided they might be able to seat me, so I walked in. I found a table straight away, and there were not that many people there. I sat waiting whilst the waiter served people around me, but completely ignored me. After about half an hour, he finally stopped and I asked for the Menu del Dia. He told me they didn't have it. When I queried this and asked if I could have the Menu del Dia again, I was told I couldn't because I wasn't Spanish before he quickly walked away and started to pour drinks at the bar. I'm proud to say that instead of causing a scene, I just left to find somewhere else to eat. Now I know why lots of people of all different nationalities were walking in and coming back out again. If this waiter or barman is there through the summer, the place will go bust.
I decided to go to the Mercado Victoria or Victorian market, where I had eaten before. I had some tapas and a quick beer before going back to an ice cream parlour near the hotel for ice cream. After sitting in the sun for a while, I went back to the hotel to sleep. This evening, when I woke, my legs were still very sore so I walked to a small cafe around the corner, got a couple of slices of pizza and ate them back in the hotel room before going to bed.
View my photos from the Cordoba Patio Festival.
Wednesday, 11th May.
I woke up early feeling a bit better after a good night's sleep. I went down for breakfast in the dining room, and as it was my last day I had Cava and orange juice with my breakfast. It is included with the buffet, so why not? After breakfast, I go back to my room. We only had a few hours before we left and I didn't want to do any more walking, so I just relaxed in a warm bath before getting ready to leave.
At 11:20 am, we all left the hotel, walked around the corner where we were picked up by the coach and started our drive home. We stopped off three times on the way back for comfort breaks and food. At around 6:15 pm, I am dropped off at the Arches in Los Narejos. I was going to get a taxi back to my apartment, but both the bars there were closed, and I couldn't ring a taxi as my phone wasn't working again. I began to walk back, pulling my case behind me, but my legs were stiff and sore after the previous days of walking and from being stuck on the coach for so long. My cousin Jill lives not too far away, so I stopped there. She invited me to rest and gave me a cool beer before driving me the last 2 km home in her car. Thank you, Jill.
Once again, I had an early night. It is nice to go away, but it is always nice to sleep in your own bed in your own home.
Thursday, 12th May.
I woke up early, had a shower, and then went to the Avatel telephone store again. My telephone worked for about 4 days before stopping again whilst I was in Cordoba. The phone works but it is getting no signal again, the only way I can connect to the internet or make calls is by logging in to a free WIFI connection. The girl in the shop takes my number from me and checks the number on the computer. Then she takes out my sim card and puts it in her phone, it works fine on her phone, and she puts it back in mine. Amazingly, it worked fine again.
I get a few bits of shopping then go home, where I spend the rest of the day editing the photos I have taken in Cordoba and working on my website. This evening I intend to watch the Tottenham v Arsenal football match. At the start of the game, it was all Arsenal, but then, I´m not sure why, Tottenham got a penalty and went one-nil in front. By half time Arsenal have had a man sent off and are another goal down.
I then sat with my laptop, editing my website during the second half of the game. I get so caught up in what I am doing that I don't see Tottenham score the third goal and only look up to see the final result, Tottenham 3, Arsenal 0. A terrible result is made worse by several more injuries, meaning Arsenal will struggle to field a strong defence in their last two remaining games.
I finally switch off my laptop and go to bed at about midnight.
Friday, 13th May.
I packed up the parcels I have to return to Amazon this morning. A toilet seat with the wrong fittings and two pairs of shorts that don't fit. I take them to the Correos on my disability scooter. I am disappointed when I get there to find that the only person working is the old dragon that delights in being difficult for anyone. I join the back of the queue. The lady in front of me, a Spanish lady, is having real problems with the dragon, and she seems to be taking forever to do what the lady asks. Luckily for me, one of the nice ladies that work there comes out to help serve the people in the now growing queue, even better for me, I am first up and won't have to be seen by the dragon.
My parcels are soon checked in and sent back to Amazon. I leave Correos and then go to the pharmacy to get more drugs. As well as my normal tablets, I got a small bottle of alcohol rub, which a lady I sat next to at breakfast in Cordoba recommended for my leg. When I left the pharmacy, I stopped at a picture framing shop near where I live. A while ago I was given a large canvas of my favourite golfer, Tiger Woods, by a lady I know who didn't want it. Unfortunately, it had a warped frame and hung crooked on the wall. After being told by the girl who works in the shop that she would have to see it before telling me if they could repair it. I went home, picked up the picture and took it back to the shop. I was delighted when she told me it could be fixed, will cost around 20€ and can be picked back up next week.
I then go to my local supermarket for some milk before I head home and start working on my website and photos once again.
Saturday, 14th May.
I am awake at about 6:45 this morning. I get myself a coffee before putting on some washing, I always do it at the weekend as the electricity is cheaper. When my clothes have finished, I then strip the linen from my bed ready to stick it in the washing machine.
At 10 am I walk to the town hall where I am leaving to go on a Cultural tour of Los Alcázares. I get there early so stop next door at the El Parrillero Grill house for a coffee and tostada. As I finish my breakfast the train pulls up and my friend Bob, who owns the train, gets off it and comes to talk to me. At 11 am I get on the back of the train and take the small tour.
The tour was run by the local town hall and after living here for a total of 10 years, I still found out a few things I didn't know. We stop off at a few places around the town where we are told about some of Los Alcázare's history. After the tour, my friend Bob, the tour bus driver, gave me a lift home. Mid-afternoon Bob came back to my house with his barber's hat on and gave me a haircut, everyone needs a friend like Bob.
This evening I walked the short distance to the main road so that I could watch this year's Carnival parade go past. It did take a long time. Because of the slow speed they move, it takes around 2 hours for a fairly small parade to go past. That said, it was very good and I got some great photos.
I was going to go out tonight but after all of today's excitement I have worn myself out and I instead collapse on the sofa and spend the night watching the Eurovision song contest. I think before it started everybody knew that Ukraine would win, purely because of the attack on them by that psychopath Vladimir Putin and the Russian war machine. It was great to see The UK entry, Sam Ryder's Space Man, get 2nd place, I think in another year it would have won it easily.
Sunday, 15th May.
Today I woke early, settled at the computer and worked on my website all morning. At lunchtime, I set off for Roda on my disability scooter and went to Campbell's bar for Sunday lunch. It is my favourite place to go for Sunday lunch and this week I had roast lamb with all the trimmings, it was beautiful.
On my way home from lunch, I stopped off at Aldis and got myself a small pot of my favourite ice cream, pecan flavour. Once home I settled on the sofa for a few hours, eating my ice cream and watching rubbish on the television.
This evening I walked to La Playa bar to listen to Diana sing. Unfortunately, she has been unwell and was unable to sing so after a swift pint I went home. I did learn that a friend of mine had been mugged this week. Two Spanish gipsies mugged him after asking him for a cigarette in the afternoon. On my way home I stopped at the chirringuito near me for a drink. I was having my drink and the lady that runs it was telling me that they had been broken into after only opening back up two days ago. They lost all the bottled spirits from the top shelf and a few other bits and pieces that were in the bar.
I have heard that the police have caught one person for robbery this week. I hope that they catch all of the dirty miserable bastards that prey on people, their homes and their workplaces, lock them up in a crate, weigh it down and take it out to the Mediterranean Sea, and dump the crate over the side in deep water. Preferably filming it and posting it on social media as a warning to other potential dirty thieving bastards who think it is okay to do this.