Berlin in Frankfurt

After quite the hiatus for most of 2022, I’m trying to document a couple of trips. Over memorial day, we spent a week in southern Spain, specifically the region of Andalusia. Most importantly, we ate a lot of delicious Spanish food, most notably Andalusian gazpacho. I was about 14 weeks pregnant on this trip and frankly felt pretty horrible for a lot of it but somehow gazpacho almost always sounded good.

Part 1: The White Towns of Andalusia

We flew into Málaga and headed straight to our Airbnb. We had this itinerary booked in April 2020 and obviously that didn’t happen. When we finally rebooked, our original Airbnb was the one thing I really cared about retaining and WOW it did not disappoint. Situated on a steep hillside near the small town of El Gastor, this property felt like its own resort and overlooked a turquoise-colored reservoir and the Zahara de la Sierra town, one of the White Towns of Andalusia. I mean…just look at it.

Over the four nights we spent in this region, we explored several white villages which were stunning but honestly, our favorite moments were breakfast or dinner on the patio at the house, cool dips in the pool, and enjoying a beautiful and comfortable house.

Ronda

Ronda is most famous for the three stone bridges overlooking the Tajo canyon – the tallest bridge is nearly 400 feet tall! We visited Ronda once in evening to see the town and bridges from the top and once in the morning to see the perspective from the bottom – incredibly impressive.

Olvera

I think Olvera was my favorite White Village. We parked at the bottom and slowly wound our way up to the church and old fortress at the top of the town. It was hot and sunny but the views were incredible and we quickly found popsicles and cold drinks to refresh ourselves in the shade.

Zahara de la Sierra

This charming white village was directly across the reservoir from our Airbnb. We enjoyed strolling the streets and a long leisurely lunch including a cold gazpacho (of course!).

El Gastor

We enjoyed a hidden gem in El Gastor, an unexpectedly delicious and creative restaurant called La Piscina, located next to the municipal pool. The menu was so creative and very inexpensive – thus we made the mistake of ordering way too much food – the waitress just laughed at us as she took our order.

Seville

Seville was an easy day-trip from our Airbnb and we enjoyed a hot but enjoyable day walking the city. We saw some but not all of the main sights in including Plaza de Espana and the very impressive Seville Cathedral (check out the photo of super detailed wooden alter below right). We enjoyed walking the expansive gardens, a leisurely tapas lunch at a quaint spot recommended by a friend, and of course multiple popsicles.

Part 2: Granada

Granada is such beautiful, gritty, and fascinating city. The intersection of European and Moorish architecture and culture makes it such a different experience than other European cities. A huge highlight of the city and the entire trip was touring the Alhambra complex. Nothing prepared for me for how massive the complex (really a whole city in itself) would be – thankfully we booked a small group tour otherwise it would have overwhelming to tackle on our own. Another special moment was enjoying the view of the Alhambra after dark from Mirador de San Nicolas while eating icy cold sorbet (sense a theme with the cold treats?).

Part 3: Málaga

For the last part of the trip, we enjoyed a day at Bahia Beach and a night in a nice hotel in Málaga. After a busy trip sightseeing it was wonderful to simply relax and enjoy snacks and drinks by the ocean and pool.