It all started with a couple of glasses of wine and a quick discussion of where to go for the next girls’ trip. We just happened to be drinking a red Spanish wine blend, which got my friend Wendy talking about when she lived in Spain during college and how she’d like to return. That’s all it took—Spain, here we come!
With Wendy as our travel guide, we began figuring out where and what to do in Spain. Our focus was going to be the southern coast, flying in and out of Madrid. We landed on securing VRBOs in Seville and Malaga with a hotel in Madrid.
Day 2 (After an Overnight Flight)
We landed in the morning, found our car and were off.We got to Seville just before dark; the directions to our apartment were sketchy at best. We had a garage for the car, and you could only get to it from a one-way street. If you put the actual address in GPS, it would take you to a street that was too narrow to drive through (mind you, all the roads in the Old Town of Seville are too narrow to drive through). In fact, we got lost in Old Town’s narrow streets while trying to find our rental. About this time, Wendy reminded us that she had stated upfront that she did not want to drive a car in Seville, and my sister had accepted the challenge, not quite knowing what she was in for.
It was a comedy of errors as we squeezed through the narrow streets. When they narrowed further, Wendy and I jumped out of the car before we were too close to the buildings to open the doors. Wendy (the only one in our group who could speak Spanish from her college days) asked for directions, and I directed my sister how to move without hitting the walls of the buildings (thank goodness we got the extra insurance on the car). I looked like a flamenco dancer, arms over my head, pointing right and left, mimicking tiny movements in either direction, while people on the street lined up next to the walls, looking wide-eyed at us, hoping we didn’t hit them. Their eyes all read “stupid tourists.”
We never made it to our garage. We went to the train station and parked the car.
Day 3
Seville, the capital of Andalusia, is the fourth-largest city in Spain and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including the Alcazar Palace and the Cathedral. We started our adventure in Seville with a walking tour to get an overall feel of the city. We visited the Alcazar, the royal palace of Seville (still in use), built over 3,000 years ago. The complex is the oldest of its kind in Europe, comprising several palaces and gardens from different eras and cultural styles. Its beauty is reflected in the distinct style of architecture throughout the ages. It started as a Muslim fortress to protect the city. This site location has been used for films and TV shows, including “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Game of Thrones.”The Cathedral in Seville is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. It was initially a mosque that was taken over by the Christians in 1248. The original mosque was built in the late 1100s and was the main mosque for the city. The prayer hall consisted of 17 aisles oriented southward. The Christians changed the religious orientation, closing off exits and archways and creating family worship chapels and stained-glass windows. The Tomb of Christopher Columbus is housed in the Cathedral.
The Giralda, the bell tower of Seville Cathedral, Spain’s most famous monument of Moorish architecture, was built in the 9th century as a mosque minaret. In the 14th century, the Christians turned it into a bell tower; in the 16th, this tower was given a new Renaissance look with a cross and bells. To reach the tower’s top (97 meters), you must ascend 34 ramps and a few stairs at the top. The ramps were built so horses could ride up the tower. The views at the top are spectacular and worth the climb.
Day 4
We left the car still in its happy place (the train station) and hopped the train to Jerez. Jerez (“Sherry” in Spanish) produces domestic and exported sherry and is home to the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. We started with a tour of the Royal Andalusian School grounds and museum.The school, dating back to the 18th century, focuses on performance, a ballet performed by horses and riders. The school’s horses are exclusively purebred Spanish and Lusitano horses. The school houses a palace, a show area, 60 horse stables, a veterinary clinic, a training center for farriers (horse shoers), a saddlery and a driving school.
From there, we had a date with a local bodega (wineshop) located in an old horse stable to taste sherry. Bodega Fernandez-Gao, founded in 1750, is one of the oldest bodegas in the Jerez region. We tasted their sherry (sweet to dry) and brandy, from 15 to 25 proof. They had one barrel on site that was over 200 years old and 250 proof—illegal to drink, though they said they had small tastes for the holidays. Of course, we left with bottles in hand.
Day 5
We hopped on a quick high-speed train ride to Cordoba, another World Heritage site. The city reflects the Roman past with the coexistence of Christian, Islamic, and Jewish cultures throughout its history. Cordoba is famous for the Mezquita-Cathedral, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, built in the eighth century. Historians believe the site was first a Roman temple; the temple was converted into a church in 572. The church was transformed into a mosque. The mosque was expanded over two hundred years. The prayer hall was filled with two-tiered columns with symmetrical arches, with the focal point being the horseshoe-arched mihrab (or prayer niche) with an ornate shell-shaped dome ceiling carved from a single piece of marble. Although Christians made many architectural changes, the columns and open space’s strength still dominate this incredible structure.Day 6
We finally returned to the car (still at the train station) and drove to the coast for our next VRBO in Malaga with a garage for the car—a tight squeeze but doable. The drive from Seville to Malaga has terrace farming on the steep hills and greenhouses lining the way. The number of olive trees in the region is overwhelming—it is hard to imagine how they pick the olives on the steep hills; it has to be labor intensive.We decided to stop in Ronda on our way to Malaga, which is about an hour and a half from Seville by car.
Ronda, Spain, is known for the Puente Nueva, “New Bridge,” that was built in 1793. It collapsed several years later, and a new bridge was started in 1759 and completed in 1793 (height 98 meters). The bridge connects the two sides of the village over a 100-meter-deep gorge. The two sides of the town are picturesque, with a series of whitewashed businesses and houses perched on top of the gorge. The site is breathtaking.
Day 7
We drove to Granada (1 1/4 hours from Malaga by car) to tour the famous Alhambra palace and fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Alhambra is perched on a rocky hill—a fortress surrounded by Sierra Nevada mountains. Alhambra’s name comes from an Arabic word meaning “red castle,” derived from the red stones on the towers and walls surrounding the compound. The vast complex houses beautiful gardens, palaces, citadel, sultans, high government officials, and elite soldiers—the tour was three hours long, and I am sure we didn’t see everything.
Day 8
It started raining the night before, and the weather report stated it would continue the next day. The loud storm woke most of us up during the night. Today was supposed to be our adventure to Morocco; needless to say, we canceled the ferry and tour. What we found out is that the storm hit hard and ended up taking some lives in towns we were very close to—a sad day for Spain.Day 9
We stuck around Malaga and visited the Alcazaba, which comes from the Arabic word “Al-qasbah,” which refers to a fortified palace. The fortress was built during the 10th century on a hill in the city’s center that overlooks the port. Alcazaba has been dubbed the most beautiful fortress in Spain. The fortress blends Roman, Spanish, and Moorish architecture with arches, vegetation, and exotic plants in and around the compound and courtyards. Most of the palace was reconstructed or restored in the 20th century using the archaeological remains. There are three courtyards: Patio de los Naranjos (Courtyard of the Orange Trees), Patio de la Alberca (Courtyard of the Pool), and Patio dei Aljibe (named after a cistern built under it).The Gibralfalo castle was built in 929 AD and doubled in size in the 14th century, adding a connecting wall to the Alcazaba. The castle dominates the city and offers panoramic views of the landscape, La Malagueta bullring and the Mediterranean Sea.
Day 10: Halloween
It was time to drive to Madrid, where we would end our memorable journey.We stayed in Madrid’s theater district, also known as the Literary Quarter, which made walking to all the attractions we wanted to see easy.
The first stop was Puerta del Sol, a lively square in the center of Madrid filled with people and activity. This square is the intersection of many historical sites and main streets and the starting point for all significant radial roads in Spain. Originally, Puerta del Sol was the site of one of the city’s gates.
On our way back to the hotel, we walked through another grand square called Plaza Mayor, which is in the oldest part of the city. The square has restaurants and small shops, and street musicians and artists show their talent.
Day 11
We set out to see Picasso’s masterpiece “Guernica” at the Museum Reina Sofia. This renowned work of art depicts the suffering inflicted by the Guernica bombing on April 27, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The museum is grand, with many floors and art rooms. I especially liked the war poster collection on the same floor as “Guernica.”For the Day of the Dead, the Casa de Mexico Foundation in Spain hosted an Altar of the Dead, the largest in Europe. The line to get in was too long, so we walked by the door, stopped, and saw the altar from the street.
Palacio Real de Madrid (the Royal Palace), the official residence of the Spanish royal family, is the largest palace in Europe. It has stood for nearly three centuries and is used only for state ceremonies. We did not go inside, but the grounds were lovely, and the palace is twice the size of European palaces, e.g., Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Versailles.
Right next to the Royal Palace is the neo-Gothic Cathedral de Santa Maria. This imposing structure was started in 1883 and finished over a century later, when it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993, making it the first cathedral to be consecrated outside of Rome.
Gran Via is called the Spanish Broadway and is a shopper’s paradise, with popular fashion retailers lining up and down the street. Filled with tourists and locals, it is dubbed “the street that never sleeps,” with places to eat and drink, little squares, and entertainment pockets.
Stopping for a cocktail, we searched for a place called Fat Cats. Weirdly enough, we couldn’t find it—there was no sign out front. Google Maps took us to the place, but nothing was there, or so we thought. We ended up knocking on the black door with no windows, and to our surprise, we were there! It is a speakeasy cocktail bar designed to make guests feel like they are at a high-profile 70’s dinner party.
If You Go
Food in Spain: We started with coffee, crusty bread, croissants with cheese, and Iberico ham every morning. In the late afternoon, we snacked on tapas (small dishes) as our dinner: paella (rice with rabbit, chicken, or seafood), jamon Iberico (Iberian cured ham), gazpacho, pimientos de padron (green pepper fried in olive oil and sea salt), croquetas, fish (fried and grilled), squid (grilled), tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelet with eggs and potatoes). In Spain, the workday extends into the evening hours, with most businesses closing for a few hours in the afternoon. It is common for Spaniards to eat dinner between 9 and 11 p.m.Back to the fun scale: Spain has so much to offer (and we only scratched the surface), and we realize we consider every day a Type I on the scale—except for driving the car in Seville.
The trip’s overall cost: We did this trip for under $2,500 per person. Planning the overall trip was a massive job, including reserving a car, housing, timing train tickets, museum tickets, etc. We were lucky to have a person traveling with us who used to live there, who knew the locations and sites we wanted to see and stay in.
