Seven gorgeous days on streets and roads of South Spain.
Before I share my recent and amazing South Spain story, I need to share a good news with all of you. I have accepted a new job offer where I will work as a Web Developer. The past few months were extremely stressful for me so when I got the offer letter on our way to the airport before leaving for South Spain, you can imagine how happy I was.
As I am going through some professional changes, I will take blogging less seriously. Story of cooks is a window where I speak freely with no fear, but this will never be my full-time job. The salary from my web development job can never match any earnings from a blog. I simply can’t say “Fuck you” to the career I have built over 30 years, and I am still building through my studies and work. I can’t stop my parents from saying “My daughter goes to Harvard and works for ***”; I need money to maintain my lifestyle. This is my priority.
Anyway, let me tell you about our recent Spain Trip.
We left for South Spain on March 18th. We took a flight to Boston to Dublin and flew from Dublin to Malaga. We decided to go Malaga instead of Cordoba/Seville as it was much cheaper. After reaching Malaga, we rented a car (it was highly recommended by my co-worker Kevin Wall) and I am so glad we did.
Day 1: Saturday: March 19th: We reached Malaga around noon and with car and luggage, we came out of the airport around 1 ish. After that, we did little except getting a local sim card (Vodafone) and eating around. Next, we relaxed for a while at Hotel Don Curro. At night we went to El Mesón de Cervantes where the food and ambiance were just perfect (like the way we love), we rested for pretty much the whole day.
Day 2: Sunday: March 20th: We woke up late, had a brunch at our hotel and left for Cordoba. It was a gorgeous ride and we both loved every second. Cordoba is a beautiful small town and we stayed right next to Mesquita at Hotel Hacienda Posada De Vallina. It’s one of the prettiest hotels I have ever stayed in my life. These are some stills from the hotel.
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We have decided to take it easy that day and have a nice lunch at Bodegas Campos (suggested by Lonely Planet) which turned out to a heavy lunch. After that, we looked into a bunch of local shops and I shopped some local Spanish pottery. We hanged out around Mesquita that day. As we had a heavy lunch, we decided to have a small tapas dinner at Garum 2.1 and the ambiance was so romantic and cozy.
Pictures of Mesquita (Inside) :
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Pictures of Mesquita (Outside) :
Day 3: Monday: March 21st: We skipped breakfast and checked the Mesquita first thing in the morning. It’s one of the place on the earth where Cathedral is built inside a mosque – you will see two religions right next to each other. After that we ate Bar Santos (which is famous for its Spanish Tortilla) – as recommended by Lonely Planet. The only problem was – they had no sitting place so we took out the food and ate on the floors of Mesquita.
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After that, we wanted to check the Synagogue but it was closed. So we went to the Calahorra tower and observed the old and new Cordoba, roamed around San Francisco area and came back to the hotel. We took a bit of rest before going for a nice romantic dinner at El Astronauta. It’s quite hip and modern but we loved the Mediterranean food there and it was a nice break from regular Spanish food.
Day 4: Tuesday: March 22nd: We took some snaps at our hotel and left for Seville. It was another romantic ride with gorgeous Spanish Mountains. We took a while to get into our hotel (Hotel Amadeus) at Seville. After reaching Seville we had a quick lunch at Tabernas Peregil and roamed around the city. Due to their weekly long Easter celebration, everything was closed so we took a bunch of snaps here and there, walked aimlessly and soaked the Sevillian Sunlight. We had a modern Spanish dinner at La Brunilda but we took 2 hours to reach the restaurant as half of the Spanish streets were blocked due to their famous Easter celebrations.
I have planned a lot for Italy and we pretty much hopped from one place to another, but in Spain, we took one day at a time, enjoying the local food and culture. We loved Spanish food initially but we got sick of fried food in the end, as we both eat quite light. However, we loved driving around Spanish Mountains and shopping in small local shops.
One thing I need to mention here: If you ever go there, don’t buy cheap Chinese duplicates from touristy stores around Mosque or Cathedrals there –google it, read it, find local and authentic Spanish shops and buy from the original artist. During my entire Spain trip, I met some amazing artists, spoke with broken Spanish, heard their stories and felt their pain. I love bargaining but I could not bargain with those poor workers struggling to fight with cheap Chinese products.
Anyway, I will stop here today, stay tuned for 7 Days at Spain – PART II.
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Congrats Dolphia! really happy for you, new job came at the right time I guess.
Wow this post is soo beautiful, love how you have written so detailedly. Anyone wanting to take the same route will know where to eat and what to do. Waiting for 6 & 7 and 20 kg loot 🙂
Congratulations on your new job.. pics are amazing
Congrats! Beautiful photos!!
great photos Dolphia.
i really enjoy the islamic tilings
Best of luck with your new job. I really enjoyed watching all those wonderful pics and looking forward to read part II.
Such a gorgeous pictures, very well written by you! and yes congrats on your new job!!
Congrats on the new job. I just loved the way you captured the intricate patterns thru the lens. Beautiful Pictures dear.
Congratulations on your new job! Fantastic news! And the trip looks super exciting.
Congratulations !! I’m sure this is exciting for you, wishing you the vert best.
The photographs are simply gorgeous!! Loved the perspective. Loved the architectural details you have captured. Love the details.
Love simi.
Congratulations Dol and all the very best to you. So happy for you. Beautiful images, Spain is a must-visit place in my list. Looking forward to the part 2. 🙂