Our good friends Andrea and Andy came to visit us for almost two weeks in August. We packed it full of activities. Ahead is our adventure through 3 different countries (4 if you count driving through the Netherlands). Prepare yourself for a long post.
We started out in Cologne, Germany. Alex and I were very excited to have our first visitors to our new apartment. Once they arrived, the fun began. We took them to, one of our favorite German restaurants, one of our favorite cocktail places, and one of our favorite bars. The next day we went to check on our locks. In 2015 when the 4 of us first visited Cologne (a few months before Alex and I moved here) we made “love locks” and attached them to the Cologne bridge. We found them again in no time and still in great condition. After a few pictures with the locks, we stopped for a few kölsch at another German restaurant. Later that night we took them to another one of our favorite restaurants, Warung Bayou. After a delicious meal of peanut tofu (best thing ever!), chicken and duck, we headed over to a beer garden where two of our Cologne friends got to meet two of our home friends. It was a really fun night.
Alex had to work in Belgium for the next two days so we all joined him in Ieper. Once we got to Ieper I showed Andrea and Andy around the town until Alex was done with work. Then we decided to take a bike ride to a beer garden. We all hopped on bikes (including one of Alex’s coworkers) and biked the 45 minutes to a beer garden. It was a beautiful trek through the Belgian countryside. By the time we got there, we were all very ready for a beer. Once we were done we biked the 45 minutes back. We finished the evening with a few drinks and a tasty dinner. The next day Alex had to work all day so Andrea, Andy and I drove to Ghent, Belgium. The first thing we did was take a boat ride through Ghent, then we got a delicious waffle and tried Belgian Jenever. After spending hours in Ghent we headed back to Ieper where we met back up with Alex for another fun evening.
The next morning, we headed back to Germany to catch our flight to Spain. We landed in Barcelona around 8pm and checked into our Airbnb. We found a tapas (small Spanish savory dishes) restaurant to eat at for dinner then found a bar where we ended our night. The next day we were ready to explore Barcelona! We started by walking down La Rambla (they had a lot of very touching memorials for the victims) it was a little eerie being there only 5 days after the attack so we didn’t spend much time there. The rest of the afternoon we checked out the Barcelona sights. We stopped at a market, found a church that had a 360 degree view of Barcelona, ate more tapas for lunch (and tried the sangria, of course!), then got ready for our 5-hour tapas walking tour which stops at 4 different places, trying out the Spanish specialties. We met up with our guide Paul and two women from Canada to start our tour. On our first stop we tried crab & shrimp, grilled shrimp and calamari, and crunchy Camembert with a white wine. The second restaurant we got to sample fried potatoes with spicy sauce (yum!), potato omelette, white anchovies, cod fritters, little chorizos, octopus, pardon peppers, and Russian potato salad with a rose wine. The third restaurant consisted of a lot of cheeses, some cow, some goat and some sheep and a lot of meat (they are big into Jamon which is like ham) which included Iberian ham croquettes, chorizos, blood sausage and Catalan skinny sausage. The last and final stop was a bar where we got to try Cava which is sparkling wine (so they say – I think it’s more like a dry champagne). After the walking tour was over (5 hours may seem like a loooong time – we thought so too but it went so fast!) we got a final drink at a rooftop bar overlooking Barcelona. Our last day in Barcelona we did a hop-on-hop-off bus tour, which allowed us to see so much more of Barcelona. We hopped off at the beach and dipped our feet into the beautiful water. We hopped off at La Sagrada Familia a very beautiful church designed by Gaudi. We did a tour through the amazing church and even got to climb to the top of one of the towers. Then we hopped off at Park Guell, another one of Gaudi’s creations with beautiful architecture. After a long day of hopping on/off a bus we were starving. We choose a place called El Nacional. It was kind of a cool concept with different restaurants to choose from in the same building including meat, fish, tapas, and Italian. There were also a several bars in the center offering a few different drinks. We decided on tapas for dinner. The interesting idea behind this restaurant was that you didn’t actually order specific tapas, waiters would come around periodically with different tapas to choose from and you picked the ones you wanted (we picked a lot, including shrimps, calamari, croquettes, fried eggs with ham etc. but we passed on the black rice cooked in squid ink). After dinner, we had a drink at one of the center bars and Alex decided that we were all going to try an oyster. Andy and I could barely choke it down but Alex and Andrea enjoyed it so much that they tried another. It was an interested end to our night.
Next stop was Madrid. We felt really classy because we got a deal at the train station for 1st class tickets from Barcelona to Madrid, including drinks and breakfast. We were living large! Once we got to Madrid we felt a little less classy checking into our youth hostel. We spent the rest of the day walking around Madrid until it was time for another tapas walking tour hosted by our hostel. It definitely wasn’t as good as our first tapas tour but still worth a mention. We had 3 stops to try a few different tapas. After the tour we had a few more drinks at different places around Madrid. The next morning we did a walking tour around Madrid, tried churros, went to an awesome flamenco show and ate dinner at a place that claims to be the oldest restaurant in the world (side note: they eat really late in Spain. We made reservations for 10:30pm. It was weird!).
The next morning while the guys were picking up our rental car, Andrea and I checked out the biggest flea market in Spain. No purchases, but it was cool to see. The guys picked us up and we drove 4 hours to Granada, Spain. Once we arrived we headed right to the Alhambra, a Arabic fortress. It was really pretty. There were so many things to see inside the fortress, from intricate carvings to beautiful gardens. We spent a few hours exploring the grounds and admiring its beauty. Once we finished at Alhambra we went back into town for a drink. One of the best things about Granada is that the bars/restaurants will give free tapas with every drink that you order. That night, we never had to order dinner because we filled up on all of our free tapas. It was awesome!
The next morning we drove another 3 hours to Alicante. On the way there, we stopped at Laguna Salada de Torrevieja, a pink beach! It was pretty amazing! When we got to Alicante, we headed straight for the beach. We walked along for a while then grabbed a drink at one of the restaurants overlooking the water. It was a relaxing afternoon with a beautiful view of the beach and of Santa Bárbara castle. That night instead of our usual tapas we decided to change it up with a nice Italian dinner.
We got up the next morning and drove up to the top of Santa Bárbara castle for great views overlooking the city. Then we headed out to our last city, Valencia. We only had to drive 2 hours to get there. We checked into our Airbnb, stopped for lunch (tapas of course) then walked around the city. Valencia has a lot to see and a lot of beautiful architecture. We spent the remainder of the day walking around the city, eating tapas and enjoying the great weather. The next day was finally the big day! We woke up at 5:30am to get to our tour bus. The bus took us to a small town called Bunõl where the mother of all tomato fights would take place. Once off the bus we bought fest shirts then walked 40 minutes to the sight of the fight. Before the fight started they had a greased pole with a ham at the top and people would try to climb to the top to grab the ham. It was very entertaining to watch. Nobody was able to get the ham this year, in fact the last time someone got the ham was in 2012. Once it got within 30 minutes of the fight starting, the hoses got turned on and we got sprayed with freezing cold water (this lasted until the fight ended!). At 11am a blast marked the start of the fight. Throughout the next hour, six dump trucks filled with tomatoes came through the crowd throwing, dumping and pouring tomatoes all over people. Where we were standing got a little crowded so for a while it was hard to throw tomatoes but eventually the crowd spread out and we were able to finally throw some tomatoes. We ended up splashing in it, laying in it, throwing it, and eating it (just kidding!). Another blast marked the end of the fight and eventually everyone made their way back to the buses, trying to find a place to wash off all of the juice. Once back on the bus we all took a little nap on the way back to Valencia with the smell of tomatoes wafting in and out of our dreams. Back in Valencia we relaxed a little with a much deserved beer and some tapas. Then we finished seeing the sights. We visited the church of Valencia that claims to hold the Holy Grail. It was very interesting to see. We also tried a Valencia original drink called Horchata. It’s a milky drink made from ground almond, seeds, barley, rice etc. It’s definitely as weird as it sounds. That night for our final meal in Spain we had paella and it was delicious!
Spain marks 18 countries that I’ve visited in my lifetime (Alex is at 20…but who’s counting?) and it was another amazing trip filled with delicious food/drinks, beautiful architecture and a crazy food fight. Thanks for an incredible time in Spain, Andrea and Andy! Can’t wait for our next trip!
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Wow…what an amazing trip to experience with good friends! 😍 I need to go there! Great pictures too!
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