Ever since I first visited Spain, about 15 years ago now, I have been longing to get back. I felt such an affinity with the culture, the lifestyle and the people after that first visit so it’s really a surprise that its taken me this long to return. During that first trip I only visited Barcelona and Málaga so I made sure to give myself a good month so that I could see much more of the country this time around.

Barcelona

Barcelona has been in my top three favourite cities since I went and I was actually a little worried before I arrived that maybe I had built it up in my mind too much and it would end up being a disappointment. I needn’t have worried – it was every bit as wonderful and fun as I had remembered.  Being there with friends and sharing great meals and drinks over our five nights really set the tone for what was to come in Spain. We did the typical tourist thing and got around the city on an open top bus, saw all the Gaudi we could manage but most importantly, spent a lot of time eating a drinking – in squares, alleys, by the beach.

 

 

San Sebastián

San Sebastián has been a destination on pretty much every travel and/or food show ever made and it was easy to see why as soon as we arrived. It is such a lovely setting and has such amazing food it was really hard to drag ourselves away after five nights. The weather is known to be very temperamental in that region so we happened to be quite lucky with a good number of sunny days to enjoy the beach and outdoor dining all over the place. In the same day I had a plate of churros, ham in a cone (!?) and some amazing lemon gelato to rival the one I had found in Hvar. The food was great and the people were lovely, what more can you ask for.

 

 

Lisbon

Portugal had been on and off my itinerary several times but luckily a quick jaunt over to Lisbon made the cut in the end. We caught the trenhotel (not nearly as glamours as it sounds) from San Sebastián overnight on our last day to arrive in Lisbon early the following morning. Lisbon was such a lovely surprise and I wish that I had of had more than a few days there. The people were overwhelmingly lovely and food was also amazing. I am pretty sure if its possible to overdose on pastéis de nata (what we call Portugese tarts) I came dangerously close.

 

 

Sintra

One my last day in Portugal, before heading mack into Spain, I decided to go to Sintra for the day. It was only about an hour away and lots of people had recommended it so even though there was still lots to see in Lisbon I decided to make the trip. Sintra was simply gorgeous and cemented for me that I need to get back to Portugal and explore it more.

 

 

Seville

After saying goodbye to Johno, Cass & Rach in Portugal it was only a short 24 hours until I made it back to Spain to meet up with my friend Lucy in the beautiful (and exceptionally hot) Seville. People had said we were crazy for visiting southern Spain in August … and maybe they were right, but we still had a great time. Seville was full of great food and beautiful old buildings. The Moorish influence on the architecture of the city is instantly recognisable and gives it a very exotic feel. We visited the cathedral where we found the tomb of Christopher Columbus as well as some amazing views of the city after climbing to the top of The Giralda (the bell tower). We really had a great time in Seville, eating lots and visiting some great sights but one of the highlights was definitely the flamenco show we saw one night. It was a very small venue and audience with just three performers – one singer, one guitarist and one dancer. All of them were amazing and we spent the whole time feeling the intensity that was so beautifully expressed through the performance.

 

 

Cádiz

During our stay in Seville we decided to spend one of our days visiting Cadiz, just an hour away by train. I am so glad we decided to make this trip as Cadiz was beautiful and being on the coast a lovely relief from the heat we had been enduring for the last couple of days. We walked around and visited a few of the older sites before we made a beeline for the beach for a delicious seafood lunch and a dip in the Atlantic Ocean/Mediterranean Sea/Strait of Gibraltar … still not really clear on which it is. It was without a doubt the busiest beach I have ever experienced in my life but we found ourselves a spot and set up with our towels and umbrella and had a lovely time surrounded by the families who were so well set up they basically had the kitchen sink with them.

 

 

Granada

From Seville Lucy and I made our way onto Granada, another heavily Moorish influenced city most famous for The Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex, which you will notice I am pretty generous with photos of below. Before we visited the Alhambra on our last day we spent a good few days eating our way around the city. Granada is well known for its classic take on tapas and still follow the traditional route of providing a free tapa with each drink you order. I drank a fair bit in Granada …

 

 

Madrid

The next and final stop for my Spanish adventure was its capital, Madrid, which I had never been to before and had always been sceptical of liking as much as I did Barcelona. Well, I was totally blown away by this city and can honestly say I think its my new European favourite. It is a huge city with grand buildings and parks all over. There are so many people everywhere but the city is so spacious and the streets so wide and grand that you don’t ever feel like you are stuck in a crowd. I had one more night with Lucy here before she headed off to Scandinavia so we decided to take advantage of the weather and the fact that we were staying right next to Retiro park so visited a local market and stocked up on all the best things in life … meat, cheese & bread. we had a lovely picnic in the park that afternoon and it was the perfect start to my week in Madrid. I had a couple of days by myself in Madrid before my friend Alex then arrived so I had a new companion for all the sitting and eating to be done.

I completely fell in love with this city and I know I will be back in the not too distant future. It is somewhere I could easily see myself living for a few months as I try to finally lock down my Spanish language skills. After an amazing month in Spain I was feeling confidently fluent … if it involved food or drink, but thats about it I’m afraid …