7 Cities I visited outside of Barcelona:
1. Malaga ~ 1/29/19
My Malaga weekend trip with Amanda was a nice, relaxing getaway. It was a lovely first weekend trip while abroad! It felt like we were there for a good amount of time, which surprised me considering we were only there for 3 nights. Malaga is on the coast of southern Spain, so it was warmer and much more sunny than Barcelona. The weather was mid 60s each day which felt nice as it’s been getting pretty cold in the city. Our flight there was extremely fast. It was about an hour, and pretty smooth except for some turbulence during the landing. When we arrived, we taxied to the Alcazaba Premium Hostel, which was on a walking-only street surrounded by little restaurants. We stayed in a 6 bed (female only) room. It had 3 sets of bunk beds and a bathroom. This was an interesting experience... and was honestly pretty funny. The bathroom was in the room, and one girl in particular was good at making it VERY smelly in there......... Luckily we were barely ever in the room. Also, it was so hard to climb up to the top bunk because of the skinny metal ladder. Every time I did, I laughed so much and barely made it.
We spent the first night exploring the streets nearby our hostel, eating along the way. There was a small sandwich place called 100 Montaditos with delicious cider, and after we got some gelato around the block. Overall, the weekend was us exploring the major landmarks by foot. We saw the Alcazaba Castle, which was run by the Muslim Empire in previous centuries. The architecture was so interesting... you can tell they used all the materials at hand to build, because there was a hodgepodge of different stones secured with cement. The Alcazaba was located on top of a decent hill, and on the walk ways of it you could see the ruins of the Roman Theater just below. It was pretty amazing that the theater is still intact. After researching it, I learned that it has been there since at least the 15th century! The best part of our daily explorations was the bright sun. From about 12-4 pm everyday it was so sunny, we didn’t need our jackets. We checked out the Malaga Port, which is quite modern and loaded with restaurants and some shops. There was a massive ferris wheel called the Mirador Princess right along the waterside, which we went on at sunset. The view was perfect; one side was the ocean, and the other was the skyline of the Malaga city center. The sunset was the best time to go, with the colors making it even more beautiful.
The Mirador Princess: Malaga, Spain
Afterwards we walked along the port and we saw a ton of fish swimming in the ocean along the walk way. They were large black fish and it was so cool. You could literally touch them (I really wanted to..... but I was too scared). We checked out this rooftop bar on the top of the Palacio Hotel, where we got fantastic, fancy mojitos. The only negative was that it was pretty cold up there during the night time. Afterwards, we decided to try paella for the first time for dinner. It was served in a huge cast iron pan for us to share. The dish was loaded with a variety of seafood, yummy rice and typical paella seasonings. I thought it was yummy. It reminds me of a seafood risotto. I also tried croquetas for the first time! They were veal croquetas, and they were very delicious. I would like to get them again. The next day we hiked up to Castillo Gibralfaro, which had gorgeous views of the whole city all along the way. Once we got up there, we could see the water which looked so stunning. The castle itself was a little boring outside of the views. You could not go inside; you could just walk throughout the perimeter walk ways (and there was an entrance fee). But for the views of the city I would recommend it. The Picasso Museum was next, where we saw lots of Picasso’s pieces throughout his lifetime. He was born in Malaga, so it was interesting to go to a museum of his work in his actual hometown. You couldn’t take pictures though, which was disappointing. I snuck in a few...
If I am being completely honest, it was boring but I am not very educated in art like this. We went back to the port again, and got to see the swarms of fish in the daylight. People were feeding them and they were all congregating by the sidewalk. All of a sudden, the sky shifted from cloud free to insane fog like I had never seen before. The fog was so thick, you could not see the line where the ocean and sky met! It looked like a scene from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We had intentions to try out a club since it was Saturday night. But, when we arrived at one of them at midnight, there were literally only 4 girls in the whole place! It was wild. Literally entirely empty. So we laughed and danced with plenty of space to ourselves and then we left. A bouncer nearby told us nowhere gets crowded until at least 1am, and we were honestly too tired to wait until then. But at least we tried. On Sunday, we went to my favorite place of the trip, the Malaga Cathedral. The doors were open for the public and we got to see the absolutely stunning architecture within it. It was surreal, the massive heights of the ceilings and the detail on every inch of the wall was breathtaking. It was unfathomable that people could have built such a building! And so long ago. I loved it. We wandered around the city for the remainder of the afternoon until it was time to taxi back to the airport. The flight home was wonderful; it was very fast and I got to take a nap.
Review:
Favorite Things that we did in Malaga:
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Ferris wheel overlooking the water and city
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the Cathedral
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Views from Castillo Gibralfaro
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sunsets at the port
Overall I found Malaga to be a laid back trip. I felt extremely safe while I was there, and the majority of the population was elderly men and women. The streets and buildings felt very European; more so than Barcelona. I would recommend Malaga for history and hike lovers in particular. The hikes had amazing views with peaceful scenery. During the warmer season, it would be a nice place to relax by the beach.
Madrid ~ 2/8/19
For another weekend trip I visited Madrid, though this one was included in my program (CEA). They provided us with transportation, a hotel, and minimal activities. During the majority of the trip, we were able to explore independently. My favorite part was going as a program, because I was able to socialize with many people I had met prior, and meet new people as well! We took the high speed train from Barcelona straight to Madrid, which took about 2.5 hours. The train ride flew by, as I sat next to a boy who went to Umass Amherst as well that I hadn't met before! That was a nice surprise, considering very few Umass students were in my program. When we got off, we took a 10 minute walk as a big group to our hotel. There were at least 50 students participating on the trip. We arrived at our hotel, called TYRP at Atocha. It was a pretty nice place to stay, which I was happy about. My friend Larissa and I shared a room and we were right next door to our friends Sarah and Jackie. After dropping off our things, a group of us decided to get lunch. We went to this little tavern around the corner from the hotel, and it was definitely an authentic Spanish restaurant. The waiter only spoke in Spanish, and the menu was entirely Spanish as well. I ordered the house salad, the chicken thighs and the flan for dessert with sangria to drink. The salad caught me by surprise.... it was covered with baby eels!!!! Ew ew ew. I was not a fan and it just freaked me out... so I ate around them. After this we all went back to the hotel for a longgg nap. We needed it; we had hit the road very early in the morning! When we woke up, a group of us went out to a restaurant called Taberna Mas Al Sur. We had yummy sangria that tasted so much like juice I think it had nearly no alcohol in it. We also shared croquetas and I had raviolis for my main dish. It was not the best food, but I enjoyed it. We went to an Irish bar for a while, but it was pretty boring. We attempted to go to two more places, another bar that was very crowded, and a club that had a massive line out the door. Instead, we decided to call it a night, and hit one of the popular clubs the next day. One thing that was really noticeable was the people out on the streets constantly trying to lure you into their restaurants, clubs, parties, etc. There were men and some women who would stand on popular streets at all hours of the night stopping those passing by to convince them to go to whatever place they were promoting. It was sketchy, and we must have been confronted at least 15 times on our walk back to the hotel Friday night.
Sangria @ Taberna Al Sur: Madrid, Spain
On Saturday, we woke up bright and early, got ready, and headed to the hotel lobby for breakfast. We had all signed up for the Art museum tour at the Reina Sophia, which started at 11am. We had a tour guide, but it was boring in my opinion, mainly because it was long and our guide talked... a lot. I was also tired. Though, the paintings were pretty cool to look at. The details on them were amazing. During the afternoon, I wanted to do my own exploring. I walked toward the heart of the city, onto this main shopping street called Gran Via. It is so much like New York I thought. The whole city really. Even more so than Barcelona! On the way there I stopped in a little boutique shop and bought a cute top. As I walked, I thought the main streets of Madrid were beautiful. The tall massive buildings had lovely architecture and pretty storefronts. I ate some specialty pizza slices for lunch from Papizza and just roamed around. Later in the night, I went to a friend's hotel room and got ready for the night. The group of us played a lot of card games, drank wine, and listened to music. Then..... we went to the crazy club El Kapital!! It was SEVEN floors of bars, dancing, and music. Many of the floors played different styles of music, so you could change up the vibe depending what you were feeling. The top floor had huge bars and high ceilings. That was the designated smoking floor, where people could sit and lounge and take a break from the dance areas. There were 2 floors of Spanish music, which were the best floors to dance on. Then there were 2 floors of rap/pop, and two floors were like typical club/EDM music. The first floor was like a huge concert venue with a big floor space for people to all party. By 4am, everyone was about to get ready to leave, but we passed two friends at the coat check, and they were not happy. They had lost their coat check slips, and could not get their coats! The club made them wait until close to take their jackets (which were the last two jackets in the entire coat check). They ended up getting back around 7:30am :( You have to be so careful with those coat slip papers. They are so small and easy to lose.
On Sunday, our last day, we woke up after a short night's sleep. We packed up our things for checkout and got breakfast downstairs. We all formed this big group to spend our half day in Madrid before the train. We all decided to walk down the weekly flea market thing that Madrid hosts on Sundays. It was super, super huge. The tents and tables ran at least half a mile long I would say. There was a lot of unique art, clothing, and jewelry. I bought a very pretty scarf for 3 euros. It is long and soft with bright pastel colors. I also bought a small antique car for my family. After walking along, we split up for lunch. I wanted Mexican food so I went with a couple others to this little taco place. It was called María Bonita’s I believe.. and the tacos were just okay. They weren’t very flavorful and had little toppings besides the meat. We headed back to the hotel meeting point, and departed for the train from there. I slept most of the train ride back, I was so tired. But overall I had a lovely weekend, and wish I got to spend more time in the city. Because it is so large, it is hard to see a lot in two and a half days.
Review:
-HUGE stores (clothing, accessory, high end)
-lovely architecture w/ more color than Barcelona or New York
***the city is a bit brighter, I felt there was less gray
-Massive Art museum- Reina Sofia: famous and filled with history
-Spain’s capital!
***Spain’s government is based in Madrid, and it is special to see the capital
-LOTS of walking (or frequent taxi rides)
*** not as easy to get around by foot. The city is just too big to walk around
Great for the modern city lover! If you are a fan of bustling city centers, and shopping in massive stores, it is a cool place to visit. I personally felt that the actual city part of Madrid was prettier and cleaner than Barcelona. It is strictly a city though, you don’t have the option of the beach or mountains as easy as you would in Barcelona. For a tourist destination, I would say Barcelona is a better choice as there is more of a variety of things to do. Madrid is also a place for someone appreciative of large beautiful architecture.
Rating:
3/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
GIRONA ~ 2/22/19
One of the available CEA activity signups was for the Exploring Catalonia: Girona and Besalu Day Trip. Both of these cities are smaller than Barcelona, and more north, but I knew very little else about them. We spent the day traveling and touring the two. It was an absolutely beautiful day out, and we were able to see both cities in their full glory.
I met across from the Universitat train station at 9 am Friday morning. We boarded the tour bus, which was quite crowded. When we got to Girona, we went on a walking tour. I have to admit the tour guide was hard to hear most of the time, but we explored some of the squares within the city and different things. There is the Onyar River that runs through the city and she described that one of the bridges over it was designed by the same French architecture who designed the Eiffel Tower! The river is beautiful because it had colorful buildings all along its edge. Each one was a vibrant red or green or yellow. When we got to a new square we saw tons of political campaigning. Flags of support for Catalans' freedom and independence from Spain were flowing from nearly every window, and the whole city was garnished with yellow plastic ties like ribbons. On the bridges, doors, trees; they were everywhere you turned! They symbolized the want for this freedom, and related back to an old tale of a prisoner.
We walked through Girona some more, and we saw the beautiful, old scenery of the city where the TV show Game of Thrones is filmed! Although I have never seen the show, it was really cool to see the large, wide staircases that the actors performed on. We saw the Cathedral of Girona, and we got to go inside. The cathedral also displayed art that was centuries old including books, statutes, and the “tapestry of creation”. This tapestry depicted the beginnings of Earth, humankind, and religion. The church itself was quite medieval looking and dark on the inside. From there, we walked around the church along the walls of Girona, which had a lovely view of the city and took us back down to the river. Two friends and I went to the tour guide's lunch recommendation, a restaurant called Boira. I had a mushroom soup and battered fish with a ratatouille sauce. It was quite good and very fresh. Afterwards we went to the gelato place she had also recommended, a place known for its interesting flavors. I had a coffee gelato. It definitely was far from spectacular... it was nothing to rave about. But regardless, gelato is always a good choice. We boarded the bus, and headed to our next destination: Besalu.
Review:
Girona is nothing like Barcelona. It is much smaller and more calm, which I liked. The buildings seemed much older, and the streets were small and compact. It is much more ideal for a slow-paced person. For Game of Thrones fans, I think it is a really awesome place to visit. We saw multiple locations within the city where scenes were filmed. Because it is a small, inland city, there was not too much to do. I would not have wanted to spend more than 2 days visiting. Perhaps I was not there long enough to see what would could be done for fun during the day there.
Rating: 2.5/5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️
Besalu~ 2/22/19
Besalu was a dream come true! 😍 It was an incredibly peaceful and unique place in my eyes. We boarded the bus from Girona and headed to Besalu, which was about 45 minutes away. A friend told me on the ride that she went to Besalu the weekend prior with her parents, and that it was so small you could see nearly everything in just a few hours. We arrived to the small town around 2 pm, and we went on a walking tour. Nearly everything was built out of old tan stones and cement. It was very beautiful. I felt as though I had traveled back in time. A large, stone bridge allowed us to enter the heart of the city by foot. The landscape around us was mountainous and green. There was a thin river below the bridge, and it made a beautiful mirror-like reflection. What was so stunning about the city was that the style was consistent throughout; there was not an glimpse of modern industry which made it all the more peaceful. The population was extremely small, I believe our tour guide said that it was around 5,000. Across the bridge was a large arch made of stone. The ground was sandy and the storefronts were all the same. Small, tan, rustic-looking shops were mostly filled with authentic Spanish supplies. Our tour guide taught us about a popular alcohol made in Besalu out of a combination of spices. It is called Ratafia, and we got to try it in a local shop. I thought it was delicious. It tasted like a mild, much sweeter version of Jagermeister. We visited a couple of very old cathedrals in the town as well, and viewed an ancient Jewish bath build underground! Our tour guide described that it was meant for purifying the soul before sunset, once a week at the end of the week for men and once each month for women. It was interesting to see. It was a square built out of stone roughly 4 feet deep with stairs to enter into the water. I cannot imagine how cold the water got in the winter time, as the bath was enclosed by stone walls and little sunlight could even enter. After seeing the town with the guide we had some free time where we wandered to a terrace with beautiful views of the bridge and river. I can imagine life in Besalú is so peaceful and simple. It is a lovely place.
Highlights:
-Scenery like I traveled back in time
-Beautiful stone architecture, like no place I have seen in Spain yet!
-Extremely peaceful and quiet (not crowded)
-Unindustrialized; all the shops are artisanal and goods are local
-Great tour with opportunity to learn about Besalu's interesting history
Recommendations:
- Take a tour of Besalu: it is a beautiful quaint town that is perfect for a half day trip!
-If you like unique, quaint places you can only visit in Europe, this is a good place
- A perfect, serene place to take nice pictures, but visit on a sunny day with good weather!
Rating:
4/5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Sitges ~ 3/22/19
I had some expectations from Sitges (pronounced like see-jez) because I know many people who have visited and loved this little city. If I am being honest, it was lovely, but not much different than other coastal cities like Malaga. In Sitges' defense, I was only there for half a day. My program (CEA) took us to a wine tour, lunch, and from there, Sitges on a Friday. We were able to follow a tour guide around the city, and explore some more of the city during our free time.
When we got off the bus, we immediately walked up to the beach. The water is a beautiful turquoise color, and the large, full palm trees sway in the wind. Unfortunately, it was quite cold. The wind chill was strong, and though the sun was shining, we needed our jackets to walk near the beach. Our tour guide started right away, informing us that for the majority of its history, Sitges was a sleepy quiet town. For many years, it was very under-the-radar. It wasn't until the artist Santiago Rusinol moved here, attracting all his artist friends. The city then began gaining popularity. Our guide compared the city to P-Town in Cape Cod which I thought was funny... of all places she referenced Massachusetts. It was a little reminder of home. But she said this because Sitges is known for liberation and gay pride, and this is displayed by the colorful rainbow symbolism all around the city. Sitges has been a place for people to feel comfortable and express themselves during harsh times that lacked acceptance. We also learned that Sitges is a significant place in the history of Bacardi...
Creator of the new and improved rum, Mr. Bacardi supposedly brought his new recipe to Sitges after improving it in Cuba. He was born in Sitges, and today, his success is honored. There is a statue with the Bacardi logo embedded in it in the center of town, and a Barcardi Museum with information (and drinks of course) nearby the beach. The final well-known feature of Sitges is the Carnaval celebration they have each year. In mid-March, the European version of Mardi Gras breaks out, and people in fun costumes perform with floats filling the streets. The biggest celebration is at the very end of the week-long tradition, on Fat Tuesday. It sounds like a lot of fun for people to have a good time and party!
During our free time, Larissa, Maddy, Justin and I went to a beach shack bar for a drink. I ordered a ~refreshing~ peach bellini. We all caught up with each other and enjoyed the scenery. From here, we walked over to a little gelato shack, and we each got some dessert. We walked along the beach path some more before meeting back with our group, and heading back to Barcelona.
Highlights:
- Beautiful beach
-easy to navigate, small in size
-pretty scenery
-lots of small shack stores and restaurants
-close to Barcelona (about 1 hour drive)
Recommendations:
-Visit in the warm weather!!!
**It might be more crowded, but there is not much to do when you cannot use the beach
-Consider all your beach town options; this stop might be skippable if you are already planning to go to Malaga or Ibiza during their warm seasons
Rating:
3 out of 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Sitges is a cute little beach town, but I think I would recommend Malaga over it as their seemed to be more to do. But if you are looking for somewhere close to Barcelona, Sitges might be a better option for you!
Montserrat ~ 3/24/19
On March 24th, we went to Montserrat, and it was an extraordinary experience. It really just goes to show how beautiful the Earth is...
Maddy and I decided to use our free Sunday for a day trip to the famous peaks. Although it is not technically a city in Spain, I am considering it its own place. We took the Metro to Plaza Espanya, where we switched over to the FCG train. It was included in our unlimited metro passes, so this was convenient. The train took about an hour, and it was half underground, half above ground. The above ground part was lovely. One of my favorite parts about the transportation across Europe is the opportunity to see the beautiful land throughout the ride. As we approached the mountains, they seemed pretty. But as we got closer, they were magnificent! They towered over us, as the train dropped us off at their base. It was mesmerizing to look up and see how high they reached. From here we waited in line to purchase tickets and board the cable car. Dangling from a string, the transporting contraption scooped up 15 of us before carrying us through the sky. The ride lasted about 5 minutes, and I have never been so far off the ground before. The views from the car were spectacular, but you could not be afraid of heights to take it! The cable car let us off at the Monastery level. The Monastery, a place where the Monks on the coast of Spain practice religion, was just in front of us. I couldn't help think who's idea it was to build legitimate, large buildings on top of a mountain. And how was it even possible?!
We took in all the views and took plenty of pictures. In my opinion, it was worth it to make the trip there just to see such incredible nature. We walked down the street, and little tents were set up for a market. Here, each vendor was selling a variety of cheese, honey, and dried fruits from the mountain. The vendors all gave samples of the cheese, and a few were some of the best cheeses I've ever had. I bought a little paper cone full of a variety of cheese cubes for a snack. So tasty and rich they were. I even bought a small wheel to take home! The homemade cheese lasts up to 4 months outside of the refrigerator they promoted, so I am happy I could bring some with me. I also picked up some mini jars of fresh honey with pieces of honeycomb inside. One of the interesting cheeses was one that Montserrat is known for, called mato. The mato was served chilled in a little cup, and looked like cottage cheese. It was topped with a drizzle of honey. It didn't taste like much at all, which I was surprised by because the real cheese was so flavorful. It also was more dense and less curd like than cottage cheese. Maddy and I didn't like it much, but I was still glad I tried it.
We went into the Basilica, which was lovely and dark. It was free to enter, and we saw the Virgin statue that is a familiar symbol in the church. I wish that we had a chance to learn more about the history of Montserrat; we got to see it but I don't know much behind it. From here, we roamed some more, and saw a path to go further up the mountain. We didn't go too much further, but it was nice scenery. After spending a few hours checking things out, we headed back to the cable car. It took a while for the wait to pass to head down, and we also had to wait for the train back to Barcelona at the bottom.
Review:
-INCREDIBLE VIEWS
*** Whether you have been to mountains in other places, or this is your first visit, Montserrat is breathtaking. The heights alone are wild.
-Delicious locally sourced goods
*** Tastiest cheese, honey, nuts and more
-Very peaceful; a good balance between nature and mankind
Recommendation:
- If you enjoy nature, hiking, heights, and beautiful views Montserrat is a great destination
- reserve a full day for this trip, as traveling time adds up
-wear comfortable shoes, and bring a backpack in case you want to buy some goodies!
Rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
There is not too much to do on the mountain, but I think that the views made the trip spectacular and very worth it!!!
Seville
Seville was probably my favorite city in Spain that we got to visit. I loved the beauty and uniqueness of Besalu but overall Seville was like walking through a park. The entire city was so green and had so many flowers. It was just a really beautiful, relaxing, and peaceful destination. I do wish that we had more time to spend there; I wanted to go inside the cathedral and see other well-known landmarks of the city, but we didn’t have enough time. It was really important that we went during the bloom season where the weather was nice. All of the flowers were starting to grow and the green trees were full of big, bright leaves. The scenery was all-around perfect, and the weather was around 75° throughout the day. It got a little cooler when the sun began to set. In general, Seville reminded me of the differences between states in the US. Barcelona is like going to New York, and then Seville was like taking a trip to Florida. The two places were so different and had completely different vibes to them. Seville was a lot less touristy and much smaller. There was a lot more nature and peacefulness to the city. We went to the Alcazar palace which was a variety of gardens mostly, with some old buildings too. It is filled with beautiful floral displays and fountains. We looked for a highly rated place for lunch and decided on Mr. Pizza. It was like a house pizza place, but it had the BIGGEST pizza I had ever seen. One pizza took up the whole table! It was delicious too. After lunch and the Alcazar Palace, we went back to our hotel. We stayed at the Al-Andalus Palace Hotel, about a 10 minute drive from the city center. It was funny because we were both very hot and planned to swim at the hotel’s large outdoor pool. But when we got there, it was closed!!! It was completely empty of water. We laid out by it anyway and soaked up some sun. Once it started to cool down, we went back out to Plaza Espanya. This part of the city was very open and lovely. There was a big government building that stretched across the plaza, and around it was a moat with little row boats to rent. We walked through the gardens around there, and walked across the street to look at the river. We walked along the river until we got to a Mexican restaurant, Iguanas y Ranas. From there, we stopped at a souvenir shop where I got some post cards to take home. The next morning we woke up and boarded our tour bus to head to Morocco!
Review:
-Gorgeous greenery: flowers, trees, etc.
-Laid back atmosphere, much less crowded than Barcelona
-Easy to navigate
-LOTS of parks
-An hour away from the closest beach
-Not too many attractions to see
4.5 out of 5 stars: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I think Seville was my favorite, though this had a lot to do with the fact that it was nearly in full bloom. The beautiful weather and flowers during the end of March made this city so appealing. I had a very relaxing, lovely time spent in the city, and definitely hope to return in the future.