Wednesday March 23- Fallafel Row

This morning we woke up with a definite plan to put in action...a nice change of pace from yesterday. We showered, had our free breakfast and repacked as usual. We have all our clothes in what is essentially a giant ziplock bag. This keeps everything organized but also air tight to save us room. Well Jennys bag got a hole and is now totally ripped, so packing her stuff is not exactly an easy task. It's funny because these backpacks look huge on us, but they really don't hold too much. The 3 juniors at Vanderbilt that were in our dorm had Kelly green with envy this morning as they threw on cute outfits and stuffed the rest into suitcases. One thing we do know is our closets will seem like the mall when we get home!

We briefly considered going to Cadiz for a night to enjoy the beach, but we already booked a hostel in Granada for tonight so no such luck. We said farewell to our adorable new Scottish girlfriend and hopped on a bus to the train station. 2 tickets later we were on a one hour train to Cordoba for the day.

At this station we reserved our tickets for a 7:00 train to Granada, and stashed our bags in lockers at the bus station across the street. Cordoba is a really cool town, still a city but we found our way to the old city area for some sightseeing. Within 30 or so minutes we stumbled upon Alcazar de Los Reyes Cristianos... We didn't know anything about this (and still don't to be honest) but it was free and pretty so in we went. It was amazing! An old castle and fort from the 12th century with gorgeous sprawling gardens. We walked up to the top, over looking mountains and ruins and through the gardens full of calla lilies, fountains, statues and what Kelly calls Edward scissorhand trees. Jenny decided this was her favorite spot... Ever. We stayed in there for a long time until we had worked up an appetite. It was siesta time so lots of spots had closed but we found cheap ham and cheese empanadas and ate them on the steps of another huge sight, the Mezquita-Cathedral. We walked through this patio but didn't have time or money to go in. The moorish architecture of the building alone is a sure sign it's a beautiful landmark. We strolled back towards our train, stopping to buy fruit and look around a market in a park full of families. We made it back for our train and we were (drumroll here) early!!! Are we getting better at this? (shh don't jinx it)

We made our way off a train, to a bus (in the rain) and our nice but Spanish correcting bus driver took us where we needed to be. From there we winded down an Arabic tea street/alley as our directions suggested. Finally a nice Italian guy pointed us in the right direction, when that didn't work he just walked us here. The hostel is full of people and is similar to our other oasis hostel but more lively and vibey. We used our free drink cards for sangria and met the manager, a Parisian guy in the bar, where incense is burning and peoples quotes line the chalk wall. "together for japan" is a great example.

We started talking to a guy from New Mexico who is working here and decided to let him show us a good spot down the street for late night tapas and cervezas. Great choice... Our little sandwhiches didn't fill up these hungry hippos though, so he then took us down the street of fallafels. Neither of us have ever had a fallafel and let us just say... Yum! We ran into jays (new Mexico guy) pals, the parisian and another french guy who led tonights tapa tour which we skipped. We left them out and headed home. As we sat in the lobby chowing down and Jenny talked to her mama, they came back also. Kelly and Luco the southern French guy here studying flamenco guitar had a long chat. Neither of who could understand each other but she was able to demonstrate how she burns toast. Skills. 3 cities, 1 day? Yep... Bedtime.