Sights and Activities
Below are the places we saw and activities completed while visiting Spain:
Pamplona
Ciudadela: walls and embankments form the grand fortified, star-shaped citadel, now a charming park.
Casco Viejo: the city of Pamplona (Iruña in Basque) is home to the wild Sanfermines (also known as Encierro or Running of the Bulls) festival. We walked around the Old City (Casco Viejo) where the event takes place and when the bulls are not out the city is charming with old plazas and buildings with modern stores.
Pamplona Cathedral: the city’s main cathedral, Cathedral of Royal Saint Mary, is Roman Catholic. The current 15th century Gothic temple replaced an older Romanesque one.
San Sebastian
The city of San Sebastian, Donostia in Basque, has a magnificent natural setting and one of Spain’s culinary capitals. We spent a day enjoying both the food and landscape of the city. Crystalline waters, picture-perfect beaches, and green hills of Bahia de la Concha compete with Rio de Janeiro’s bay for beauty. We walked along the coastline enjoying the breeze and then hiked up a neighboring hill to capture the full panoramic views of this breathtaking city. We finished the day by sampling some of the local delicious pintxos and tapas.
Madrid
Puerta del Sol: one of the busiest squares in Madrid is home to a statue of a bear and a madrone tree, the symbol of Madrid.
Parque del Buen Retiro: walking through the splendid gardens littered with marble monuments, landscaped lawns, and elegant buildings feels like a dream in the big city of Madrid.
Garrucha
We relaxed three weeks with Gisela’s family in this small Andalusian, beachside village. Our routines included going to have tapas before a large home cooked meal. We originally planned to be there two weeks, but we were fortunate to discover we had scabies and decided to spend another week to recover before moving on.
Malaga
We spent a short day visiting a cruise ship docked in this town. We were lucky to coincide with the ship that Sal’s cousin, Tito, was working on. He showed us around and we were able to chat after nine years of not seeing each other.
