The andalusia region.
After two weeks with my girls Jasmine and Lauren it was time to say goodbye and continue solo. I was headed back to Spain to the southern part of the country, or the Andalusia region. I had two weeks to explore Seville, Granada, and Mallorca (Island off of Spain – no it is not Ibiza). These locations are smaller than Barcelona and all offer a little something different.
I started in Seville, the capital of the region. Day 1, as I normally do, I started with a free walking tour offered by my hostel. There is so much rich history and beautiful cathedrals and monuments. The Plaza de España was my favorite part with a huge semi-circle historic building with colorful tiles surrounding a fountain, circular pond with row boats, vendors selling touristy things, and street artists all over. I found a group dancing flamenco and soaked in the goodness of the art. The whole time I just try to understand the rhythm and beats of their steps to music – it is fascinating to me. I booked another flamenco show that night (at Teatro Flamenco Seville), surprise surprise, and continued to walk around exploring, drinking local beer for breaks and toilets, watching the sunset on the The río Guadalquivir that runs through the middle Seville. The show was another incredible performance (as seen by pic above). This was the only flamenco show where there were three women dancing in unison. The traditional dance is done solo. The old man checking tickets had a soft spot for me because I was alone and put me in the second row (reserved section). He kept coming to talk to me and was so sweet. When he asked me what one word that described flamenco was I guessed passion. However, he told me it was loneliness. It makes sense now, he saw I was alone. But that doesn’t always mean lonely, especially not in my case 😊.
Granada was next (thanks Lauren for the recommendation). The first thing I did was book a tour of the Alhambra and surrounding gardens. When you google Granada, this is sure to be the number one tourist attraction. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces with lots of Spanish influence. I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring other plazas and cathedrals. For sunset I made my way to the mirador of San Nicolas that overlooks the city and more importantly the Alhambra. I then, OBVIOUSLY, made my way to another flamenco show. I know, I know, that is a lot of flamenco, but I get lost in the dance and passion of it. This show was my least favorite and featured more of the musicians – who are incredible – but I was there to see the dance. They performed on a wooden stage and stomped more than the previous shows so it was more aggressive and loud. Still lovely but would not go back. I took a morning yoga class at Baubo Yoga (was a great foundational class) and spent the afternoon in the small neighborhood of Sacromonte. It is known as the gypsy neighborhood with caves as homes/buildings that sit on the hills surrounding Granada. I went to the cave museum to learn about the history and evolution of the culture and people. It is said that flamenco dancing started there in those caves and spread across Spain as people migrated. I made friends with one of the guys working at the hostel, Kyle. He gave me restaurant recommendations to check out while in Granada – go to Vegas Cafe for brunch, and I had the best patatas bravas of my entire time in Spain at Salvaje restaurant. We checked out a new Asian fusion restaurant and bonded over relationship troubles and our love of travel. Thank you Kyle for keeping me company during my time in Granada. Granada was beautiful, but my favorite part of the city was the surrounding mountains…
Sierra nevada.
No I am not talking about the beer here, they don’t even sell it in the area, seems like a missed opportunity to me. Granada is about an hour drive from the Sierra Nevada Mountain range and so I jumped on a local bus and headed there to spend the day. I found a hike on alltrails.com and laced up my hiking boots. What I didn’t know is that the area was a HUGE ski/snowboard resort. I am pretty sure I was one of four people total hiking and not on the slopes. It was near the end of the season, so people were trying to get in the last bit of shredding. I had a crepe for breakfast when I got there and was on my way up, up and up. What I didn’t realize is the hiking trail was partly on the ski slopes. WOOPS. Walking and trekking through fake snow is not super easy. But the view from the top made it worth it and there was nothing but blue skies from days (lots of photos here). The trail was unfortunately overgrown and had melting snow all over it making it very difficult to figure out where I was going. However, I saw a refugio at the bottom of a ravine and descended in that direction. I found one other hiker at the bottom, and we ended up chatting. Which turned into hiking the trail to a waterfall together, enjoying a delicious burger, and sharing few beers together back in the small town. Leo waited for me to board my bus and sent me on my way. He was on an annual holiday with a bunch of friends (all skiing that day) and lives in western Spain with his wife and children. We had such a lovely time chatting about life and If I am ever in Cadiz, I know who to call!
Island life.
I am going to be honest, the reason I knew about Mallorca is because that is where Love Island UK is filmed (one of my favorite mindless reality shows). So naturally on my last day in Mallorca, I went out of my way 30 minutes or so to drive to the villa. Unfortunately, the gates were closed, but I was able to see it from afar and that alone made me smile. I also had a previous coworker I met about two years ago from Mallorca and we have had many conversations about how great it is (she also gave me so many great recommendations to check out and they were all fantastic – thanks Lau!). I rented a car because after some research I decided it would be easier to get around as public transportation is not the greatest and I wanted to see the entire island, not just the large capital of Palma. While I loathe driving, I was ready to conquer my fears for the sake of seeing many different parts of the city. I spent the first day exploring Palma, it had a huge cathedral (Catedral Basilica de Santa Maria de Mallorca) that was stunning, huge indoor markets selling fresh produce and poultry (check out the smaller local one called Santa Catalina and eat at Restaurante Can Joan Frau – get any type of fish!), tons of shopping, and cafes/restaurants around every corner. One afternoon I went to the Port of Sóller – this was one of my favorite spots. It was quaint with a local vibe, had great reasonably priced seafood options and cozy beaches. I would recommend staying there at least two days! I spent one day on more of the eastern coast of the island and drove to Porto Cristo to check out some recommended caves. The Coves del Drac were unlike any caves I’ve been to in the past. The end of the cave tour ended with a live symphony quartet on a boat in a lagoon in the cave. UNREAL. I couldn’t take any photos or videos, but you can imagine it was special. Many locals told me this is the best time to come (spring – March-May) because the summer is packed with tourists, tons of traffic, busy restaurants and everything is a bit more expensive. I think I made the most of Mallorca in Spring! Bet your bottom dollar I will be back because there are many places I didn’t get to see.
I am one with the goats.
I could not go to Mallorca and not check out the Serra de Tramuntana Mountain range that runs along the northwest coast. I had two full days to hike as much as my legs could handle and believe me, I did just that. Day 1 I did the Torrent de Pareis (http://www.mallorcaoutdoors.com/torrent-de-pareis.html) in the early morning. It was unlike any hike I have done before. You start by walking through a tunnel to a beautiful beach in the bay of Sa Calobra between huge rock walls. You then continue to hike through narrow canyons and small lagoons. There were short scrambles and small climbs over/under/around boulders that were quite challenging. I did not go the whole route to save time and wanted time to do another hike. Next, I headed further north, near the port of Pollença, to complete the raco den tomas – el fumat – cala en gossalba (that is a mouthful but I want you to know the exact hike if you are ever on the island). IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE. You start in a dense forest that leads to a beautiful pristine bay and hike up through a ravine to a peak that has a 360 degree view of the island and huge cliffs. I sat at the top for what felt like hours because it was so breathtaking. I have no idea why this trail only has a 4.1/5 rating on alltrails.com. I would give it 6.7/5. I was exhausted but it was one of the most beautiful views from the top I have ever seen. And I have hiked A LOT of trails.
Day 2 I hiked around Puig de la Torre starting at the Cuber reserve. This was an interesting hike that went through four super long pitch-dark tunnels through mountains and never reaching a summit, but instead circling around one. I saw maybe three people the entire day and there were certain times, I was legit terrified (maybe I should tell people when and where I am in case something happens while I am alone hiking…next time). Let me tell you the main reason for the fear: there are mountain goats everywhere. I am not talking one or two, I am talking A LOT. Between the two days of hiking, I probably saw 100 goats on the trails, in the mountains, climbing up rock cliffs, etc. While they are small, they are capable of seriously injuring and even killing humans. Their horns and ferocious behavior can do some damage. The first one I saw right on the trail blocking my way forward, I froze and turned around immediately. I waited five minutes and decided to try again because I didn’t want to turn around. He was gone. I knew to just ignore them, don’t go anywhere near the baby goats and most importantly act calm. So that is what I did. They still terrified me every time I saw or heard them in the distance. Towards the end, I felt I not only conquered challenging hikes, but I survived the goats. I am now one of them.
The jen essentials for southern spain.
- Downloaded google maps (even if not connected to the internet, with downloaded maps you can use them to drive and even better with carplay they will show on the center screen – I love technology sometimes)
- Hiking boots (self-explanatory)
- Cheap local beer (I often would get a beer or two from the supermarket and find a spot in a park or bench and read – this is my happy place)
- Restaurant recommendations from the locals (there are too many places to choose from so find someone to tell you what they prefer, I bet they know best)
- FLAMENCO shows (again…self-explanatory)
- A good book (accepting all book recommendations for anyone who has them! I can’t keep bugging Vanessa)
- Rental car in Mallorca (worth it!)
- Earplugs (only applicable if staying in shared dorms – beware of the hostel snorers)
- Sunscreen (the sun is hot and strong, especially up in the mountains)
- Patience for the tours (the Alhambra is top three most visited place in all of Spain, so there are crowds)
Wrap it up jen.
The south of Spain is a beautiful place, from the food to the dancing to the mountains. I feel like I really did get a good sense of the country during my time there from Barcelona to Mallorca to all the mountains I climbed. I have seen it from a lot of different angles and loved all the different experiences. And lastly, if you find yourself in Spain and you do not go to a flamenco dance, I will be very upset with you. Go for me and report back.
Up next: France with my beautiful sister, Emily!
Signing off for now,
Jennifer