It's The Weekend

And just like at home, we've slowed down a bit. Weekends in Europe are busy; tourists are in town (I mean besides us), locals are doing their shopping, kids are out of school...the city center is packed. So we've kept to the house. 

I've finally gotten through all the laundry - you have no idea how BIG this is. The w/d units here are all-in-ones. The tub is small and a load usually takes about 2.5 hours. The last load was five pairs of underwear, five pairs of socks, a bra, and four light-weight long-sleeved shirts. That's it. That's a huge load. They came out of the dryer just a bit damp because the load was so big. I DO miss my giant 2002 washing machine tub and enormous dryer.

I also miss my big kitchen. Yesterday we went out for lunch and discovered that many, many, many restaurants need reservations - even for lunch. We got seated without one (only because we got there early), and I sat there and watched numerous parties being turned away - but not without making a reservation for a couple of hours later. We immediately started looking for a reservation for dinner. No luck. 

I suggested we have a home-cooked meal. I mean, we've been eating out since December 27 with just two exceptions (and those were because we snacked all evening on jamon, bread, olives, and cheese). We hit the grocery store and came home with fixin's for sauteed chicken, tomato sauce, and penne.

First homemade meal in Spain.

This was my plan all along - to come here, stay in an apartment for three weeks and live like a local. We've been doing breakfast like that pretty much this entire trip - picking up small items from the store: coffee, milk, bread and butter. But the trip to the store for this meal was purposeful, and of course, I found just exactly what I needed (except for pepper, which was weird) - expertly trimmed chicken tenders, called solomillo de pollo, bagged penne, a jar of Barilla tomato sauce, and a bag of Parmesan cheese. I was going to do a veggie or a salad, but didn't want to get carried away. We bought a nice bottle of wine - that's a fruit, right? Our whole grocery bill was about 14 euro and that's because the wine was 8,50 - expensive by the others on the shelf - I just wasn't ready to buy a bottle of wine that cost 3,50. Sue me.

When we first arrived in Cordoba and hit the grocer, we bought a bottle of olive oil infused with cayenne peppers; that served as seasoning for the chicken, a teaspoon in the sauce and a shake or two in the pasta water. We also had salt and smoked paprika. Who needs pepper??

Anyhoo - we're relaxing this weekend - we have a busy week ahead. On Tuesday, we plan to go to either Granada or Seville. Joe is researching Granada; I have Seville - pros and cons of each, then we'll decide. It's likely we'll do both at some point. Or maybe Malaga. On Thursday, we have a tour to see one of the major archaeological sites of Andalucia, the Madinat Al Zahra. Lunch and then we have a tour of a Moorish 8th-century castle, Castillo de Almodovar. And on Friday, we have a lovely evening planned with our favorite tour operator, Rosa Lara and her husband, Steve.

Oh, and I'm making reservations for next Saturday lunch AND dinner!