The South of Spain is nice! So much to see, so culturally rich, and so much interesting history. We titled this post Southern Spain because we have been in five different cities within the last week. Brace yourself, this is gonna be a long one.
We arrived in Seville after an easy two hour flight from Pisa. Using the infamous Ryanair to book our seats, we weren’t originally given seats next to each other as this somehow cost more money; but coincidentally, a lady who was supposed to sit next to me asked Al to switch so she could sit next to her daughter so it ended up working out perfectly - out of ALL the seats on the plane…
We checked into our “Pension” (one star budget hotel) in Seville, situated close to the city center. Our room was as simple as it gets, a small room with a bed and an adjoining bathroom. It was pretty tiny compared to the big apartment we were used to in Tuscany, but it served its purpose! We were on the third floor and in the center of the pension there was a nice courtyard with lots of plants. We arrived an hour earlier then we had noted in our reservation so we ended up waking up the Pension owner during his siesta, oops!
Needless to say, we learned some of Spain’s cultural differences pretty quickly after arriving. The “siesta” is a big deal here compared to Italy and meal times are pushed back because of it. Most restaurants, stores, etc, close down anywhere between 2-8 PM. Breakfast is usually between 10:30-11 AM, lunch 2-4 PM and dinner between 8-10 PM. Thus when we went out to get dinner at 6 PM the first night, many places were still closed and we were hungry! We ended up going to a bar and getting “tapas” (small, cheap, appetizer like dishes) and drinks which is what the locals do here. We ordered Jamón ibérico, a type of cured ham produced in Spain, and bruschetta. Coming from delicious and filling meals in Italy, we left a little hungry and unsatisfied. During our 3 days in Seville, the biggest challenge for us was finding a place to eat, because we’re a little picky (or we just like simple foods), on a budget, trying to still eat somewhat healthy, and trying to find places that are open when we’re hungry. We missed having a kitchen where we could have more control over what and when we eat.
Another difference we immediately noticed were the streets in Seville which were curved and very confusing! Not grid like streets like in other cities we had been to. The walk from our pension to the main attractions consisted of us walking down a narrow street with barely any sidewalk and which forked off in multiple directions. Thank goodness for Google Maps we didn’t get lost.
Since we were in the Andalusia region of Spain, we went to a Flamenco show our first night. Not knowing what to expect, we were surprised by the loud sounds, interesting dance moves, and high pitched singing. We were intrigued by the performance and glad we went but we were glad it was only an hour. The show we went to had two singers, one guitarist, and three dancers.
Our first full day in Seville we went on a free walking tour. The tour started out a little shaky as the guide was a “trainee” and was unprepared, awkward, and not entirely knowledgeable on the city. The lady training him kept correcting and criticizing him as he was talking. Luckily, she stepped in after the first couple stops and led the tour the rest of the way. The tour took us by all the main spots in Seville and ended at the Plaza de Espana, a huge mesmerizing building which we learned was used in filming the movies The Dictator and Star Wars.
I learned a lot on this tour about the history of Spain and had no idea it has so much Muslim influence. Some of the main takeaways we learned from our tour guide:
- The territory of Spain was originally made up of a combination of Celtic and North African peoples.
- Spain was part of the Roman empire, which eventually collapsed. Groups of Germanic people moved in and took over.
- Shortly after, Muslim forces came from North Africa and took over the region of Spain moving upward. It took the Christians 700 years to take reclaim the land back. Many Muslim buildings, palaces, mosques were then turned into churches, cathedrals, and fortresses. Today, the Islamic influence is still very prominent (especially in Southern Spain) in vocabulary, building structure and decor, and mosaic tiles throughout the city.
- In the 1300s there was a plague which killed 1⁄2 of Spain’s population (1⁄2 of the Christian population). The plague barely affected the Jewish population (due to better hygiene practices used primarily because of shabbat every week). This caused a resentment towards the Jews and fueled an anti-Semitic movement because the Christians started to think the Jews “started the plague to kill us” or were wizards or “had a pact with the devil”. Thus, the Christians attacked the Jewish quarter and killed 4,000 Jews in one day. This caused many remaining Jews to flea. Overtime, Seville went from a population of 5,000 Jews to 200-300 (not sure what it is now).
- Seville had three Jewish quarters and basically kept moving the Jews for free labor. Supposedly, the Jewish quarters were kept clean, they built sewers and other infrastructure. When the area got “too nice” they would make the Jews move to another area.
- Spain was a Christian country by law until 1975, didn’t have freedom of religion before then although Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived together in a divided society. Jews and Muslims had to pay a “Non-Christian yearly tax”, they had to live in certain area, Muslims had to have certain haircuts, etc.
Our second full day in Seville was busy! We explored the Real Alcazar, a royal palace which was originally made by Muslim kings. The gardens and detail of the buildings were unreal. We then went on a short tour of the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza - the bull fighting arena in Seville. After, we went into the Cathedral and climbed up the Giralda tower. The Cathedral is HUGE and is really a “Christianized Mosque”. It also contains the grave of Christopher Columbus. Who knew! After exploring all morning, we took a nice siesta and finally went out to dinner at the culturally appropriate time. I tried my new favorite Spanish tapa - Tortilla Patatas or a Spanish Omelette. It is basically an omelette made of eggs, potatoes, and onions and surprisingly reminded me of my Babie’s knishes that she would make during Jewish holidays.
The following day, we woke up early and made our way to the train station to pick up our rental car to drive to Granada. In planning this leg of the trip, it seemed easiest to rent a car for a couple days to hit all the spots we wanted to see. But we didn’t anticipating having such a big car…Somehow we ended up with a minivan, which was super fun driving through the narrow city streets…Our relationship was definitely put to the test driving in Spain. We already knew the streets were confusing, but driving was even more of a challenge as the street signs and turns weren’t entirely clear. We agreed, out of Croatia, Slovenia and Spain, the 3 places we rented a car, Spain was the most confusing to drive in. After a couple wrong turns, some anxiety, and 2.5 hours, we made it to Granada. Props to Al here, he did a great job! Interestingly, the scenery and weather here has reminded us the most of SoCal.
Thankfully, our tour guide in Seville had given us the heads up that the ticket process to get into the Alhambra in Granada had changed within the last month, making it much more difficult to get tickets. Al was a smarty pants and checked the ticket website first thing in the morning and there were tickets available due to cancellations from the previous day. We spent three or so hours exploring the Alhambra, which like the Alcazar in Seville, was a huge palace and fortress which changed hands from Muslim to Christian rule over history. The grounds were huge and the detail and symmetry in the designs of the buildings were insane. The Muslim influence was still very significant. The view overlooking the town of Granada, with its white buildings and snowy mountains, was beautiful. Although we didn’t see much of the town itself, we were still glad we made the trek to see the Alhambra.
Leaving Granada, we took the coastal route to get to our home base for the next 5 days, Malaga. As we were driving, we got to see an amazing sunset shining on tons of little white towns on the hills. Driving through Malaga and finding parking on a busy Saturday night was stressful but we finally found a spot in a parking structure close to our Airbnb. Turns out there was a Jazz festival going on in the city as well = even more people! But there were musicians playing in squares throughout the city which was kind of cool. Our apartment was only the fourth floor and was really nice and spacious and right in the heart of the popular Malaga streets. We immediately made our way to a grocery store to stock up on food for dinner and breakfast the next day and passed out after a long day.
The next day was another long one as we were taking a day trip to the city of Ronda, a town inland famous for its huge bridge and gorge. The drive was much easier this time around (or maybe we’re getting better at navigating and communicating) and we found free parking which was a bonus. Since it was fairly small, we stumbled upon the city center without a map and made our way down a path into the gorge. We got some awesome pictures and views here and ate lunch underneath the bridge and on top of a waterfall. We enjoyed walking through the streets of Ronda as well. There were Christmas lights dangling across the streets, and the Spanish style white buildings with yellow trims against the blue sky was very picturesque. Leaving Ronda, we made our way to another coastal town called Marbella to watch the sunset. The drive literally felt like we were driving through Big Bear in California - a windy road along the edge of a mountain with tons of trees. Since it was Sunday evening, during off season, during siesta, the streets of Marbella weren’t too crowded which was nice although not much was open. We walked through the cute streets, got drinks and tapas at a restaurant on the boardwalk, and watched an amazing sunset. From the beach, we could faintly see an outline of Morocco across the water which was pretty cool. Closest I’ve ever been to Africa!
Our remaining few days in Malaga were slower paced. We went on another walking tour, watched the sunset from Castle de Gibralfaro, and walked along the beach and streets of the city center. We were continually surprised how many times we felt like we were in California, walking along the streets of Santa Monica or the boardwalk of Newport Beach. The weather was warm and sunny and the streets were lined with amazing Christmas light displays (although they don’t turn on until Nov 24th). Some other fun facts we learned while here: Espana actually means Rabbits; Actor Antonio Banderas and artist Pablo Picasso were from Malaga. Pablo Picasso’s real name is actually: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. The “siesta” is actually a Roman legacy as the Romans would take a nap after lunch during “hora sesta” (hour six) which eventually came to be known as the siesta.
Some other things we have noticed thus far in Spain - tons of shopping, especially shoe stores, on like every corner. Lots of American chains - so far we’ve seen Taco Bell, Burger King, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, KFC and Starbucks. Wine is cheap! We got a full bottle at a grocery store for 1.50 euro.
We now head to Madrid and Barcelona - two other regions of Spain! We will be interested to see how things compare.