On to Part 2! I’ve been planning this adventure for a few months, and when the stars aligned that my family could join in on it, I got really excited about perfecting each part. Of course, it did not all go to plan, but we had a blast traveling through southern Spain, and they were troopers dealing with my desire to see as much as we could and do as much as we could.
After spending the first week of Winter Break in Boston, my mom came and joined us for the end of our trip! She arrived in the morning and powered through the day until our train ride to Sevilla in the evening. We had a great lunch, made a Zara stop, and went to the Prado before packing up to head south! We ordered a van Uber because we all had bags, and were stunned when a 16-passenger van showed up to take us to the train station. We laughed the whole way there.
We had a quick and easy train ride down to Sevilla and made it to the Airbnb before heading right to sleep. The next morning, we ventured out to the gym before my first itinerary item of the day, the Royal Alcazar of Sevilla. I was in Sevilla during spring break of my junior year at Yale, visiting my friend Molly, who was studying abroad there (an amazing group of friends on another awesome trip). But we didn’t get tickets to the Alcazar in time, so I was determined to see it on this trip. It certainly lived up to the hype, I thought, and we walked around all of the rooms and gardens. The pictures I have certainly don’t do it justice. The peacocks were awesome 🙂 Later, we stopped into the Cathedral and climbed the Bell Tower for an amazing view of Sevilla. Lev and I went back to read and rest while Mom and Clare had a drink along the sunny river.
Our next stop took us to the southern tip of Spain, Tarifa, by way of Cádiz. We rented a car in Sevilla (quite the misadventure, a longer story for another time, but which has resolved relatively well). Basically, be aware that booking.com offers great prices on Enterprise rental cars, and even if you book ahead, they might not have a car for you, leading to a same-day booking with Sixt (my new favorite rental car company for all my travels, including a very nice free upgrade later in Switzerland).
Despite our delay, we had time to stop quickly in Cádiz and walk around before grabbing sandwiches and getting back on the road heading to Tarifa. The travel woes continued, as our boat, also booked ahead of time, was delayed a few hours. We took the extra time to walk around the port area of Tarifa and secure ourselves a parking spot in the tiny ferry lot. There was a beautiful pier with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other!
Our ferry was cancelled, but there was another boat company that had tickets, so we took those and boarded the Africa Morocco Link bound for Tangier. After a short ride, much of it spent waiting in the customs line on the boat to be stamped into Morocco, we arrived rather late into the port at Tangier. I was determined to take the boat across, and despite some warnings about the weather, we had a very smooth crossing! We took a quick ride to our hotel nearby, got settled, and had dinner on the roof. There is a fascinating mix of English, Arabic, French, and Spanish in Tangier, and it was fun to watch the bustling city below from the roof.
We only had a short stay in Morocco, but my mom and I were intent on going to Chefchaouen. We woke up early and were picked up by our tour driver to take us to the famed blue city. After a roadside stop for tea, coffee, and a view, we arrived in the rainy blue city. We met our local guide who brought us to a lunch stop, before an amazing walk around the city. It was stunning! Lev got some cool cloak/sweater things (I wish I knew the names), and Mom took the chance on getting a rug shipped back to the US (it arrived!!). She was a good negotiator! We enjoyed learning about the history of the city, and before long, hopped back in our van for the ride back to Tangier.
Since it was New Year’s Eve, we made a reservation at a nearby restaurant. What began as a rather rough dining experience ended up being a funny and tasty dinner. The restaurant had an incredibly loud singer who started her set just after we sat down. The New Year’s Eve menu was fixed, and included more seafood and raw vegetables than we wanted to be eating 🙂 But after picking our way through the first bit of the meal, we enjoyed a great chicken thing (best name I’ve got for it) and steak, yum! We walked back to the hotel past a crazily decorated pickup truck selling snails and tea (it had a huge crowd!).
The next morning, we made our way back to the port to find that our scheduled boat was not there, and the next boat wasn’t leaving for a few hours. We made the most of our extra time in Tangier before boarding the boat for a quick trip back across the continental divide into Tarifa. The car was still there! A major win in my book! And we hopped in and drove to Gibraltar for lunch. It was my goal to spend New Year’s Day in three countries, which we did! Despite the slight overcast in Gibraltar, we had a great view of the rock and a tasty lunch at a British Pub.
We hopped back in the car and continued on to Málaga, the final stop on our journey through southern Spain. Arriving in Málaga, we magically found an open grocery store and cooked a nice dinner in our Airbnb. The sunrise the next morning was absolutely stunning, and we headed out early for my next most important itinerary item, the Caminito del Rey. This is a historic trail through a canyon outside of Málaga, and it’s been on my Spain list for a while. We hiked up through a tunnel to the starting point and met up with a guided group. We donned the required hard hats (for falling rocks, eek), and started down the path. The walking itself wasn’t challenging, but being on a suspended trail above a canyon brought its own fears and challenges. I thought the views were well worth it, and I think that Lev agreed until we made him cross the hanging bridge at the end. Over 300 feet above the gorge floor, I think his worry was fair. But we made it! We headed back into Málaga after the hike.
Back in town, we climbed up the Alcazaba, the fortress overlooking the city and the bay. I had seen the fortress with Paula in the fall, but didn’t climb all the way up to the top, which had an absolutely amazing view and was well worth it. We headed back to Madrid after our whirlwind of adventures. Clare and Lev departed for their continued European adventures, while my Mom went back to Boston.
It was an amazing trip from start to finish, and they were great sports for my desire for it to all be exactly perfect. And even though it didn’t quite go to plan the whole time, we made it to all the spots, and saw as much as we could. I had an excellent time. I hope you enjoy the photos below! Again, we reflected that we really, really missed Manny on our adventure. It just isn’t the same without him.
I’ve got one more blog post before I am fully caught up, and just in time for my next February adventures. Love to everyone!
Abe Tolkoff 