02/20/23 I am almost disappointed…

that nothing went wrong on the first day of our trip.

Usually, there is a travel hiccup or the weather fails to cooperate or something else raises the tension level as we transition from travel planning mode to actual traveling. Those little adventures are easy to write about.

But nothing like that happened today.

The drive to Albuquerque was easy and the flight to Dallas was on time. After a short layover in Dallas, the flight to Madrid was one of the best flights we have been on in years. We had upgraded a half-step above economy and ended up in really comfortable seats with plenty of legroom. Service was good and even the food was palatable.

Our train from Madrid to Córdoba was comfortable and fast—sometimes reaching speeds in excess of 170 mph.

We are staying at Patio del Posadero, a small hotel, in Córdoba where we know the owners and were greeted like visiting family—in a good way, of course. The weather here was good today and we took a short walk in our shirtsleeves.  We even found the restaurant where we have dinner reservations this evening, so there is [almost] no chance we will get lost getting there.  We will leave for dinner soon, so I won’t even need to stay up late to complete our first trip post.

We ate at Bodegas Campos restaurant, which is a 5-minute walk from Posadero. The food is Córdoban /Andalucian traditional. We took our time and after about 2 hours we were nearly the last diners left. The waiter even helped me improve my Spanish.

As usual, we felt perfectly comfortable walking back on the small side streets. We have a full day tomorrow which includes not one, but two, visits to the Mezquita.