I have a nickname given to me by the grounds keeper where I work because I don’t always follow the arrows of direction for traffic established on our small campus. “One-Way,” he will say with a smile, “how you doing?”

Susanna and I are both sad to leave Cordoba but the drive to Seville is only 1.5 hours so we don’t hurry away. But in true Lori-fashion, I take a wrong turn onto a wide pedestrian-only esplanade and do not realize it until my black radiator grill is facing a bunch of cafe tables. I just have to laugh along with the gaggle of men smiling and speaking at me through the car window in rapid Spanish and pointing behind me to the street I should be on. 

We pull into Seville without further faux-pas or “paso en falsos.” We are staying in a small hotel a block away from a laundromat so we decide it’s time to do that task when we arrive. After quickly appreciating our cute rooftop room with a little deck, we pack up our sack of dirty clothes.

The laundry is small, only a few washers and dryers but it’s all automated, takes credit cards with the soap included and mysteriously added automatically. As we watch our clothes spin we meet a family from Seattle on a work trip (Susanna also lives in Seattle), so we have a sweet, synchronistic travel chat about things to do in Seville and the young mom recommends a vegan restaurant not far away. When the dryer is just about finished another woman comes in with her bag and proceeds to unpack various things—a quart volume of white-gray hair, small toilet paper roll, a bar of soap—as dirt and weeds trail to the floor. She tells us she is an artist from Turkey living and traveling for a time in Spain. She carried the bar of soap in her jacket pocket lined with soap scum and said the wad of hair was from her horse, but later she said it was given to her from a friend’s horse. She kept up amiable conversation as she pulled the small roll of toilet paper out of the same soap encrusted pocket… “I wish people to stop using so much toilet paper and to bring your own wherever you go.” She said to tell everyone this. So there you go, consider yourself told. 

I love these unique encounters and I do notice less of them as I travel with Susanna. Usually when I am alone there are many more interactions with local people. I’m not complaining, just noticing. My inability to communicate in Spanish is an issue as well. I wish I had studied more before I left but this trip came together very last minute. 

The laundry task done we head out to do our familiar circle of the town. We see the outside of the cathedral and stop for a terrific dinner at Gusto with some great vegetarian options where we sit under awesome black and white vintage photos.

Back to our room we maneuver the small space (I have to slither sideways in the bathroom to fit between the door and sink) and enjoy the roof deck while the sun sets. Tomorrow we will tackle the tourist sites refreshed and dressed in clean clothes but I’m not quite ready to carry my own toilet paper and soap.