My trip to Spain or 3 weeks in Spain; one foot in Portugal: Fun facts, accommodation, food

This was my first time in Spain, so all was WOW and all was new and everything was interesting and exciting to me!

The trip for me was not only tourism related, I went there to visit my boyfriend and know more about his country, as well as had some a bit of mission at the end and work for us. What it is and what exciting news I will have?
Follow my two instagram accounts to not miss out: Luxtravelcouple and Kristella beauty. 

Transport: 
Riga to Vilnius station by LUX EXPRESS around 15 EUR both ways. The most comfortable bus I have been on in my life. With TV, internet and free coffee.  https://luxexpress.eu/en
Vilnius station to airport by bus or minibus- 1 EUR
Vilnius- Madrid by RYANAIR, a bit narrow the seats etc, but otherwise all fine. The flight itself was only 90 Eur, but baggage – 80 EUR. https://www.ryanair.com

Accommodation: (Mostly at friends or family houses, so there is no many)

Olivenza: Hotel Heredero, 62 EUR Click here to see Hotel Heredero

Casa Fuentes

Zaragoza: Hotel Europa, Utebo, 51 Eur Click here to see Hotel Europa

Traditional food/drinks: 

  Tapas or pinchos
Jamón
All kind of meats, steaks (high quality meat!)

Paella (chicken or seafood)
Palmera (pastry with chocolate)
Churros (for breakfast)
Wine
Beer (Estrella Galicia and Alhambra- my faves!)

Shopping

Little markets, open-air markets. Very popular especially on the south of Spain. Can find everything starting from food, fake Adidas and clothing
Corte Inglés: commercial centre, starting from cheaper clothes to all kind of brands. https://www.elcorteingles.es

Badajoz

Badajoz is a small town on the west of Spain, right on the border with Portugal. Cozy and small town, really pretty centre with old ruins up to the mountains. By the way, you can drive up through the ruins and there is a big free of charge parking space for a car; and garden of palms! We walked around the ruins watching to the fabulous city, river and old bridge, walking down the little stairs and streets going to the centre of city and beautiful square!

Rincon Nazari

Elvas

Acuaducto of Elvas

If you were thinking about the funny headline of this post about “one foot in Portugal” than this is it! The reason we went to Elvas, Portugal was because of the triatlon and because I have never been to Portugal (so Elvas will always be the first city I visited in Portugal). Elvas is small city near the spanish border, with a great atmosphere and streets to walk around and delicious food. We visited the restaurant called Acontece restaurant. The stuff was very friendly and helpful, food very good (I advice to chose seafood or steak cooked on stone- they actually bring it to you with the whole stone still burning).

Theatre

I have been to Egypt and seen pyramids, I have been to Rome and seen Colosseum, but Mérida is another witness of history and beautiful architecture. Those ruins, amphitheater and statues are very impressive and we both advice you to pay those 21 Eur for the entrance and see it yourself!

Google advised us to visit Nico Jiménez (http://www.nicojimenez.com ). They are masters of steak and Jamón. A proof for that is the Guinness record they own of the most thin and longest slice of Jamón- 13,5m long. The prices are very reasonable and good, gave us extra plate with jamón and house wine for a very good price.

After seeing all the history, and romain bridges and ruins in other cities, it did not surprise me so much in Córdoba anymore, but what I enjoyed were walking through the small streets and yards decorated by royal blue flower pots and red flowers in them, small souvenir shops and tapas bars. Córdoba has amazing atmosphere which I love when travelling and I always remember beautiful cities with good vibes! History is still very notable in Córdoba , bell tower, old ancient romain bridge and arch- that all you can see in Córdoba!

Almuñecar

Almuñecar finally gave me the possibility to see the sun a little closer, swim in cold water and rest in black sand/stone beach! Almuñecar is very beautiful with aquapark, great beach with bars and restaurants (parking next to beach is free of charge until 1st of June). We lived in our rented house up in mountains and with a beautiful view to wineyards. After all the running and history hunting, resting up in mountains but close to beach was exactly what we needed.

Alhambra

Granada was the city which I was waiting the most and wanted to visit for a long time. The most important part was to see the Alhambra- arabic castle, which we did see- but from the outside as it was closed for some time due to many people visiting it.
I wasn’t too sad as I was tired already of walking around the city up and down around the Alhambra and its gardens, but with a bit of disappointment we decided at least to eat at tapas bar we knew out of centre, but that one was closed as well (I guess the season has not started yet).

As in my country there are no mountains, It is always exciting to see mountains in other countries, so we decided to drive all the way up (2km above sea level) in Sierra Nevada, see the snow (which I did not miss too much) and feel the power of mountain! It feels like a different world, people wearing jackets, skiing and snowboarding there, bunch of hotels and restaurants!
Granada- I’ll be back!

Zaragoza was our last destination, the most spontanious one and the most far one as well. We drove all the way from Córdoba to Zaragoza (around 7 hours), hurting butt but so many views and things to see on the road there! We decided to go to Zaragoza for many reasons, because our plans to go to Sevilla changed due to some circumstances, we wanted spend time alone, wanted to see new places and in my last days there do some useful thing apart from tourism.
Zaragoza is the city which is smaller than Madrid, more cozy but still a big city. It has beautiful cathedral in the centre, as always- ancient romain bridge and beautiful fountain. Centre of Zaragoza is more business related, it does not have so much of a history or touristic objects, but it does have a wind. A wind which feels like taking your soul and selling it to devil!
I very much enjoyed Zaragoza, and as a bonus- we did and reached our goal! (if you want to know more about what exciting things coming our way, follow my instagram accounts Kristellabeauty and luxtravelcouple).

1. What in south Spanish people call tapas, in north they call them pinchos
2. More south of Spain we were travelling, more snacks with beer we got. At the very south even paella and nice foods. Just buy a beer for some euro and get great dish of snack with it. More north, less snacks they willing to give.
3. Spanish people don’t really leave tips in restaurants and employees doesn’t seem to be too upset about it. You can leave tips- it is nice, but it is not a big deal to not (like it is in my country)
4. In many restaurants (specially up in north Spain) are good offers, chose 2 or 3 plates (water, bread and bottle of wine included), and that all 11-20 eur per person!
5. Spanish people don’t really speak in other languages, but they are so friendly that with: Hola and Gracias it will be enough.
6. In Córdoba I was happy to see horses (as always, animals attract people), that type of horses with carriage. I was happy until the moment I found out that many horses die every year because they are not fed or don’t drink enough water and work too hard. As my blog is not all about rainbows and fun, Want to also help society and animals. Want to say that I will not pay for horse rides anymore and advice you to do the same.
7. Spanish are very patriotic people. Flags everywhere, even in forests, mountains and hanging by the houses or balconies
8. In the afternoon, don’t expect to go to the store and buy bread- Spanish people are having a siesta and mostly everything is closed at that time. Come back at five… or better six!