Mum and Dad visiting Spain

Okay so this post is very late and so much has happened since then but I still wanted to share this.

So at the start of February when we had been in Spain just over 1 month my parents came out for a long weekend.

As I was living the life of a self employed person I entertained my mum and dad the first couple of days whilst Drew had to work (haha). On the first day we took a trip to Málaga and since Drew and I had been a couple of weeks before I felt like I knew the city so took the parents on a mini tour.

Tourists

We wondered down to the marina area, which is a must if you are in Málaga, had some drinks and some refreshing frozen yoghurt; which was the best I have ever tasted!

I then took them to visit the Acazaba for a bit of culture before we spent the remainder of the day in bars :)

A good day was had by all and was made even better by a home cooked paella when we returned in the evening!

The next day we stayed in Benalmádena and visited a few of the local sights. First stop was the Buddhist temple which is really interesting and the views from it are just amazing.

Next, after getting slightly lost, we went to Castillo de Colomares which is a tribute to Christopher Columbus. The castle reminds me a sandcastle or something from The Little Mermaid! We had fun exploring the castle and taking photos.

After enjoying a couple of days of glorious sunshine we headed north to Seville for 2 nights - where it rained, no it poured!! We still enjoyed the trip despite the soggy clothes but I definitely want to go back when it's nicer weather.

Oh how I wish I was back enjoying some sunshine in Spain...

Jerez & Cadiz - a very late post....

So after my blog planning post I kind of lost track of time and forgot to update this with my recent adventures - terrible! Anyway better late than never...


At the end of January Drew's parents, sister and a couple of our friends flew over to Spain for the Formula 1 test days at Jerez.

Drew posing with a can of olives...

So whilst the guys were enjoying some beers and watching the F1 (and enjoying their 5 minutes of fame being interviewed for Sky Sports), Alma, Vicky and I headed out exploring in Jerez (day 1) and Cadiz (day 2).

Jerez

We spend the day wondering around, and getting slightly lost whilst sightseeing and doing a spot of shopping. Jerez itself is pretty small and full of cobbled streets and orange trees.

Jerez Cathedral

Cadiz


Cadiz was lovely and I wish I had time to go back with Drew. The day here was spent much like Jerez with us wondering around the sights with the added bonus of a delicious lunch at a vegetarian restaurant. If you are vegetarian then Spain is not great for eating out as you are basically limited to potatoes and omelet in most restaurants. I found La Cueva through searching on my TripAdvisor app (a must have when you cant decide where to eat!) and we all loved it. They served vegetarian and gluten free food in tapas style and every dish we had was delicious (sadly we were so hungry we forgot to take photos!). 

If you are visiting Jerez or Cadiz I highly recommed visiting both of them. Very easy to get to by train or by car in around 40 mins.

A Trip to Málaga

Last weekend Drew and I decided to visit Málaga as we had never been into the city before which is surprising as we have been on holiday here many times before. The trains are pretty good here but we decided to book a cheap hostel to save us getting the late train back to Benalmadena. So a quick visit to booking.com we found a room at La Casa Mata hostel for €28 which we thought was great so booked us in.

Travelling to Málaga itself is so easy, just hop on a train and you're there in half an hour. When we arrived we headed down to the port (puerto) and had lunch next to the boats. It was really lovely at the port with lots of little shops, bars, restaurants and even a place to hire segways and go karts! We didn't do this but maybe next time haha.

After wondering around the port we headed to the Alcazaba - an old fortress built to protect Malaga. It was only a couple of Euros each to go in and it was really lovely to walk around and see the views over the city. We didn't go to the very top but we'll go back soon and go further up the hill!

The old bull ring

Where does this door lead??

Trying not to fall over the edge!

Drew the giant!

Timed selfie!!

After all of this sightseeing it was time for some refreshments so we headed to El Pimpi which is a popular bar/restaurant right next to the Alcazaba. We just went for drinks with me having a delicious strawberry smoothie and Drew going for his usual - a beer. After this we headed in the direction of the hostel but this meant passing a bar that Drew was dying to try, Arte & Sana Beer Cafe, as they sold every beer imaginable! So we went in for a drink and he was like a kid in a toy store looking at all the bottles of beer. We even came back the next day with Drew sporting his beer t-shirt....

Later that night we went for tapas at the closest place to our hostel which we later discovered was number 1 on TripAdvisor! Sadly I didn't take any pictures but the food was delicious and almost like Michelin Star tapas so we might have to go back again and try more of the menu.

After food we basically went back to the hostel and had an early night. I had to sleep with my jeans on as the room was soooo cold! Spanish don't do heaters as it's hot most of the year but it was a bit chilly last weekend and Spanish buildings are designed to stay cool so not great during the colder months.

On Sunday we just walked round a bit more, had more food and then headed back to Benalmádena. All in all a great night away and i'm already planning on going on a day trip to Málaga when my parents visit in February :)