Botin

We left beautiful Granada and headed via train to our next city in Spain- Cordoba. Our hotel was another really pretty place! I must say- my husband sure knows how to pick them!

We try to use our earned hotel points whenever possible, but when there aren’t any Hiltons or Intercontinental, we search Trip advisor for the best reviews and prices.

As soon as we checked in we dropped of our stuff and quickly headed to see the famous “Cathedral of Cordoba” AKA ” The great mosque of Cordoba”. Yes- a Muslim mosque and a Christian cathedral in the same place! This Catholic cathedral was divided into Christian and Muslim halves in the year 711, when the Muslims conquered Spain. The split lasted until 784, when a muslim king gained the entire property and had it demolished. He then built a grand mosque. It wasn’t until the year 1236, when Christians regained rule of Cordoba, and it became a Catholic church. Muslims have been campaigning to gain access for prayer in the property since 2000, but have been denied by the Vatican. I found the history of this place to be haunting and so incredibly interesting!

We walked all along the streets of Cordoba exploring the beautiful, small town.We stumbled upon a fabulous restaurant and had an amazing dinner! I had veal and John had a delicious steak!

The next morning we saw the ancient Roman ruins! They date back to 40 AD!

But that doesn’t even compare to the ancient Roman bridge of Cordoba, which dates back to 1st century BC! Yes, BC! How crazy is that?!

We loved our time in Cordoba but had to continue on to our next city- Toledo (pronounced Toe- lay- doe)-

We again took the fabulous train system to Toledo. We arrived after dark, but were mesmerized by the beauty of this city as we rode in via cab to our hotel. We instantly wished we had more then 2 days here!

Our hotel was so nice , and they gave us wine and chocolates at arrival.

We had a great dinner at a local place recommend by our hotel concierge. John had suckling pig and I had fish.

The next day we had another 15 mile hike day through the town and surrounding areas.

Camino de Santiago, is one of the most well known hikes worldwide. It takes most people between 4-6 weeks to complete the entire almost 500 mile pilgrimage hike. It is known as a very spiritual hike, as it follow the path of St. James. We walked a portion of it and really enjoyed every minute! During this hike John and I decided to add Machu Picchu to our bucket list for the near future.

After a wonderful time in Toledo, we were ready for our next stop- Madrid! After 4 cities in Spain I had already started noticing many trends, which continued on throughout our next stops.

Very common things seen throughout Spain:

1- People smoking cigarettes

2- People drinking wine/ beer at every meal and all hours of the day

3- Smiling/ laughing/ happy people- they sing, dance and seem to love having a good time

4- Adorable outside cafes are EVERYWHERE

5- Dog poop (cities in Spain are pretty clean minus the dog poop- we had to be on constant alert to not step on it)

6- Affectionate couples- Spaniards seem like a very romantic group of people- always kissing, hugging, holding hands anywhere and everywhere

7- Places closed at random times in the day. Many places close for a few hours in the afternoon for their “siesta time”- but it is not uncommon to see businesses closed at other times that you would think they would be open. John and I wondered how some places stayed in business with their lack of open hours.

8- When they are open, many places seem short staffed. We noticed this trend at many different restaurants and shops. Since they don’t tip in Spain ( socialist government), they are paid more per hour, thus having less staff on duty at a time. Many times the 1 bartender/ server on staff would be running around like crazy, completely overwhelmed. Spaniards don’t seem to mind waiting though. In the US I think we expect quick and good service since we tip.

There are other trends I may touch on later, but now moving on to Madrid!

A few hours train ride and we were there! We stayed at the beautiful Intercontinental.

We had only a short time to rest and get ready before we had a Tapas, Taverns, and History tour. My parents and brother had been in Madrid a few weeks earlier and loved the tour! My mom offered to buy it for us as a Christmas gift. It turned out to be a great gift! Our tour guide, Shaun was an Irish- Spaniard, with a very strong Irish accent. The tour met outside a Costa coffee shop. As soon as we heard American accents we began chatting with the the two other couples. One couple Scott and Kelly, are from Philly, and the other Gianna and Dave from Delray Beach. Another guy, from Japan, seemed very reserved, but nice. We waited a few minutes for two others who were supposed to be joining us. Shaun said he would give them 2 more minutes and then we would have to leave. We started walking and just happened to run into both of them. Casey, who lives in South beach, and Mark from Chicago.

Shaun took us to our first tavern, where we had Iberian ham and vermouth. He explained that unlike other European countries, Spain never really went through the industrial revolution. Spain never had a “great depression”to the extremes of other nations, therefore (according to Shaun),they never had to develop cheap ways to eat. He said the Spaniards take great pride in preparing and enjoying good food. The Iberian ham is a great example. The ham (jamon) comes from a specific breed of black pigs who graze special fields only eating a diet of acorns. They live to about 4 months before they are sacrificed. The Spaniards use all parts of the animal and spend a very long time curing the meats. It is cut very, very thin and definitely has a good flavor. I can’t eat more than a bite or two of it- but many Spanish eat it daily. Can you imagine a diet of wine and red meat? Yet, they have good life expectancy.

Speaking of wine, Shaun mentioned that, although Spaniards drink wine/ beer/ vermouth often, you will never see them “rowdy” or “over do it”. He says that culturally, even as young children, they are taught to enjoy their spirits in moderation.

Our tour continued on as Shaun pointed out different buildings and statues. He gave us some history and one of our stops was the oldest tavern/ restaurant in the world- “Botin”. We had different tapas with wine or beer at each stop. We had delicious garlic shrimp, anchovies, and even pig ears!

Shaun really stressed his love for Spain, and made it very clear that he found the Spaniards to be a superior culture to other European countries. We discussed the random business closings, and shortage of staff. He said ” Spaniards can be productive- key word- can be”. Interestingly, Spain has a very high unemployment rate currently. At over 22%, that is more than double the rate of Italy and France. Amongst younger people the rate is even higher.

Below-On way to the tour ( wearing my amazing Younique Lipstain that stays on even with sipping wine)

Our fun Group

Pig Ears

We really had a blast on the tour and made some new friends! We exchanged info with Gianna and Mark, and went out for an “after tour” drink with Scott and Kelly. (Haha, love our faces in this pic)

The next morning John and I found a place to do laundry. Scott and Kelly emailed me and said they were going to the Real Madrid Soccer game the next day. John was so excited when I told him. He had looked a few weeks ago for tickets but couldn’t find any good seats for a good price. He immediately went online and found us some great seats! The whole afternoon John was like a little kid before Christmas. It was so cute how excited he was!

We spent the afternoon and evening walking all around Madrid. We even found the official Real Madrid store, so we got some fan gear for the game!

Changing of the guard