JULY 2018

Andalucia ~ Bullfights, Flamenco & Sherry

Well hello there ...

A self-drive in Andalucia ... landscapes of whitewashed villages, high mountains, endless olive groves, beautiful palaces and the warm Mediterranean Sea. The objective for our 2018 family summer holiday!

We had 9 days and our children already visited Granada, so we decided to go for Marbella, Ronda, Jerez de la Frontera, Seville, Cordoba, and Mijas.

Practical wisdom

When you arrive by plane, it's the easiest to rent a car. It's approximately 1h to 2hrs drive between the above places. If you are a European citizen, you don't pay roaming charges. So we decided to use "Waze" instead of hiring a GPS, and that worked out well.

We are not really the type of family that travels light, so our biggest concern was to find an affordable car with a huge trunk. After comparing different websites, we decided to rent a car via "Sunnycars", a car broker that offers interesting all-inclusive deals. Less than € 400 for 9 days, for an Opel Insignia, with NO warranty blocked on our credit card, and full coverage, that was the deal we signed for. Once arrived at the car depot of "Marabenjo", we received an almost brand new car, where our 3 large and 2 small suitcases effortlessly fitted into the trunk. Fieeuuuuwwww ... what a relieve.

In Seville, we decided to leave the car in the hotel garage and to travel by taxi. Unfortunately UBER is not available in Seville yet. Our hotel was located only 5 minutes from the city center; the average rate for a taxi transfer was € 6-8 one-way.

The tourist hotspots

  • Puerto Banús: The Spanish St.Tropez, playground for the rich and famous. If you are not a big spender, a short stroll in the harbor and shopping streets will give you a good enough impression.

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  • Ronda: Is a place that literally takes your breath away! We enjoyed our visit to "The Real Maestranza bullring", it's one of the oldest and most picturesque in Spain. The city's most famous landmark is of course " Puente Nuevo". We didn't have the time, but I have heard a walk down into the gorge is highly recommended.

  • Jerez de la Frontera: didn't leave a lasting impression. The big tourist attractions like "Bodega Tio Pepe" and the "Real Escuela Andaluza de Arte Ecuestra" are very well maintained. But the rest of the city was rather dirty, and sometimes I did not feel safe. If I could turn back the clock, I would skip it from my travel itinerary and spend this time elsewhere.

  • Seville: Did not disappoint. It was smaller than I thought although. In 1,5 day we saw the most important curiosities. There are a lot of beautiful squares, with Plaza the España in the lead! The beautiful cathedral " de Santa Maria de la Sede" and the largest wooden construction of the world " Metropol Parasol", offering one of the best views of the city center. When you like flamenco and didn't pop in one of the bars in Jerez de la Frontera, it's an option to watch a show in Seville.

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  • Cordoba: The architecture of the "Mezquita - Cathedral " really blew me away. Especially in a millennium, there is so much religious tension between Muslims and Christians. A beautiful cathedral is standing inside the mosque, ... a heartwarming harmony! Around the Mosque you find plenty of narrow cobbled streets with lots of restaurants and curioso shops. If you prefer eating between the locals, they go to places by the river at “La Ribera”, or in the commercial centre, the real centro, where most people live and shop.

  • Mijas Pueblo: A charming white little village, nestled in the mountainside, about 10km from the coast. Although it can be very busy and touristic. It's nice to wander through the narrow cobbled streets and to visit the craft shops by night. In the early 60's, some inhabitants returned to their homes on their donkeys. Often they were requested by visitors to take a picture. While the tips exceeded their salaries, they decided to make it their profession. So nowadays, the Donkey-Taxis ( Burro ) became one of Mijas main attraction.

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When I first saw you, you took my breath away!

According to the Spaniards, "Vejer de la Frontera" is one of the most beautiful white villages they own. And I couldn't agree more. While staying at Jerez de la Frontera, it was quite a journey, but we did not regret it for a minute. You have to be very lucky to find a parking space, so you can not really call it a "hidden gem". But when having dinner at the Plaza España, "the 1001-night feeling" really crossed my mind. I really enjoyed watching the local children playing at the fountain, while their parents were catching-up. There are a lot of lovely restaurants to choose from, in my opinion, that night we had the best dinner of the whole trip.

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Would you like a table?

Belgians are known as gourmets, so you will not be surprised that on holiday we are not looking for a quick bite, but for the best and tastiest restaurants. BUT affordable!
I do have to mention that Belgium is quite expensive when it comes to dinner. Between € 25 - € 28 for the main course is very common. So when we are abroad, most of the time we are pleasantly surprised when we get the bill. So without being high and mighty, our standard can be different than yours. Personally, I love both: fancy interiors with a refined new kitchen, and an authentic setting with a very pure kitchen. So in my blogs, you will find both.

From this trip, I short-listed the following restaurants, as my favorites:

  • Garimba Sur, Vejer de la Frontera - Superb tapas with a favored location at Plaza España. The service was not perfect, neither super friendly. But overall a nice experience.
    http://www.garimbasur.com/en/

  • La Brunilda, Seville - my favorite! Located in a small street, a little bit hidden. But many people find their way to this charming restaurant. It can be very busy, so probably you will have to wait a few minutes to catch a table. The service is very friendly, the atmosphere and the food hip and no-nonsense.
    http://www.labrunildatapas.com/restaurante/

  • El Pinton, Sevilla - very nice setting, according to some, the most beautiful courtyard in Seville. Refined dishes, but a little bit too expensive in my honest opinion.
    http://www.elpinton.com/

Good night, sleep tight.

As we booked our hotels not so long in advance, the choices were limited. Certainly traveling together with 2 young girls, who want their separate bedroom. We were forced to book bigger hotels than we are used to. There were no major disappointments, but neither top recommendations.

My top 3 based on our stay:

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Here are some beautiful places to stay, that I found when preparing this trip. Unfortunately they were fully booked or too expensive :-). But when you're looking for something special, luxurious-boutique style. I would recommend to take a closure look :

If you think you have similar accomodations to add to this list ? Feel free to send me an email sulit.travel@outlook.com , I will consider to add them !

I could give up shopping, but I am not a quitter!

I would not call Andalucia a shopping paradise. But we couldn't leave with empty hands. So we added a few bottles of sherry, a nice hand-held fan and lots of Zara clothes to our luggage.

The earth is art, the photographer is only a witness!