Seniors in Spain 2018: 7/23/2018-Valencia-Train to Cordoba, Eurostars Palace, exploring old town, pool, Plaza de las Tendillas, drinks at Gran Bar, dinner at La Tagliatella

Up early, packed, checked out, and taxi to JSO/Joaquin Sorolla train station by 7:00 AM. Decided to grab something quick for breakfast. McDonald's is right inside the train station. McCafe. Got coffee and a caramel muffin for myself and coffee and a sausage/egg McMuffin sandwich for Richard. Cost €8.90. Not bad. Booked our train tickets Valencia to Cordoba using Loco2 website back on 7/8/18. Cost $138.05 for the 2 of us. We are in coach 4, seats 9A and 9B. We leave Valencia at 8:07 AM and are scheduled to arrive in Cordoba at 11:19 AM. By 7:30 AM we are ready to line up for the train. The platform hasn't been posted yet. Around 7:40 AM we see that our train will be leaving from platform 4. The destination for this train is actually Sevilla but Cordoba is a stop. We locate our coach and are in our seats by 7:45 AM. I love the trains in that the seats are very comfortable with ample width and enough leg room for my long legged 6'2' husband. The seats have foot rests, tray tables. On the train is a coach where you can purchase food and drinks. There's a space on each coach where larger pieces of luggage can be stored. The overhead shelf is perfect for the smaller pieces like a carry on. There has always been enough room on the trains we've been on for all our luggage. It's a lovely, easy way to travel. These AVE trains are fast. We leave on time. For some reason I am able to take some decent pictures of this train journey. We arrive on time to Cordoba. I found an ATM machine and withdrew €300/351.68 USD. It took a little while but we eventually found the taxi area. We went out the main center door expecting taxis to be there like they had been in Barcelona and Valencia. However, here the taxi area was on the side of the station and not out front. Taxis are white in Cordoba. It was a very short taxi ride to our hotel. If it hadn't been so hot and we had known how close the hotel was we could have walked to it rolling our luggage.

Valencia JSO train station

Cafe con leche and caramel muffin

Cafe Americano and sausage/egg McMuffin

Our train tickets

Final destination for our train is Sevilla

The screen shows Cordoba as a stop

Sleek AVE train

We're in coach 4

Selfie

If we were driving to Cordoba this would most likely be the highway we'd take

Scenery along the way

These trains go fast!

Our stop

On time

Cordoba. Andalusia, southern Spain. Roman settlement, then colonized by Muslims. Mesquita-UNESCO World Heritage Site and currently in use as a Cathedral. Jewish Quarter. Highest summer temperatures in Spain.

Cordoba train station

It's so hot I'm tempted to jump in

Eurostars Palace. I booked this hotel on www.booking.com on 6/30/18 for 3 nights. 7/23-7/26/18. Breakfast included in the price. Cost for the 3 nights $400.50. Check in was a breeze and surprise-our room is ready even though we are here early! Great. However when we got to our room, #504, we see a king bed and not the 2 single beds I had requested. Back to reception. No problem. New room #224. It's the same as the other but has 2 beds. The room has the 2 beds, a small couch, desk, flat screen TV, mini fridge, safe inside the closet. Bathroom has upscale toiletries, separate shower, bath tub, hair dryer. The only negative is that there is no view to speak of. There is some sort of screen over the window. We do some unpacking and decide to explore the historic area which is just minutes across the street from our hotel. This hotel is in a great location.

Our hotel

Reception

Our room #224

Safe

Bathroom

Hair dryer

Nice toiletries

Separate tub and shower

2 beds, small couch

Desk, flat screen TV, mini fridge

Not much of a view 😞

Cordoba-old town. We see a long rectangular water area running along beside the old city walls. Statue of Seneca. The Puerta de Almodovar Gate. Some restaurants. Walking through some narrow streets. It is really hot-like being in an oven.

Statue of Seneca

Puerta de Almodovar Gate

After about an hour we head back to the hotel which has a pool and is what we want right now. The pool is on the roof top. It's long and narrow and there's hardly anybody else here. The water feels so good. It's nice to just chill out. There are some nice views of the city from the roof top.

Walking back to our hotel which is right across the street from old town

Hotel pool

View from the roof top of our hotel

This might be the Bell Tower/Mezquita

For dinner we are going to a place recommended by the hotel concierge. It's located in a different part of the city which is more modern-Plaza de las Tendillas. We walk slowly as it's 104˚F at 7:00 PM! This part of the city has lots of shops, restaurants/cafes, bars, some sights. The square has an Art Deco feel. The restaurant doesn't open until 8:30 PM so we decide to stop for a drink. Right by the square is Gran Bar. Tables outside but inside there's A/C so we sit at the bar. Ordered 2 glasses of vino tinto with soda. Dish of olives-yummy. Cost €4.

Parroquia de San Nicolas la Villa

Dinner-La Tagliatella. By now we head down a side street off the square to the restaurant. Appears to be a good sized place with all seating inside. We get a nice, roomy booth right away even though we have no reservation. If you're in the mood for Italian-pizza, pasta-this is the place. Drinks-2 glasses vino tinto/red wine. Another dish of olives. Richard orders pizza piccante-pizza with tomato, mozzarella, and spicy salami from Calabria. I have a yen for pasta. Pasta is homemade. You choose your pasta, then choose the sauce. Cool. I picked tagliatelle for my pasta and diavolo rosso for my sauce. This is spicy Calabrese Nduja, mushrooms, peas, and tomato. We shared our entrees with each other as there was no way I could eat the huge bowl of pasta I got. It was fantastic. Just the right amount of spiciness. The pizza was great too. This time the pizza crust was wafer thin. Different from the pizza we had in Barcelona but just as good. Cost without tip €30.80. We are finding that with the days being so hot and the lateness of the dinner hour we are eating less than what we've done for dinners on other trips. Walking slowly back to our hotel-it's still very hot-we spot a gelateria-David Rico. I just love the gelato/ice cream. Must have so we stop. Richard gets a small cone and I get a small cup. Cost €5.10. It's very good and a perfect way to end our dinner. It's nice to walk seeing the sights in this part of the city. We arrive back to our hotel around 10:15 PM. It's been a long day and we have plenty of sightseeing to do tomorrow!