Andalusia

Malaga - October 4 to October 11

On October 4th, we took a direct flight from Edinburgh to Malaga, and my bike arrived (I became paranoid since my London mishap). I assembled it at the airport and biked to the place we've rented. Maggie took bus where a man got kicked off for not wearing a mask!

The place we rented was nice and a 150m from the beach (also a very nice change from staying in hostels). Coming from rainy and cold Scotland, the weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold.

At night, we walked around the city center, which is only accessible to pedestrians. We had dinner at a delicious Latin American restaurant.

On October 5th, I went to a bike shop that had a nice variety of bikes. I've been looking to purchase a gravel bike since I was in Scotland, and I really liked the Orbea Terra. I got a good deal on it with the exchange of my current bike, so welcome home Rosita!

Maggie walked to Decathalon to get a yoga mat and paddles. After work, we played paddle at the beach and went swimming. At night, we went back to the center for more delicious food and some Helado.

On October 6th, I had my first Gravel experience with Rosita. Super fun and super tough!

We then went out to eat, and mostly did work for the rest of the day.

On October 7th, I had a short ride around Malaga and then went for lunch at the beach. The portions were huge and Maggie ate a whole fish which, according to her, was delightful.

We then worked for the rest of the day before going out for dinner. We tried to find some local live music but ended up at an Irish bar.

On October 8th, we went for brunch and then relaxed at the beach. We rented beach lounges and an umbrella, and spent the afternoon reading and playing paddle.

October 9th was another lazy and relaxing day. We went for brunch again, and Maggie squirted lemon everywhere. We then headed to the beach to play paddle.

We went back to the city center to visit the Alcazaba, and learnt way too much about doors.

For dinner, we had delicious Tortilla de patatas for the first time (but definitely not the last time).

On October 10th, I went for a bike ride. Midway, it started raining very hard, and at one point I slipped and fell going around one of the many roundabouts. Thankfully no injuries, just a small scratch for Rosita.

On October 11th, I biked to the train station and Maggie walked. Our next destination was Sevilla, but we were having a hard time buying train tickets online. Both our cards were not being accepted, and it seemed like this is a regular occurrence with most international cards. Sadly, the train was full, and most other trains did not allow Rosita on board.

So I biked to the airport to rent a car that allowed a drop off in Sevilla, and came back to get Maggie from the train station. The cost of renting the car and the fuel to drive to Sevilla came to half the cost of the train tickets 🤷.

Sevilla - October 11 to October 14

When we got to Seville, the streets around our Airbnb were so narrow, and we kept missing our turn. We had to drop off our stuff quickly as there was nowhere to park, and then I drove to return the car and biked back to the apartment.

Sevilla had a much larger tapas culture than Malaga. For lunch, we got tapas at a very good place, and then had delicious helado. After work, we walked around the city center and ate at a delicious tapas restaurant (delicious chicken curry).

On October 12th, I went for a nice gravel ride and passed by the Teatro Romano de Italica.

We then spent the day working before going out for dinner, but all the good places were still closed because we went out too early. We wandered around for a bit before getting more tapas.

This was a common theme in Spain: Restaurants don't serve food before 9pm, where as restaurants stopped serving food at 9pm in Scotland!

On October 13th, I went for another bike ride around Sevilla.

At night went to watch a nice flamenco show in La Carboneria, which was recommended by Ignacio. This was our last night in Sevilla, so we had a late night, bar hopping for tapas and drinks.

On October 14th, I biked to the airport to get the rental car and Maggie walked to the train station to meet me out of the downtown core so I wouldn't have to drive the tiny streets.

She tried to order me a sandwich, but all she was able to get was very dry ham sandwich. Apparently the only Spanish word she was able to remember was Jamon!

Ubrique - October 14 to October 16

We drove to Ubrique, a very small town where everyone hung out on one street. The area around Ubrique was nice and seemed like a good biking destination, but I didn't bike while there.

On October 15th, we did the hike along the old Roman road. The path was not very clear, and at first, we couldn't find the Salto del Cabrero hike from the town of Benaocaz. While looking for the path, we sat on the concrete at a roundabout and people tried to give me Jesus cards. I was redeemed!

Back in Benaocaz, we went for beers but couldn't find a spot to eat (the two restaurants in town were fully booked). So we continued to Ubrique and went to the main street to eat.

On October 16th, we drove to Grazalema and did a very nice hike.

After the hike, we went to the main square to eat. When ordering, the waiter told us that we ordered too much! He ended up not bring everything we ordered 😂!

We then went to a shop to get olives and cheese before driving to Carratraca, a tiny town near el Chorro.

Carratraca - October 16 to October 18

The town was even smaller than Ubrique. Nothing was open, and I had to drive to a sketchy grocery story in another town to get tea, popcorn and ice because that's all they had.

On the 17th, I went biking to El Chorro and had a massive head winds on the way back.

After the ride, we drove to a town nearby to have tapas. We then drove to El Chorro so Maggie could see it.

We walked up to a nice view point in Campillos, and went swimming in the turquoise lake.

At night, I couldn't sleep because I was worried that Rosita, left on the rooftop, was getting rained on. But it turned out that it was just the noisy fridge!

Córdoba - October 18 to October 21

On the 18th, we drove to Córdoba and stayed at a nice place near the city center. For lunch, I ordered a Flamenquín at a kind of fancy place that wouldn't give me mustard as it will ruin the taste of the Flamenquín! The Spanish are particular about how and how much to eat!

In the evening, we walked around and went across the Roman bridge for tapas.

On the way back, we passed through the old city by the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba.

On the 19th, I went for bike ride and got lost. The Strava route suggestions for gravel riding are very bad and make up trails where none exist!

We had Tortilla de patata at Bar Santos, a very small place with few tables, but a popular take out spot. So we sat by the Mosque–Cathedral to eat.

At night, we went to a tapas place that brings out the tapas on boards, and you can select which ones you want. I ate so many! We then went to a live music place and saw flamenco show.

On October 20th, I bought fresh eggs and bread and we made breakfast. It was very rainy, so we stayed in during the day.

At night, we went back to the same music bar and listened to jazz.

On the 21st, in the pouring rain, I biked (Maggie walked) to the bus station to catch the bus to Granada. The bus was very busy and we had to wear masks the whole time (not sure why, since nobody wears a mask anywhere else), so not very fun.

Granada - October 21 to October 23

In Granada, I biked to the Airbnb which was outside of the downtown core. Maggie took the tram.

The Airbnb was nice - big room in a shared house with a nice back terrace. We went to grab food and then ate and worked on the terrace.

At night, we walked to downtown Granada and went out to eat. The tapas scene in Granada is great but super busy. We eventually found a great spot with good tapas. I sat on a tiny chair and Maggie made fun of me 😔.

October 22nd was walking and eating kind of day. We had brunch (cauliflower white chocolate croquette) and then walked to Alhambra. We couldn't get in because tickets were sold out for months.

We walked around the grounds and snuck in through a church. We had a drink at a lookout point and then walked back into town for tea in a tea house.

While having ice cream in a nice park, we saw some guys eating delicious Tarta. They highly recommended it and the place was close by. So we went and had to wait in line. Maggie got the gluten free tarta, and I got chocolate tarta. We walked around while we ate them. Maggie was full, so she transferred her tarta into my box.

Suddenly we heard a lady shouting "azucar, azucar!" (sugar). She grabbed both tartas from my box with her hand and shoved them in her husband's mouth, who was in some sort of diabetic coma. He then barfed everywhere and the lady's hand was bleeding because he bit her. Maggie tried to help them and I was sad because I had no more tarta. Here was the last shot of me with the tarta.

Afterwards, we hiked up to Mirador de San Cristóbal to see the sunset and had a drink at a fancy restaurant. We then walked to Sacromonte.

For dinner, we went to Om Kalsum for wine and Moroccan and Middle Eastern style tapas.

On the 23rd, we went for breakfast near the Airbnb. I biked to our hostel in Cogollos De la Vega, a town near Granada, and Maggie took a tiny bus that had no suspension.

Cogollos De la Vega - October 23 to October 26

In Cogollos De la Vega, we went for a nice hike.

I then went for dinner with some people from the hostel.

On October 24th, we went climbing with the guide (Edu). It was fun, but very hot in the sun.

After the climb, we tried to get lunch but everything except a small corner store was closed (for siesta time). We got salsa and Tostitos.

In the afternoon, we went to a grocery store and got in trouble for trying to pick out your own produce.

On the 25th, I went for a bike ride. The start was great, but then I got lost (I blame Strava's routing algorithm suggesting non-existent trails), and got a flat.

We then had lunch at the hostel and worked for the rest of the day.

On the 26th, I biked (Maggie took the bus) to Granada, and then we took the train to Almería.

Almería - October 26 to October 29

In Almería, we walked to the Airbnb which was near the beach, but outside the city center.

On the 27th, I went for an easy bike ride.

We then walked to city center and had amazing tapas at Casa Puga, and then some more tapas at another place.

We then went to the beach and played paddle and swam. At night, we went out for dinner downtown (of course more tapas).

The 28th was mostly spent working and eating super delicious food and drinks, with a bit of paddle and swimming. We went for tapas in the city square, then for more at Casa Puga. And then to a third place that served fried cheese with popping candy.

Almería was my favourite stop in Andalusia when it came to food!

On the 29th, we took an early bus from Almería to Alicante. It was a much easier ride than the bus from Cordoba to Granada. We sat in the front row and watched HBO's Chernobyl.

Alicante - October 29 to October 31

We walked from the bus station to our Airbnb. It wasn't ready yet, so we sat in the Soho park and had beer and mojito.

We then went to the "mushroom street" and had tapas.

Alicante was more touristy than Almeria. The food, while not bad, is not as good and costs 3 times as much. And the beach is not as nice.

On the 30th, I went for a nice ride up the mountains around Alicante.

We then had lunch, delicious Halloween ice cream, and sat by the beach doing some trip planning.

On the 31st, we took a train to Valencia. I almost didn't make it on the train as they made me completely disassemble Rosita so it could fit in a bike bag!

Valencia - October 31 to November 3

Valencia was good and relaxing. We had a nice place with a rooftop, but we were not allowed to use the kitchen. We spent it mostly working, eating paella, and walking around. I only went for one short bike ride.

On November 5th, we took a train to Barcelona, and Rosita caused a bit of a commotion again!

Barcelona - November 3 to November 5

Barcelona was fun! We did a walking tour about the Spanish civil war which was very good. But for some reason, it was very awkward when we asked locals about their take on the subject.

We had delicious food and tapas.

We made fools of ourselves by joining a flash mob dancing in a public square.

On November 5th, we walked up to see the Guëll park followed by a delicious brunch.

It was time for me to leave and head back to Lebanon :(. I carried Rosita in the her giant box down five flights of stairs, and through a packed Plaça Reial and La Rambla to catch a taxi to the airport. Maggie went back to Valencia where she had joined a class to learn Spanish and be able to order more than just a dry ham sandwich.