Spain - March 2022

Will begged me to crack open our blog again and write about our recent trip to Spain. So here goes...

McLaughlin’s Take Spain

On March 4, we headed back to Europe after 609 days of being away.  This time instead of France, we headed to Spain.  

Why Spain?  

Why not Spain?  

We did not get to Spain in 2019-2020 so we thought it would be a fun new country to explore.  We also wanted a country that would be pretty easy to get to for spring break.  So after a very brief layover in Amsterdam, we landed in Madrid.  People thought we were crazy when we told them our itinerary - 7 cities in 9 days.  Maybe we were but that is how we roll.  

DAY1

After we deplaned with our bags, we headed to Hertz, where we rented a car and headed to our first city - Toledo.  We chose Toledo because it was the first overseas city Jeff traveled to on his own after college.  We arrived in time to walk around a bit, grab dinner and fall into bed. 

Just in time for the sunset, looking out at the Catedral de Toledo.

Catedral de Toledo

Finally, European Coke!  Oh, how we missed you.

At this point we have been up way too many hours to count.  

Supporting Ukraine.

Day 2

The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed.  It was only 1:00 am to our bodies at that point.  We started the day off with a wonderful breakfast among medieval armor and then made Will’s dreams come true by exploring the military museum (Alcazar).  Edy and I gave it a cursuray pass through, while Jeff and Will tried to take in each exhibit.  This left Edy and I to go and wander the cobblestone streets, one of our favorite past times.  We quickly found all of the things that make Europe so special - the cafes with street seating, the shops, the pharmacies with their bright green lights, and the many old churches and buildings.  While it was a different country, it felt so comfortable and familiar.  We were back in our old routine of travel.

Our amazing hotel - Hotel Sercotel Alfonso VI.

Lots of miniatures at the Alcazar.

Looking out at old Toledo from the Alcazar.

Wondering the streets with Edy.

Plaza de Zocodover.

In addition to visiting the Alcazar, we saw the Plaza de Zocodover and the Catedral de Toledo.  We ate marzipan made by nuns, and bought some to take with us from the famous Santo Tome.  Three of us left Toledo on a high, sailing over the Rio Tajo gorge on the longest urban zip line in Europe.  

Mazipan made by the nuns.  

More mazipan but this time from Santo Tome.

Three of us zip lined across the Rio Tajo.  

View of old Toledo across the Rio Tajo.

Next we headed to Cordoba.  We weren’t sure what to expect of Cordoba.  We knew the famous Mezquita was there, but other than that we weren’t sure what to expect.  Some of our favorite memories came from Cordoba, starting with trying to get to our hotel.  

It would be an exaggeration to say that the road the hotel was on was five feet wide.  Driving our compact car down it we had to have the mirrors pulled in and our tires routinely rubbed along the curbs.  At one point, Jeff had to do a 92 point turn just to try and get out of the neighborhood.  Luckily it was way more humorous than stressful.  

This was how wide the street was that Jeff drove down to get to our hotel - Patios del Orfebre.  

Day 3

Our hotel didn’t have breakfast so on Monday we had a true traditional Spanish breakfast of toasted bread with honey and olive oil, before wandering the narrow streets to find the Mezquita.  Along the way, we saw many more of the familiar European things we had come to know.  It is hard to capture in words, other than to say a way of life, a way of being, a way of moving and interacting in the world, that had become so familiar to us.  The ceramic shops grabbed ahold of us as well as we were captivated by the beautiful mosaics.  We then headed to the Mezquita which was incredible. 

Breakfast in Cordoba.  

Toast with honey and olive oil.

Walking around Cordoba.

Many suggest that the Alhambra is the most spectacular example of Islamic architecture, but for us, it was the Mezquita that stole our hearts.  In short, the Mezquita is a medieval mosque with a Christian cathedral inside.  We each went at our own pace and explored.  

 

The Mezquita

After exploring and climbing the bell tower, we grabbed some ice cream before heading across the Puente Romano for one final view of Cordoba.  We then got in the car to head to the place Jeff and I were most looking forward to, Seville.

View from the bell tower of the Mezquita.

View of Cordoba

Puente Romano

Both of us have known many people to have studied in Seville as part of their college experience.  We had heard how beautiful this city was.  We had many wonderful suggestions of things to see and do - Real Alcazar, Seville Cathedral and Giralda, tapas in Barrio de Santa Cruz, Parque de Maria Luisa, Plaza de Espana, and eat empanadas  We covered a lot, but not before we enjoyed the amazing hotel rooftop bar and pool that Jeff procured for us.  It was stunning to sit in the sun, have a drink or two, and listen to our kids swim when it was only 60 degrees.  

Rooftop view

I choose to have a beer and read a book.  

The kids chose to swim.

One thing we did not count on seeing was a religious procession with an important relic lifted high in the air, mixed with thousands of people, candles and incense in front of the Seville Cathedral.  While not Catholic, we couldn’t help but be impressed by the majesty of it all. 

Heading out that night for tapas.  Along the way we came across a religious procession.  

Tapas at Las Teresas in the Barrio de Santa Cruz.

Ice cream from Holy Roll for dessert.

Another successful day!

DAY 4

This was the only rainy day we had the entire week.  We head right away to the Real Alcazar as we heard it often got busy during the day.  I captured many photos of mosaics in the Alcazar so feel free to scroll through quickly here.  

The Seville cathedral during the day.  

Orange trees everywhere!

Real Alcazar

Loved the peacocks!

Next stop Plaza de Espana.

Our favorite gelato shop in France!  Only it was closed in Seville.

This is where Christopher Columbus is buried in the Seville Catedral.  

Grabbed some empanadas for the road.  

As we were leaving Seville we spotted one of our favorite sporting goods in France - Decathlon.  The kids and I ran in while Jeff parked illegally and grabbed a few of our favorites - rain coat for Will, swimsuit bottoms for Edy, and a new reusable bag.  

We then drove two hours to Ronda.  Ronda is known for its spectacular location atop the El Tajo gorge (see photos below).  It also has one of Spain’s oldest bullrings. 

The bridge connecting the old and new towns of Ronda.

The countryside.

A little bit of Ohio in Ronda.

DAY 5

Ronda, Will unfortunately developed a fever and nasty cold.  (I am sure swimming in Seville didn’t help.)  This gave us a good excuse to sleep in.  We did explore the bull ring as well as the old town, before taking in a late breakfast of churros con chocolate.  We ended our time by hiking down for a breathtaking view of Ronda.

One of Spains oldest bullrings.  

Will felt well enough to pose as a matador.  

We hiked down to get a better view of the bridge that connects the old and new towns of Ronda.  

.  

Our first churros of the trip.  

We headed out of town to find some dirt roads for Edy practice  driving on before we began our two hour drive to Granada.     

Ronda in the distance.  

Our trusty car.

This time around I was able to drive in Spain.  I was unable to drive the last six months in France because my wallet had gotten stolen, along with my driver’s license.  I had the extreme luck of driving in Granada to find our hotel.  Once we realized we could not get to it, due to a concrete barrier AND construction, we began to try to look for a parking garage.  It was getting a bit stressful when all of the sudden a toothless man on a mo-ped asked if we were looking for a parking spot.  I looked at Jeff and we thought, ‘what do we have to lose’ so we followed him.  He took us through at least a dozen winding streets until he led us to a parking garage that was just 100 meters from our hotel. I tipped him five euros.  

Concrete barriers don't stop us!

Our room at Hotel Anacapri had a loft!  

We planned on Granada for the Alhambra.  We had tickets for 8:30 the next morning so we used that evening to explore this culturally rich town at the foot of the Sierra Nevada.  The Albayzin, the Muslim quarter was eye catching.  We wound our way up until we found an incredible view of the Alhambra from Mirador San Nicolas.  We ended the evening by sitting down to dinner to one of our favorite meals while watching the sunset on the Alhambra.  

The Albayzin - the Muslim quarter.

View of the Alhmanbra from Mirador San Nicolas

Our view during dinner.  

Enjoying the downhill walk after dinner.  

DAY 6

I am not going to lie - it was tough getting up for our 8:30 am tour of the Alhambra. It was only 12:00 am to our bodies. That combined with an uphill walk, was tough. The famous palace-fort, that is the Alhambra, was expansive.  We saw and took in much history.  The grounds, the buildings, it was all impressive. But it wasn't our favorite of the trop. We were much more awed by the Mesquita in Cordoba and even the Alcazar in Seville. 

After leaving the Alhambra we packed up the car - it was still there - and headed off to Valencia.  

We chose Valencia because it was on the Balearic Sea, and we promised the kids a “day at the beach.”  On our drive in we found a small beach in Denia for the kids to wade in.  No matter their age, Edy and Will just adore the sand and sea. 

We then got to Valencia.  It was only a tad bit easier to get to this hotel than the last.  Poor Jeff had to drive around quite a bit before we realized it was also inaccessible by car.  We found a parking garage on our own this time.  After checking into our hotel, we found a great place to have paella.  While eating, we started talking to two women who were eating beside us.  They were two sisters from Ireland.  The one had the same last name as us.  Even crazier, she spelled it AND pronounced it the same way.  She could have been a distant relative.

Traditional Valencia paella

Our new friend from Ireland.  

DAY 7

The next morning we slept in and then divided up to shop (me) and wander (Jeff, Edy, and Will).  

Little did we know that we were there for Las Fallas.  The origin of this came from an old carpenter tradition of burning pieces of wood to clean out for spring.  People started to then add their belongings to these bonfires.  Structures with a human-like aspect (ninots) were then created to be burned.  Over time these ninots have turned into temporary art displays that are then burned on the last day of las Fallas, March 19, to mark the arrival of spring.  

In the meantime, from March 1-19 at 2:00 a barrage of firecrackers (Mascletas) are let off in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.  Our hotel just happened to be in that square. We had never experienced anything like it.  First of all, fireworks set off during the day was new to us.  Second, fireworks set off so close to people and buildings was new to us.  Third, at times we felt like we were in a war zone.  It truly was a barrage of loud fireworks for 10 minutes straight!  What started at 2:00 as a beautiful sunny day, turned to a smoke filled, ash laden, dark sky by 2:10.  It was awesome!  Three of us loved it!  Poor Will was a bit overwhelmed by the sound.  

The ugly structure celebrating Las Fallas.  This photo was taken before the fireworks.  

A quick bite at Five Guys before the big firework display.

The square AFTER the fireworks.  

Here we are afterwards, covered in ash!  

Swimming at Playa El Cabanyal in Valencia.

Meanwhile, I am bundled up!

I bet this area of not this deserted in the summer.  

Great travelers!

We then headed to our last stop of the trip, Madrid.  We were all looking forward to two nights in the same place. And what a place it was!  Jeff found us the most amazing hotel - Petit Palace Savoy Alfonso XII.  We had an entire corner suite with balcony views overlooking El Retiro Park. 

DAY 8

We soaked up Spanish culture during our last two days.  We ate wonderful food, visited famous sights, and shopped some more.  We all saw the Plaza Mayor, the famous statue of the bear and the strawberry tree, and the outside of the Prado.  (It closed before we could go in.)  Jeff and Edy took in another art museum, while Will and I toured the palace - Palacio Real and rode the Madrid Metro.  But the highlight for all of us was definitely our last night there when we walked around the Puerta del Sol looking for our favorite French gelato shop, Amorino.  We loved seeing everyone out and about.  The city seemed to come alive at night.  

Plaza de la Independencia

Famous statue of the bear and the strawberry tree in Madrid.  It represents the coat of arms.  It is located on Puerta del Sol.

Plaza Mayor

Palacio Real

Madrid Metro

We had this entire balcony at our hotel!

Our last meal!

Testing so we can go home.

We finally found an Amorino!

DAY 9

We left around noon on Sunday exhausted, yet really content.  I am not going to lie, the 10 ½ hours of flying was a bit rough.  But we were able to all fall into bed back in Minnesota some 23 hours after we awoke.   

Our hotel and room.

Back at Hertz 9 days later.

And as far as COVID goes, everyone wore masks inside and many people continued outside.  If you started to walk into a store or restaurant without one, you were quickly reprimanded.  We did have to get a digiti pass to enter Spain.  We had to prove we had been vaccinated and boosted.  In order to return to the US, we had to take a test within 24 hours of coming home.  We were all negative so luckily none of us had to stay behind.  We had to show this test result in Madrid and again in Amsterdam before we boarded our flight for home.

Some final thoughts:  We all LOVED Spain!  We appreciated how clean it was and how everyone was so friendly.  We enjoyed how easily we got back in our travel rhythm with each other.  We realized the week was less about seeing the sights and more about just being together and reconnecting with our European roots.  We are so grateful to have had the time together.