Tea Time Travels

I have had a lot of amazing birthdays in the past, but this one may have taken the cake… Or in my case, taken the gelato (my dessert of choice every day in Spain). I was able to spend my 28th birthday in the beautiful region of Andalusia.

When brainstorming where I wanted to spend my birthday, I was looking for somewhere with nice weather, some good hikes, delicious cuisine, and somewhere that was culturally unique. Pretty soon we were booking a flight into Malaga and could hardly wait to explore this beautiful part of the country.

My husband and I landed in Malaga and took an hour long taxi ride north to a quaint white washed village called Alora. We arrived on Good Friday nearing the end of Semana Santa, or Holy Week. I had read various things online about this week’s significance in Spain, and wasn’t quite sure what to expect when we arrived. When we drove through the town, the streets were lined with people celebrating, drinking, and gathering around restaurants. We continued to drive through Alora and up a long dirt road. As we continued driving and driving… and driving, my husband looked at me nervously knowing that we had to walk all that way to get back into town.

I had booked a beautiful Spanish villa on Airbnb, but didn’t realize it’s location was a bit of a hike from town. It turns out, walking this path ended up being one of our favorite parts of the trip. After dinner, we would stroll home with a bottle of wine, laughing, reflecting on our day, and would even dance in the moonlight.

The reason we stayed in this town is because I wanted to hike the Caminito del Rey, which was a quick train ride from this picturesque village. The Caminito del Rey used to be known as one of the most dangerous hikes in the world. Today, they have restored the path of the hike so visitors can safely admire the hike’s beautiful gorges and canyons.

The hike is about 5 miles long and has restored walkways which hang along a cliff face over 300 feet above the ravine. As we began our stroll, I looked down through slits of the new boardwalk. My stomach turned as I could see the crumbling original path, which looked extremely unstable and was non-existent in some sections.

A path that had been built to transport materials and maintain the hydroelectric dam turned into a daredevil tourist attraction. It had been shut down after it was considered to be too dangerous and recently re-opened after it’s restoration in 2015. Later, we found out that the host of our Airbnb had hiked the original pathway twice and she said it was one of the scariest things she had ever done. We were lucky and got to enjoy the beautiful views without the fear… Except when I crossed the suspension bridge at the end which had quite a bouncy suspension. My husband was laughing as I was racing to get to the other side despite it’s incredibly sturdy structure.

We enjoyed our last evening in Alora at our Airbnb’s lovely pool and relaxing patio before we headed out for a delicious Spanish dinner. I tried Octopus for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.

We spent the second half of the trip in Granada, but had several hours between trains to explore Malaga, one of the main costal cities in southern Spain. It was Easter Sunday and we wandered to the city square to watch some of the processions that came through the city.

Despite the eerie resemblance of their costumes to the KKK, we enjoyed celebrating Easter in the midst of a new and unique culture as we walked along the streets following the processions. We veered off and visited the Picasso museum, in the city where he was born. This museum did an excellent job highlighting his work throughout his life and how his unique painting style grew and thrived over the years.

Soon we arrived in Granada. We admired the view from our Airbnb’s balcony as we smelled the orange blossoms that permeated the city’s air.

We had a recommendation to head to Los Manueles for tapas, so headed there for dinner. I had read that Granada was one of the few Spanish cities that follows the tapas tradition of giving you a free tapa if you order a drink. My husband and I were overjoyed at the concept of free food and loved the surprise of what was coming with our next drink.

The next day we wandered the city during the day and took a free walking tour in the evening. Our guide was excellent and took us to the neighborhoods of Albacin and Sacromonte. Many of Granada’s buildings and castles have Islamic influence, as it was ruled under a Muslim dynasty for hundreds of years until it was conquered by Christians in 1492. The most notable landmark of Granada is the Alhambra which is a palace and fortress that were inhabited by rulers of the Nasrid dynasty. You can see this impressive structure from many beautiful overlooks in the city.

The next day, we got to explore the Alhambra. Unfortunately we weren’t able to see the Nasrid palaces because someone (aka me) didn’t read the ticket correctly and we missed our time. But the rest of the grounds were beautiful and incredibly impressive.

We spent hours walking through the different sections and learning about the history of the impressive complex. I loved exploring the Generalife gardens, which is it’s summer palace and country estate. We admired the intricate details in the buildings set against the garden’s soothing greenery.

The next day, we spent the morning at an Andalusian Arab spa called Hammam Al Ándalus to celebrate my actual birthday. We navigated different temperature baths fed by thermal waters in beautifully decorated candle-lit rooms. After a relaxing massage, it was time for our final gelato of the trip and to head to the airport.

Little did we know we would have one extra night in Spain- our second leg of the journey ended up being cancelled. We had a layover in Madrid and after a couple of frustrating hours with customer service, we were provided accommodations for the night and had a flight out the next morning. The receptionist at our hotel found out it was my birthday and upgraded us to one of their best rooms. After checking in we found a small Argentinean restaurant that was probably our favorite meal of the whole trip.

It was an amazing start to my 28th year and I cannot wait to see what adventures this next year brings.