Spain on the Brain

I’m back baby!

It’s been a while, but I’ve recently been trying to find the time to pursue opportunities that bring joy to my life, and sharing my memories and perspectives with others definitely hits the sweet spot of happiness!

It’s been almost a month since I came home from my trip to Spain, and I’ve been reminiscing about my experience and felt the need to write it down and share some of my favorite photos I took along the journey.

My gorgeous parents smiling after 12+ hours of planes, trains, and car rides.

To start off with, we travelled to the northern tip of Spain and landed in San Sebastian. We took one of my favorite hikes in the entire world on the Camino de Santiago - The Walk of Saint James. This pilgrimage spans all the way from the north east area of Spain until the Cathedral de Compostela in northwestern Spain.

From there, we sent to one of the best bed & breakfasts I’ve ever stayed at in the heart of Olive Oil Country. Admittedly, I did wind up with a terrible bout of vertigo during the trip (there isn’t such a thing as a straight road in Spain), but luckily we were there for several days, so I was able to recover and enjoy the downtime in our trip.

One of the only good photos of the landscape I was able to capture in our van.

I have to be honest, I think this was one of the hardest places to leave. The culture in these parts of Spain is so different than the culture I grew up in - people work to live comfortably, but they do not obsess over their careers. Family and good food always take priority. The particular couple that owned this B&B moved from the U.K. and restored this centuries old villa.

The family had two dogs and a cat, and let me tell you, there were the stars of the show. It took every bit of self-restraint for me not to kidnap this rascal and bring him home with me.

From there, we went to Granada, one of the more commonly known cities in Spain. I was so blessed with so many amazing experiences on this trip, and one of the top memories for me was eating at a famous restaurant on top of a hill and watching the sun sweep over the the Alhambra and dive into the mountains. We proceeded to take a night tour of this beautiful palace, and it was breathtaking.

From there, we city hopped all around Southern Spain and Valencía, trying to fit as much of the country as possible in just a few short days

We ended our stay in the vibrant city of Sevilla where the heat will melt your eyebrows. I was thoroughly embarrassed at our terrible communication skills the entire trip, but I am very grateful to all the Spaniards who graciously attempted to understand our monkey talk.

This trip was one for the books. It’s difficult to surpass all of the amazing, surreal moments that I was able to experience not just by myself, but with my family. I will certainly cherish the time I had with these people, although I might have some severe PTSD from all the nights spent sleeping in the same room as my snoring little sister…