S P A I N
The rain in Spain (does not ) fall mainly on the plain.
I had to... In all honesty we did not have a big issue with the weather and only had one day of heavy rainfall while journeying down the east coast of Spain! I am excited to share with you a bit about my most recent trip in Spain and will be doing an additional post on some of my top travel tips next week! This post will have a short recap on each city I went to along with a few of my favorite pictures, hope you enjoy!
BARCELONA
I had a few flight issues but once I arrived I was greeted by sunshine and pleasant temperatures! I met up with my good friend Clare, it had been two years since we last saw each other so it was so fun to catch up. We didn't have much of an agenda so we walked the city and would just stumble upon the sites. A must see is the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, this is a famous unfinished catholic cathedral that has been under construction since 1852! Spain is known for their Tapas (small plates) and they did not disappoint although we learned early on that where the locals dine often don't open until 7 or even 9 at night!
TARRAGONA
Tarragona is a smaller, quieter town 100 km south of Barcelona. Some of the oldest Roman ruins are found right as you enter this town with an amazing turquoise backdrop (you can see in my unedited image below). One site I would have loved to see if time had permitted is Les Ferreres Aqueduct, which is an ancient bridge that has remained is very good condition! One of my favorite small "details" of this trip was the orange trees were in blossom, which smelt so amazing. Tarragona had many beautiful buildings, really fun to walk the narrow streets.
CARTAGENA
We continued south to the town of Cartagena, not really known to be a tourist town but we decided to stop here and check it out! We stayed in an amazing Morrocon styled air bnb, with the most kind host of all time! This was the city that we learned siestas are very much real, the town basically closes down from 2pm-6pm. We struggled to even find a taxi back to our air bnb! We were able to see another set of roman ruins while here, The Roman Theatre of Carthago Nova.
GRANADA
My favorite city we visited and the one place in Spain I would really want to come back to! Right when we arrived in Granada I knew it was favorite, I think it was just the overall feel. Much more lush as well as it felt very clean. Amazing buildings everywhere you look! We spent a good portion of time at the Alhambra and wow it was amazing! It rained most of our time here but it was still the most beautiful place! The Alhambra is built on top of Roman ruins originally as a fortress which was later turned into a royal palace. It has amazing views of the city, gorgeous buildings, gardens, and a palace ( if you go here, book tickets a few weeks in advance, they only allow a certain number of people see the palace a day and it books up quickly! We unfortunately were not able to see the actual palace becuase of this).
MALAGA
Our last stop before heading back up north to meet up with Tanden. Definitely a popular holiday spot, known for their yellow-sand beaches and resorts. This was probably my least favorite city of the trip and I think a big part of that was there were a lot of high rise modern buildings. Although this was the city we had our favorite meal and were introduced to Jamón ibérico (a type of cured ham). If you ever come to Málaga eat at La Luz De Candella, it had exceptional service and food! We were able to walk around Alcazaba of Málaga which is the cities most important landmark. It is the best-preserved Moorish fortress palace in Spain! We were surprised to find out it was the beginning of Holy Week while we were there. One evening we found ourselves in the middle of what we thought was a funeral procession, turns out it was just a part of their celebration. Apparently Granada, Málaga and Seville, are known for more "glamorous" Holy Week.
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xx nichole