Hola again, but from Spain this time! We’ve (re)arrived in Europe for our final leg of the journey before concluding our year abroad. Honestly, we chose Spain because it was the cheapest direct destination in Europe from Buenos Aires. Being by far the most cost-per-day for our travel, flights have required us to be adaptable in our exact timelines. We’ve used most of the tricks (VPNs, Shopping on Tuesday, Credit Card Points) to find the deals, but ultimately flexibility in timing and destination has been our primary cost saver for flights.
I actually visited Spain with my family 20 years ago (WTF time) and so initially had a “been there, done that” mentality. I’m happy to report that there is in fact a ton to see in Spain and that I was not “bored” revisiting. Not only did I get to share some of my favorite memories with Madeline, but we jointly discovered new cities and regions. And, best of all, we got to see Roman ruins during A ROMAN REANACTMENT FESTIVAL!!!! Maybe, not a highlight for most but was another case of being in the right place at the right time during our travels.
Where Are We?
For our two week trip to Spain we split our time between the area surrounding the capital of Madrid and the southern Andalusian coast. here was our itinerary:
- Alcala de Henares (6 Nights) – A 30 minute train ride from Madrid, this historic, university town is the birth place of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of “Don Quixote”. The town is also known as a foody university town and we took full advantage of the plethora of bakeries and tapas bars to visit.
- Jaen & Granada (1 Night) – A stop over on our drive south, we spent a night near Jaen, surrounded by hills covered entirely in olive trees in all directions. We spent the next day exploring the city of Granada and the Alahambra, a famous Moorish palace/castle.
- Frigiliana (6 Nights) – Of the many famous white-washed towns of the Andalusian area, we settled on Frigiliana for its picturesque setting and proximity to Nerja and Malaga. The town was touristy between 10am-6pm when the buses arrived, but outside of those hours we had the place to ourselves.
Spain was perfect in early May. The hot days still pushed into the 80s F, but most of the time it was a very pleasant temperature for patio dining and seeing the sites. Hopefully it’s not another 20 years before we come back to the country.
Alcala de Henares
The next chapter of our journey actually began on the plane from Buenos Aires to Madrid, where we took what we thought would be a perfectly timed overnight starting at 3pm. The hope was for the kids to watch a movie, have an early dinner and sleep, awakening refreshed in Spain the following morning. Well, Aerolineas Argentinas operated on their country’s schedule, meaning dinner service at 10pm local time and everyone on the plane was happily chatting ALL NIGHT, standing and drinking mate in the aisles.
With tired eyes, we shouldered on through the next day, arriving in Alcala de Henares, a smaller city within striking distance of Madrid and the surrounding attractions. We stayed on the central square of the town, surrounded by beautiful buildings with huge storks nests on the tall towers. The kids loved spotting these birds and their babies is the massive nests that can apparently get up to 500 lbs and have to be “lightened” every year to prevent damage to the underlying building.
In Alcala we were met up with our friend Megan from Seattle for the week. The kids were excited to have another English speaker beyond their parents present and swamped her with requests for playing and book readings. Megan was a great sport both with the children and with us, as we were also excited to see a familiar face after our South American drought of visitors. Having Megan, a fellow foodie, also gave us a partner for exploring the local tapas scene. One parent would put the kids to bed and stay in while the other went with her to try all of the delicious cuisine in the area, which worked out better for the late dinner times anyway. We had way too many Tinto de veranos (red wine with lemon soda).
Completely by very convenient accident, we learned that the Roman Ruins of Complutum were nearby and that we just happen to be there the weekend of the Roman Reenactment Festival. I drug the whole gang along to watch demonstrations of ancient Roman life, translated by thankfully fluent Megan. The ruins themselves were really impressive and we kept the kids interested by explaining how a world pre-car/computer/Elsa could exist. Finally, there was a huge medieval-style market to walk through where we shopped and gorged on chorizo and pan con queso.
Getting to Madrid was a quick, 30 minute ride on the train. The kids have become quite adept at both finding window seats and counting the number of stops until we get off (and telling us at each and every stop). In Madrid we walked through the major squares and by the Royal Palace of Madrid (but didn’t go in). Poor retellings of Disney stories kept Mae distracted walking while Emmett rode in the stroller. Lunch was at the trendy Mercado de San Miguel which, while crowded, had great food variety and was worth the visit.
On our last day, I picked up our rental car for our drive south and we used it for a day trip out to Segovia. Here, we visited the Alcázar of Segovia, a massive 12th century castle turned museum. Walking through the halls and up the “Tower” is worth the entrance price. Additionally, Segovia hosts the extremely well preserved Roman Aqueducts. I know your thinking, “enough with the Romans, Alec!” but trust me when I say this one is worth it. I even got a glowing review of: “that’s pretty cool” from Madeline.
Our food journey centered around bakeries in the morning and tapas in the evening. For tapas, you order drinks that then come with a small food plate (aka tapa). The more drinks you have, the better the included tapa, so you see the game here. Here were a few of our standout places we visited and ate:
- Salinas (Alcala) – There were two locations in Alcala, serving delicious pastries. The town is famous for the Rosquilla de Alcalá (iced donut adjacent) and the Costrada (layered custard/cream/pastry cake). Each location had some unique items, but if you had to choose just one, the main square location has the better seating and views.
- Restaurante Casino (Alcala) – If we are honest, all the eateries started to taste similar with a common menu of tortilla (potato and egg omelet), bacalao (salted fish) and ham based dishes. Restaurante Casino, though was our standout, for the excellent terrace views and delicious food.
- ChocolaterÃa San Ginés (Madrid) – Churros with chocolate dipping sauce were everywhere and we made the pilgrimage to this famous location in Madrid. Based on the quantity we all consumed, it was worth the line. Stick with the churros vs the porras (think extra-thick churro) to maximize your crispiness to chocolate ratios.
- Mercado de la Cebada (Madrid) – The Mercado de San Miguel isn’t the only major market in Madrid. We stopped by the smaller Mercado de La Cebada to pick up some picnic supplies for dinner and it was much quieter, in a good way. There were far more locals here, eating and drinking at small stalls. Had we not already eaten, this looked like a far more authentic place to grab a bite.
Jaén and Granada
We bid farewell to Megan and I retook up my post as translator. We hopped in our rental Mini Cooper Countryman (Emmett’s new favorite car) and headed south. The scenery started to change from open plains to mountains with olive trees as far as you could see.
We overnighted south of the larger city of Jaén in Noalejo for no other reason than it was the cheapest accommodations we found on the route. If we were to do it over again, we would have spent an extra night here to tour one of the insane olive growers in the area. Still, Madeline did find an olive oil producer to stop by. Their “store” was literally their factory and Madeline was ushered into someone’s office in back where she declined buying barrels of olive oil and settled for “only” a half liter.
On to Granada, we arrived in the late morning and parked on the hill above the Albacin Neighborhood, the historic Arab quarters of the city that gave us views across the valley of the main attraction Alahambra. The picturesque streets were narrow, steep and terrible for strollers, which we gave up on about a block from the carpark. We got the best Focaccia sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life from Mastro Focatto AlbaicÃn and walked to the viewpoint (Mirador) next door to eat them.
We got our workout in: down the steep paths and then back up the equally steep ones on the other side to reach the Alhambra. The grounds were surprisingly expansive. Our original plans of spending a few hours there was sporty at best and we found ourselves lost and rushing as we tried to make it to the Nasrid Palace for our ticket time. Things got even worse when we failed to read the fine print, which requires you to have an ID with your entrance ticket (Mine was in the car glovebox for driving reasons), resulting in me running to the ticket office and back AGAIN for a special exception pass.
The Nasrid Palace is the highlight of the Alhambra with its indoor/outdoor living blend and rooms of intricate tile work. We then visited The Water Gardens, which are large green spaces with, you guessed it, water features. The impressive part of both these gardens and the palace is that it all runs off of a 13th century hydraulic system still functioning today. Words really can’t describe how beautiful this place is, so I’ll let Madeline’s pictures do most of the talking. Suffice to say, everyone should make the journey here at least once in their life time. We finished our time in Granada with a gelato and two sleepy kids in the car.
Frigliana
In planning Spain, we found ourselves overwhelmed by the choices when it came to visiting Andalusia. You could spend weeks here, going between the major cities of Seville or Cordoba mixed in with limitless, quaint mountain towns or beach stays between. For this trip, we settled on Frigliana, one of the popular “Pueblo Blanco” with white washed buildings. The town is within 10 min of Nerja, a charming beach destination. The tourist buses arriving in Frigliana were plentiful during our stay, but in the mornings before they arrived and evenings after departure we had the place to ourselves.
We loved walking through the cobblestone streets of the town (not stroller-able), stopping at shops on our way to the playground to meet other traveling families. If we were feeling sporty, we took the upper, hilly path, with great views of Frigliana, Nerja and the sea beyond. This route also has a private courtyard turned cat sanctuary that you could look in on, with a dozen cats lounging around in the sun on various beds. I can’t tell if the kids or Madeline were more excited.
Our stay coincided with Mother’s day, so the kids and I made a shakshuka breakfast to give us extra energy for a morning hike, a Madeline favorite activity. Frigliana has multiple hiking trails leading from the city and today we chose the one leading directly up behind the town to the Castle of Lizar (ruins). It was under a mile, but straight up, requiring much candy bribery to summit. At the top we explored around a reservoir and aqueduct we found before taking an alternate route back down. In the afternoon Madeline relaxed kid free on our roof terrace with a vino tinto while I played “Cars 3” downstairs with the kids.
On the hottest day (pushing 80F) we made a day trip to Nerja, walking the town streets and visiting the instagram-famous Balcón de Europa, a viewpoint overlooking the Mediterranean and surrounding coastline. We stopped at a few beaches before setting at one for some sandcastle building and water play. We had debated staying in Nerja, but after visiting were glad we had chosen otherwise. The city wasn’t bad, but felt fairly average when compared to our accommodations in our mountain village.
A few places of note from our travels around the area:
- Restaurante El JardÃn (Frigiliana) – We only visited for drinks and tapas but wish we had stayed for dinner. The restaurant is a hike to get to, but the terrace and views are the idyllic scene you dream of when you think of dining in Europe. The food was a fusion of Spanish/Moorish dishes that went great with our cold drinks after the hike.
- HeladerÃa Artesanal Virtudes (Frigiliana) – Fantastic gelato near the playground in Frigiliana.
- Frigiliana Tourist Train (Frigiliana) – Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, it was worth it. We learned a lot about the history of the area we wouldn’t have known otherwise. Also, what kid doesn’t like a train? Leaves from Plaza de los Tres Culturas and has a sign up during the day with departure times.
- Carabeo Beach (Nerja) – A beach in Nerja next to the Balcon de Europa. It was a bit crowded, but the sands and easy waves made it a good spot with the kids. Lots of amenities and restaurants in the area as well. Going east from this spot, there are several other calm beaches that are good options with kids. Note for all – you’ll have to walk down steep steps.
- Heladeria Kika (Nerja) – Amazing flavors of gelato down a pretty street. The beaches are not far for a good view or walk.
- Parque Verano Azul (Nerja) – Excellent ship-themed playground that the adults enjoyed just as much.
Tips & Lessons Learned
This is where we put all of the things we learned along the way about traveling in the region as well as traveling with toddlers.
- Eating with the Kids in Spain – Dinners in Spain, like most of Mediterranean Europe, are after 8pm. Our kids don’t do well with shifting to a later bedtime (they still wake up early no matter what time they go to bed) so we generally will eat lunch out for our fun meal and an easy dinner in so that we still get to experience the local food scene without dysregulated kiddos. In Spain, the earlier tapas hours before dinner (5-7pm) actually worked out pretty well as a dinner option. Our kids loved the Spanish tortilla (thick omelet of egg and potato).
- Tapas – Not everywhere has the famous free tapas! Sometimes we were pleasantly surprised when we ordered a drink and snacks arrived. Sometimes, we had a menu to choose from. It really depends.
- Festivals – Festivals are a fun way to experience the culture of the city. We unknowingly coincided with a weekend fest in Frigiliana right out our window which meant loud speakers until 3 am and sleepless kids! Had we known ahead of time, we would have chosen lodging a bit further away from the main square.
- A/C – Like many countries in Europe, air conditioning is not common in homes. If this is important to you based on time of year, make sure to double check the accommodation listing for WHICH rooms have a/c. Sometimes it’s listed as an amenity but only in one room.
- Alhambra – A must see but we learned some valuable lessons on our visit:
- You need to buy tickets in advance, like months ahead in the summer, to see the Nasrid Palace.
- Wear good walking shoes and pack lots of water and snacks. It was hot and you have to cover some larger open distances without shade. It’s also up a large hill so if you don’t want to walk, research alternative forms of transportation (looks like there were shuttles of some sort).
- It’s not stroller-able so plan extra time to check your stroller if you have one. Backpacks also have to be worn on your front. Only front baby carriers are similarly allowed.
- The layout and routes can be confusing. Research this ahead of time and have a plan of attack. You will spend hours here.
- The outside area has some open areas where you can sit and rest between sights.
- You need your passport AND the pre-purchased ticket to see the Nasrid Palace or stop by the main ticket office (on the entire opposite side) for a special exception ticket.
Closing
With Spain coming to a close we are excited by our next major leg of the trip: a two month road trip around Scandinavia including Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark!
