A year and a half ago the fiance and I had to make a decision-
where did we want to spend our Winter holiday?
Deciding where we want to go is always the hardest part of trip planning.
We both want to go everywhere.
For this trip, however, I knew I wanted to go somewhere in Europe.
I was employed and had spent the past several years dreaming about Europe.
Prior to this holiday, I had never been to Europe-
unless you count the many hours I’ve spent there in my head.
The fiance, on the other hand, has been to several European countries-
England, Germany, Italy, etc.
Lucky man.
I didn’t want to go somewhere that he had been before,
that just didn’t seem fair.
So, my dream of visiting Germany or Italy was shattered (for now).
But, he suggested Spain.
It didn’t take me long to agree.
Castles, tapas, cobblestone streets…
I was sold.
We had 10 days.
Picking the places we wanted to visit was HARD.
Granada was a no brainer- that was a must see. That meant that Barcelona was out since we were flying into Madrid and it would have taken too long to travel from Madrid to Barcelona to Granada and back.
The fiance and I prefer smaller cities anyway, so we picked:
Toledo
Segovia
Granada
and a final day in Madrid.
My only regret is not making it to the small town of Ronda.
I hear it is incredibly romantic.
Maybe next time…
We arrived early in the morning on December 25th in Madrid.
First things first- get food.
What food? Paella.
Amazing, delicious, paella.
Sorry no picture, I was too busy eating.
Next- get on a train to Toledo.
Toledo was the original capital of Spain.
Highlights:
Place where my European Cathedral cherry was popped. amazing.
The entire city was made of stone- or so it seemed.
Venison stew.
Cafe con leche at least every couple hours.
We spent two nights in Toledo,
and hopped on the high speed train to Segovia early in the morning on our third day.
Segovia is known for the Roman Aqueduct that still stands intact to this day.
The date of construction is not known,
but it’s very very old.
I was interested in Segovia for 3 reasons:
The Aqueduct
The Alcazar of Segovia (castle)
and, the suckling pig that Spain is known for.
Segovia highlights:
The Aqueduct- seriously, pictures just don’t do justice.
Lunch- tortilla espanola (best thing EVER) and fish soup.
Dinner- suckling pig, frogs legs and green salad.
The holiday markets.
Morning brunch provided by our hotel- my favorite!
It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Spain.
I remember wishing I could slow time or just never go home.
Part II next- Granada and Madrid.
honestly, these are gorgeous pictures. cant imagine how it looks in real life! amazing. have fun!
Those pictures are amazing! I've always wanted to go to Spain, well anywhere and everywhere in Europe really!
I looooooove Spain!!! I've been a couple of times to visit my best friend who moved there 6 years ago. She lives outside of Madrid in Alcala de Henares (you should add that city to your list for next time and Sevilla!) Happy Friday!
Absolutely beautiful.. stunning..
"I had never been to Europe-
unless you count the many hours I've spent there in my head." So funny, and true to my heart.
Ahhh man! This makes me wish we were going to spain in april instead of Scotland!
So amazing! My fiance and I have such a hard time deciding where to go because there are so few place we don't want to go!
I haven't been to Spain yet, but your beautiful pics are tiding me over for now 🙂
wow those pictures blew me away! spain looks so beautiful
Such a great first trip to Europe 🙂 I've only been to Cadiz, Seville, and Barcelona, but would love go back and travel to all the smaller cities you guys did.
And the food… amazing!
xxx
Jenna
it sounds like an awsome trip!!
I am so jealous. It looks like a wonderful trip.
Beautiful photos! I wish I had had enough time to explore the small towns when I was in Spain last year — I did Barcelona (loved it there), Madrid, and Zaragoza! xo
http://dreamingenfrancais.blogspot.com/
WOW, these pictures are amazing!!
We've awarded you the Versatile Blogger Award! Yay!!
Check it out:
http://sprezzaturaourway.blogspot.com/2012/02/versatile-blogger-award.html
Laura & Sarah xo
sprezzaturaourway.blogspot.com
Stunning! Seriously…you guys have the most amazing adventures!
Just found your blog through Adventures of An American Girl and wanted to say hi! I spent two weeks in Spain once and fell in love – I'm so jealous of your trip! I want to go back badly. And your photos are just beautiful. 🙂
These pictures have just made me SO excited for my trip in May!!!
I am the same way- I want to go EVERYWHERE!
I lived in Madrid for a summer back in 2006 and my one regret was not making it to Toledo! I love reading about this 🙂
xo
Erica
I am just in love with your pictures!!! Best pictures of Spain I have seen yet.
I want to see Toledo at some point. It's the sister city to my home town Toledo, OH. (Btw I found your blog via your guest post on Every Day is an Adventure).
I love your blog and admire you so much! I want to be an au pair but I'm a little scared and not sure how the process works.
I went to Spain last summer and visited both Toledo and Segovia so it's nice to see some shots from there, I wanna go back so bad!!
Hey Bailey, We have been checking out your blog and we must say that we are very impressed. It's really great.
We have particularly been following your posts about Segovia as we visited there too. We have even written a guide, which you can check out here: http://hitchhikershandbook.com/country-guides/spain-2/segovia/ We would love your feedback and any tips, information, advice that you might have would be warmly appreciated.
Keep up the good work!
Ania & Jon