I've just returned from a mini-break in the South of Spain: a day in Malaga and two days in Cordoba. I especially arranged the trip in order to meet my Venezuelan friends, who had decamped from Salou last year, and an ex-RAuxAF friend who lives deep in the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas a couple of hours from Cordoba. It was really great to see everybody.
I stayed airbnb in the outskirts of Malaga in very recently built student accommodation. Here is the picture that Google maps shows of the place. I can report it has now been completed. The ads for the place offer mini-studios to students from 589 Euros a month. That seems a lot to me, but what do I know about the value of money these days.
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My hosts collected me from the accommodation and drove me to their house, where the barbecue was heating up ready. They wined and dined me right royally and then drove me to the station at Malaga to catch my train to Cordoba. Their hospitality was very much appreciated, even though I got told off for not spending Saturday night with them.
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Cordoba. What a lovely little city - cathedrals, city walls, narrow pedestrianised streets. I did my exploring first thing in the morning before it got too hot. Andalucia was suffering from a heatwave and the temperature away from the coast was nudging +46 in the hottest part of the day. When I got off the train on Sunday afternoon and stepped into the sultry heat it reminded me of my time in Iraq - not a time I fondly remember. A 15-minute walk to my hotel in the centre of town and then hide away in my air-conditioned room until the relative cool of the early evening. It was still 40 degrees at 8pm. I was lucky enough to find somewhere nice selling food at the time I wanted to eat (7pm). Rare in Spain.
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On Monday I met my pal, Howard, who had driven in from his hideout in the mountains to meet me (in Burger King 😀 ). I don't understand why I was looking old and he hadn't changed a bit. It was good to catch up and talk over old times and plans for the future. If you know him, and you're planning to write to him sometime soon, please don't mention this visit. I've not been on Karen's Christmas card list ever since I sent a certain student to stay with them for a few days and said student wasn't perhaps as polite and well-behaved as he ought to have been. So I'm a bit like J K Rowling's Voldemort. My name isn't mentioned in their household and Howard somehow forgot to mention my visit.
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To sum up, quite a bit of money and time travelling to Andalucia and back but worth every penny (or cent) to renew, and consolidate, valued friendships.
I would certainly plan to visit Cordoba again, perhaps when the temperature is not so high. Maybe include Granada or Seville next time too.
No more travelling now until next Monday!
