Sexy, sassy, suave Spain delivered the goods with our days filled with tapas, sangria, begging Gypsies, flamenco dancers, churros, rich historical architecture... I think you are getting the picture.
The journey through Spain happened in two parts. We spent a few days in Madrid then travelled to Portugal only to re-emerge back in Seville and then onto Barcelona.
Madrid got off to a slow start. After being unscathed through "dangerous" South America, we jump on the Metro from the airport and Scott was pick pocketed within 5 minutes. Unfortunately for him, he also carried over some bug from Morocco, which left him curled up shivering in the fetal position on the bed. Still with high spirits we enjoyed our first meal in a rowdy local pub eating, drinking and watching passionately the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Madrid has a fantastic food culture, so every night we (well mostly Sara) enjoyed the vast selection of tapas including some of the classics like jamon Serrano, potatas brava, sizzling garlic prawns, paella, croquettes and churros.
The journey through Spain happened in two parts. We spent a few days in Madrid then travelled to Portugal only to re-emerge back in Seville and then onto Barcelona.
Madrid got off to a slow start. After being unscathed through "dangerous" South America, we jump on the Metro from the airport and Scott was pick pocketed within 5 minutes. Unfortunately for him, he also carried over some bug from Morocco, which left him curled up shivering in the fetal position on the bed. Still with high spirits we enjoyed our first meal in a rowdy local pub eating, drinking and watching passionately the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Madrid has a fantastic food culture, so every night we (well mostly Sara) enjoyed the vast selection of tapas including some of the classics like jamon Serrano, potatas brava, sizzling garlic prawns, paella, croquettes and churros.
Jamon Serrano at the market - restaurants carve it off the bone infront of you
Of course we also enjoyed some of the other things on offer such as the excellent art museums, giant royal palace and the classic stunning boulevards surrounded by 19th century buildings. We seamlessly fell into the routine of the afternoon siesta and enjoyed it so much we may plan on carrying on this Spanish tradition through the rest of Europe.
Huge Royal Palace
Seville is a stunningly rich city in all senses of the word. We learnt the strong influence the Moors from Africa had on this Southern Spanish city as we got hopelessly lost very quickly (the streets are as non-sensical as those in Morocco). Every street had at least 3 names, to remember corresponding local legends, unfortunately only 1 is mentioned on any map.
This city is at the heart of Spanish lifestyle. The sun goes down no earlier than 9pm, so dinners were regularly very late. The area is known for serving tapas in the most traditional sense: basic, cheap and big! Seville is the historical home and still the current soul of bullfighting, so a tour of the ring and museum was compulsory. It is crazy to think that 6 bulls a week are still sent to the slaughter (very slowly we might add) in the ring just for peoples entertainment!
The Bullring
Sara's highlight would have to be the flamenco dancer we saw that night. With front row seats we saw her swivel, stamp, clap, glower and sweat bullets in a hot small side street bar. Very cool. Whilst leaving Seville we kind of wished we planned a little more time in Southern Spain.
Front seats at the Flamenco show
That was of course until we arrived in Barcelona! With thousands of other tourists, we strolled the beach (British tourists will sunbake in a sandpit), the main boulevard, the famous markets (sampling a lot!) and the gothic area. Paella has been a popular recipe for us, so we also went to a cooking class, which turned out to be more of an eating and drinking class. After making ourselves a jug or two of sangria we signed up for an impromptu beer pong competition. Many tales can be told of how we battled through the odds (& drunkness) to come out Beer Pong Champions of Spain. Our prize? A bottle of vodka. With our prize and many new found friends we enjoyed a unique night out in Barcelona.
Delicious Steaming Paella
The next day we celebrated Sara's birthday. She was spoilt rotten with flowers, raspberries, seafood platters, a shopping spree and a fine dining experience of Spanish Asian fusion.
One Happy Girl!
We finished Spain with an excellent taste in our mouths, and hungry for more!
Until next time,
Scara
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