From Córdoba we drove to Zafra. Why did we decide to go to Zafra after seeing all the wonders of the three “grand dames”: Seville, Granada and Córdoba? Well, the airplane tickets were for Monday and we stayed in Cordoba till Friday morning. Plus, I needed to be closer to Lisbon for our flight out. Anyway, Zafra was delightful but I pretty much ran out of steam by then.
Zafra is a small town not far from Badajoz, Extremadura. It’s often referred to as “little Seville.” We technically only stayed there for a full day and a half and that was enough time. The highlight was where we stayed. We slept in a parador nacional! That was another one of my non-negotiable things to do- to stay at a parador, at least for one night.
In 1928 Spanish government started the initiative to convert historic places such as castles, convents, and monasteries into hotels or paradores. So, the parador of Zafra is essentially a castle where people can stay.
Historic, beautifully decorated. Expensive. Our room was small and I barely slept since I had to share a bed with R one night and L the second night. The view was amazing. Every morning, R would go out on the balcony, in his underpants, and wave to whoever was out (not many people) in the square “wuenos dias!” So stinking cute.
So, how I can cross off a life goal of my list “stay at a castle”- done! In Zafra we didn’t do much but we did roam around, visited a convent, a museum, of course, cafés, and spent time at the pool. The pool had castle watch towers in the background. Mind-blowing!
On Sunday morning, we drove to Lisbon from Zafra and it took us about 3 hours.
The last picture in the collage above in the Vasco da Gama bridge which is over 7 km long! When we were starting our adventure, we crossed this bridge, and this time we crossed it when we were finishing our trip. As we were driving over it, I felt a pang of sadness.
Sadness that our trip was over. Sadness over the fact that when the school year starts I will yearn for our lazy, slow walks on the narrow streets of Cordoba, playing in the gardens and streams of La Alhambra, and leisurely siping many cafés con leche in small squares. Sadness because I do not know if we will ever return. I still have weeks before returning to work so it’s not like I am plunging into work head first, but I feel sad nonetheless. I also felt grateful. Grateful for the ability to give myself and the family this opportunity to live and travel in a foreign country. Grateful for the fact that, in spite of difficulties, nobody got sick on this trip. Grateful to the Universe for putting all the right people in our way, to help us out one way of the other (such as an old lady who “directed” us when our car got stuck in a narrow corner of Cordoba and couldn’t make a key turn). Grateful to have a house and community to come back to.
In Lisbon, we checked into an outdated and shabby Radisson Blu right next to the airport. I was going to bring them into Lisbon old down but I really just did NOT have any more energy, I was feeling homesick and wiped out. I just wanted to return the car and board the plane to Newark. But I did not want to sit in the hotel room from 3PM till bed time and the hotel had no pool. Luckily, there was a lovely park right next door to our hotel.
After spending about two hours roaming around the park, the kids begged for MacDonald’s (LOL) and we got it. Next morning, at 5AM we were up. Packed up and had a generous breakfast at the hotel. Returned the car at 7am, boarded our United flight and 8 hours later we got off at humid New Jersey. And it felt so good to be home.
Mom of Children 