by Kim-Ling | Jan 23, 2013 | Cardona, Navigation, Travel
My lifelong dream of being a princess came somewhat true during our stay in Cardona. Over an hour’s drive (or maybe a little more when taking the wrong turns) outside Barcelona exists the Castillo de Cardona, now run by the prestigious Parador hotel chain in Spain. I cannot emphasise enough how lovely our stay was there. I’m not sure what it is like during the summer, but it felt like we had the whole castle to ourselves and only saw two other couples during breakfast prior to checking out.
We were able to explore the castle at will and were treated like royalty by the staff during our stay. This castle has a long history, initially constructed in 886. The food was amazing, and despite being more expensive than what we had been spending previously (but seriously, what can you expect; it is in a castle after all!), it was still very reasonable and the best food we had eaten during the trip.
Staying here was truly something special and for those who are after a relaxing break from sightseeing and the hustle and bustle of cities, this is the place for you. I hadn’t felt that relaxed in a while and it was the perfect finish to our time in Spain, before our adventure into French territory began.
by Kim-Ling | Jan 21, 2013 | Barcelona, Montserrat, Navigation, Travel
Literally. With its highest peak at 1,236m (4,055ft), Montserrat has some amazing views and with the initial cloud cover, it did look and feel like we were a lot closer to heaven.
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by Kim-Ling | Jan 21, 2013 | Barcelona, Navigation, Travel
This was the second time we had visited this city and upon stepping onto Las Ramblas, I remembered why we came back.
Even in Winter, Barcelona has a vibe to it that no other city in Spain has. It’s cosmopolitan, without being pretentious, beachy without being isolated, and offers the tourist plenty to see and do, without feeling over the top. Of course, in winter, there are less tourists, so it does feel less touristy and Las Ramblas doesn’t have the same amount of ‘buzz’ that it would have in summer (for one there were hardly any street performers, to my disappointment). But don’t be fooled into thinking that winter in Barcelona is boring.
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by Kim-Ling | Jan 18, 2013 | Madrid, Navigation, Travel
The capital of Spain was a stark contrast to the Spain we had previously experienced. Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Andalucía anymore…
Madrid – the capital of Spain and Barcelona’s nemesis. It’s like Sydney vs Melbourne. Personally, I’m a Barcelona girl all the way, but Madrid did have some things going for it.
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by Kim-Ling | Jan 17, 2013 | Cádiz, Navigation, Travel
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.
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by Kim-Ling | Jan 17, 2013 | Navigation, Seville, Travel
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.
