travels with toby

Yep, we did it again. We took another trip to Spain in May and had a fabulous time! We did this trip a little differently than in the past. Instead of landing in either Madrid or Málaga and flying out of one or the other, we flew in and out of Madrid. There seemed to be more options this way and we got to have a two hour layover in Amsterdam.

As in past trips I had been practicing my Spanish but it turns out that many more Spaniards speak English now than 2019 when we were there last. I would always start out in Spanish but I’d say about half the time the server or other clerks in stores would switch to English. My take was that either they wanted to practice their English or that they were in a hurry to serve me and thought it would be quicker to speak in my native language. For me, the most fun was when I was able to speak Spanish. One highlight includes the wonderful conversation I had with the taxi driver who took us to our hotel from the airport on our first day. He showed us points of interest along the way and also showed us which streets to avoid off of La Gran Vía. He was so fun!

Another nice experience was at Mesón Mariano in Málaga. I saw that they specialize in artichokes and hubby really enjoys them so we got there just after they opened for lunch one day and had a marvelous time! It turns out that Mariano himself served us at the tapas bar. When I told him it was a pleasure meeting him he told me that I was very kind. And those artichokes? Oh my, SO delicious!! And we got a free tapa that wasn’t potato chips. Potato chips seems to be the go-to tapa for many places in Madrid. Boring!

Our trip started in Madrid and we stayed at our favorite hotel, Hotel Preciados. Hubby asked me to request the room we stayed in five years ago and I was told they couldn’t guarantee it but they would make a note of it. Of course we got that room! They do take care of returning customers and that room was an upgrade for us in 2019. Our room had a terrace that we enjoyed immensely. We also made a reservation in their fine restaurant, Café Varela, and had the same waiter as five years ago. They have the best paella that I’ve ever had and we enjoyed that again. This was another time where I got to use my Spanish. And at the end Miguel made a comment that we were like family. Indeed, they do treat return customers very well as I observed other customers receiving the same great service that we did. It’s what they do best and why we always return.

Next we took a train to Granada to spend two nights there just to see the Alhambra again. When we went there in 2010 it was such a hot day that by the time we explored the Alcazaba and the Nasrid palaces we were all too hot and tired to go to the Generalife. This trip we took a taxi and I asked him to drop us at the Puerta de La Justicia which is near the Alcazaba side. We had a 10:30 entry for the palaces and I found a place for lunch at the main entrance. Our timing was perfect because by the time we got through the palaces and gardens it was time for lunch. We ate at Jardines Alberto and had a great time there. This may have been my favorite meal of the trip. We had a fun waiter who knew a few languages including English. He jokingly made fun of hubby’s pronunciation of gambas al ajillo (shrimps in garlic sauce) even after he practiced it many times, and when I repeated it for him he said “she said it better”, ha! It was a perfect day to enjoy a meal on their terrace. So beautiful and peaceful.

We also had the best tapas experience of our entire trip in Granada. Los Diamantes was, hands down, our favorite tapas experience. They specialize in seafood and we got a plate of fried boquerones (anchovies) after we ordered drinks. We ordered more gambas al ajillo and when hubby ordered another drink we were served a nice plate of sauteed mushrooms! We had great service and everything was delicious. And when I told our server that it was fantastic, she said really? Yes, really!

The next five nights were spent in Málaga where again, we stayed at our favorite hotel. This was our fourth time staying at the Molina Lario Hotel and we got a surprise upgrade to a junior suite for the price of the deluxe room that we reserved. I guess it pays to return to the same hotels. It was a fabulous room with four balconies, two TVs and a tub and shower!

While in Málaga we visited the Jardín Botánico Histórico la Concepción and the Interactive Music Museum. I’ll be creating a separate post for both of these but here are a few photos as a preview.

Our last three nights were spent in Madrid. We purchased a vacation package and part of that package was at least three nights in a hotel on their list. Since Hotel Preciados wasn’t on the list we stayed at the ME Melia in Plaza de Santa Ana. We felt it was just okay. We had some issues such as the phone in our room not working. When we couldn’t turn on the heat in our room hubby went downstairs to tell someone. To their credit, the maintenance person came right up. After he changed the filter, the heat started to flow. One thing we were really looking forward to was their rooftop bar, except it’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays which were our first two nights there. We did go up there on Wednesday, our last night in Madrid, and enjoyed a drink, the view and the nice atmosphere.

One benefit of staying in Plaza de Santa Ana is that the square is surrounded by many restaurants. We really enjoyed Cervecería Alemana where Hemingway frequented. We received excellent service and the food was good. Their tortilla española was pretty good but my favorite is still El Brillante’s (photo in a future post).

On our first weekend in Madrid I had planned a little walk down memory lane for me. I spent my junior year of college in Madrid and I lived near the university, between the Arguelles and Moncloa metro stations. We walked up Calle Princesa, a street I walked many times while a student there. Off of that street was the building I lived in and I had asked hubby to take a photo of me in front of it. And who was coming out the door just as we arrived to take that photo? The señoras that I lived with! I only recognized one of them because it’s been 43 years since I saw them. I meekly asked “Teresa?” and when she said yes (or Sí since they don’t speak English) I knew the other woman was her sister. But I had forgotten her name so Teresa reminded me that her name was Aurora. We chatted a little and they actually remembered me!! But I’m pretty sure I was the only Toby they rented an apartment to. What a treat to run into them! It was one of the highlights of my trip and I bet it made their day too.

We had such a wonderful time in Spain. We find the Spanish people to be very kind and helpful. And the scenery and history is second to none. The weather was very agreeable even if we got sprinkled on our last two days in Madrid but it wasn’t much, didn’t last very long and my rain jacket worked perfectly. And if you couldn’t tell, I highly recommend visiting Spain!

I’ll be creating other posts from the trip but I wanted to have a bit of an intro for our trip with this post. Stay tuned for more from Spain!