A nice break in Cádiz
Cádiz is a seaside lovers destination
Cádiz turned out to be a nice break from the constant sightseeing and a pleasant way to wrap up our travels through Andalucía.
Savouring Sevilla
Sevilla turned out to be another gem within Andalucía, with too much to see with too little time.
As we were sitting in our taxi at the lights, we noticed so many people heading in the same direction. I asked the taxi driver (in my best Spanish I could conjure) if there was something on, to which he replied that there was the celebration of Los Reyes, the Spanish tradition where the three kings came to Bethlehem to bestow gifts unto the baby Jesus. No Santa Claus here people! The gifts that we traditionally exchange on the 25th December are held off until the 6th January in Spain, and the night before (being the 5th) is a big celebration. So we happened to arrive as the parade and celebrations were about to be underway. Our poor taxi driver kept encountering road blocks at every turn, and after 10 minutes of driving around frustrated, he crossed his heart and prayed for forgiveness as he drove down the Main Street where the pedestrians were gathering! His prayers worked though, as he got us to our hotel (La Casa de la Luna) without hitting anyone or getting a fine!
Once we had checked in, we ventured through the crowds to get a taste of Seville and came across this magnificent sight…
This Cathedral (Catedral de Santa María de la Sede) is the largest gothic cathedral and 3rd-largest church in the world. It is certainly a stunning sight at any time of the day. We took some pictures and moved along with the traffic to the main square where we found market stalls. This was my kind of evening. However, not so much for Guy, as he hates markets. So we parted ways for the time being, making plans to catch up for dinner. I happily and easily shopped, practiced speaking Spanish to store vendors and people watched the hours away, unaware that there was a big parade at the other end of the street.
Thankfully Guy followed the crowd (whilst avoiding the markets) and managed to capture the parade in all its colourful glory.
The next day we set out to do a full day of sightseeing. As fate would have it though, our day turned out to be a little slower paced and relaxing than planned as many of the sights were closed due to the public holiday. It worked out nicely for us though, as it gave us a chance to walk around and explore things we wouldn’t have thought to visit otherwise, such as the Museo del Baile Flamenco and the Museo Taurino (a museum dedicated to bullfighting). The Museum of Flamenco turned out to be quite interesting, displaying the different types of flamenco and interactively showing the different movements involved. The Museum of bullfighting also proved to be interesting (however, more so for Guy). It was a great day of ‘his’ and ‘hers’ of museums. We finished off the day at the beautiful Placa de España. Our timing couldn’t be better, as we managed to catch sunset there before concluding the evening with a flamenco show back at the Museum of Flamenco.
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The last gem we stumbled on for the night was 100 Montaditos, a nice mini bocadillos (baguettes) chain that did great mini bocadillos and sides really cheap. It just so happened that the night we went there everything on the menu was only 1€ each! We managed to fill ourselves up for under 4€ whilst being entertained by the awful loudspeaker that yelled out each person’s order. “¡Manuel! Manuel, ¡Por favour!” (A saying we still laugh to as there seem to be plenty of Manuels here, who are evidently hard at hearing or forgetting their orders as in every outlet of 100 Montevidos, a ‘Manuel’ or ‘Antonio’ would be yelled out numerous times).
Whilst we weren’t able to see everything Sevilla had to offer, we certainly enjoyed what we did see and have many memories and experiences to savour.
Córdoba: An underestimated city
When it comes to cities to visit, Córdoba often gets left behind or forgotten about. Which worked out just fine for us, as we enjoyed taking plenty of photos without having to worry about ‘photobombs’, or time spent waiting in line. However, it is a shame both for the city and the tourist that skips it, as it is beautiful and deserves a mention.
We only spent one night in Córdoba, but managed to fit in plenty of sights and experiences to enjoy this city and vow to return. Our hotel (Hostal Lineros 38) was great, and had an Arabic feel. They even organised mobile massages (which we enthusiastically took advantage of on our second day).
Our first stop was lunch. The Menu del Día never fails, and with a satisfied tummy, we headed onwards to the great Mosque/Cathedral. It is one of the most amazing and beautiful sights from our journey so far. It started out as a small church, which was purchased by a Muslim prince back in 784 and reconstructed into a mosque. Centuries later, when the Christians conquered Córdoba, the Mosque (which had several extensions since its original acquisition) was converted back into a Cathedral. The beauty and intriguing thing about it is the two distinct styles in the one place. From the outside, it looks like a Cathedral, however on the inside, it looks like a Mosque (apart from the large Christian Renaissance nave in the centre).
The other wonderful thing about Córdoba, was how beautiful the days were. Despite being in the middle of winter, we enjoyed reasonably long, sunny days and temperatures above 20 degrees.
After walking and exploring, we felt that we needed some relaxing. And it just so happens that Córdoba, like many parts of Andalusia, has the perfect form of relaxation: Baños Árabes de Córdoba (Arabic bathhouse). We spent hours (partly due to a communication mix up) relaxing in the bathhouse and attempting the custom of switching between the warm, hot and freezing baths, before receiving a blissful massage. What a way to end the day! Then we headed out for a delicious light snack and dessert at the funky Sojo Fusion before heading to bed.
The next morning started perfectly with a massage. Then we headed out for lunch and more street-wandering, before making our way to our next stop: Seville. Thank you Córdoba for a special two days! I hope to visit you again one day!
Granada: A Feast For The Senses
Granada is a smorgasbord for the senses. While the Alhambra is certainly a sight not to be missed, there is plenty more on offer in Granada. (more…)
Travellers’ Purgatory
After our amazing New Years in Ibiza, we dazedly dragged ourselves to the airport to catch our flight back to Valencia, where our onwards train to Granada would depart.
Hindsight. It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? Of course, it’s only good if one has it BEFORE booking tickets. Had I had it earlier, I would have booked a much later flight back to Valencia and maybe forget the overnight train to Granada, which didn’t depart until 1am. Thus allowing us a sleep in and avoiding spending 12 hours in what I like to now refer to as, “Travellers’ Purgatory”.
Travellers’ Purgatory will almost always occur at least once during a long holiday. It is where one is stuck between destinations for an extended period of time, waiting for their connecting train, flight or bus. It often leads to boredom, a sudden onset of tiredness and, in the most extreme cases, crankiness. We managed to delay it for as long as possible by enjoying a Menu del Día (my three favourite words) and walking around the city. However, what made our case of Travellers’ Purgatory worse was that it was a public holiday, so most things were closed. However, the Golden Arches delivered us some salvation in the form of free wifi (this blog was proudly brought to you by McDonalds).
3 hours of wifi, some pintxos, churros, hot chocolates and 2 episodes of Arrow later, our train arrived and we promptly tucked ourselves into our beds with eager anticipation of arriving in Granada the following day (praying we won’t encounter Travellers’ Purgatory again).