Travels in Andalucía, Spain .. The Costa del Sol & Granada

We have been very lucky the last few years to travel quite a bit throughout Europe. Some of our travels have been strictly for pleasure, and some have been mixed with business. Whenever there is business involved, we always take the opportunity to combine it with a little vacation time, and I would suggest that everyone do the same and extend your time on either end to make the most of the long trip from the US.

So with that being said, my husband had been invited to be the keynote speaker at a conference in Marbella, Spain on the Costa del Sol. Never having been to that part of Spain, it was a good opportunity to turn part of the trip into a little vacation, and enjoy some tapas along the way.

Hotel Villa Padierna

We arrived the day before the conference and spent the night at the Hotel Villa Padierna, just outside of Marbella.

Although far out of town, Villa Padierna is a beautiful property located atop a hill with vistas overlooking a golf course, lake and rolling hills sloping down to the sea. Pretty great place to land and recuperate after an awfully long trip.

Hotel Villa Padierna Terrace

Since we had been up for about 30 hours straight, we decided to stay at the hotel and relax for the evening.  We had cocktails and a wonderful seafood dinner on the terrace while watching the sun slowly set across the great vista, not too hard to take. This is where I first used the words that my cousin, Pat, had told me would be invaluable while in Spain, "uno mas" ... one more ...

In the morning we enjoyed a breakfast buffet that included just about anything you could possibly imagine, and then some. It was all so relaxing, sipping morning coffee in what looked like paradise. We hated to leave this tranquil oasis, but had to head over to the conference hotel in Puerto Banus.

What a disappointment, especially after staying at such a lovely hotel, to arrive at the H10 Andalucia Plaza. We found the reception staff to be disinterested, the hotel to be tired and worn, and the location - across the highway from Puerto Banus - to be inconvenient. Although just a few blocks away, the only way to get to town by foot was through a creepy, dark tunnel. As this was the conference hotel, we had no choice but to stay here, so the only thing to do was to make the best of it.

Old Downtown Marbella

We took a cab to old downtown Marbella. We walked along the beach on the seafront promenade passing boats brimming with sardines roasting over makeshift grills. We then headed up the hill to town through narrow, winding cobbled streets as we discovered a new delight at every turn ... a plaza, a café, a beautiful church, a whitewashed home adorned with colorful window boxes. After a very long walk, we settled down at an outdoor café for some wine and tapas of Serrano ham and Manchego cheese. Once again I practiced those treasured words ... uno mas, por favor, uno mas!

The next morning my husband headed off to give his presentation. While he spent the day in sessions, I got up the courage to head through the creepy, dark tunnel to explore Puerto Banus.

Puerto Banus

This is the place to shop for Louis Vuitton and Carolina Herrera, or, if you have no money (like me), ogle fabulous luxury yachts while sipping a drink at one of the many open air restaurants and bars. After walking along the water for a couple of hours, I returned to town and settled down at an outdoor café in front of a big yacht to practice my uno mas ...

Hotel Macia Plaza

The following morning we hopped a bus to Granada, traveling from the Mediterranean Sea through hills laden with olive trees to the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We landed in the heart of Granada at a little hotel called the Hotel Macia Plaza in the middle of Plaza Nueva. Our room had a small balcony right on the plaza with a view of the hills and the Alhambra. It was perfect.

We spent the rest of the day wandering about the streets of Granada, exploring nooks and crannies, touring churches and other sights, eating tapas (we ate so much ham and cheese throughout our trip that I didn’t know whether to oink or to bleat) and drinking wine. We had a late dinner, as is the Spanish custom, of gazpacho and seafood paella and strolled back to our gem of a hotel.

Early Morning View of the
Plaza and Alhambra

The next day we had reserved tickets for the Alhambra, an incredible palace and fortress of the Moorish monarchs perched on a hill overlooking the town. We found the buildings and grounds to be both fascinating and absolutely beautiful.

After touring and walking around for hours we stopped by the Parador of Granada, a small four-star hotel in a fifteenth century convent, which is part of the Palace of Alhambra. The Paradors are hotels, often housed in historic structures, run by the Spanish government. We wandered out to their patio and enjoyed sturgeon tapas, the best tapas of the whole trip, and, of course, uno mas.

Alhambra at Sunset

After a little more walking we caught one of the red mini buses that speed around town, and headed over to Plaza St. Nicholas in the Albaicin area across the river from the Alhambra. The view from the plaza of the Alhambra and the city below was magnificent. We took in the vistas and listened to impromptu music performed by locals and visitors alike. We then discovered a café next to the plaza to watch the light dancing across the hills and the Alhambra as it slowly drifted away into evening. Awe inspiring, and a chance to practice more uno mas!

The wonderful food and wine throughout our trip, from the Costa del Sol to Granada, was not only very tasty, but reasonably priced as well. A glass of wine that would cost from 9 to 15 dollars in our area of the world costs only 3 to 5 euros. The food was also much less expensive, especially considering that one can easily create a varied and satisfying meal from an assortment of tapas.

View from Our Room of the
Parador de Malaga Gibralfaro

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Granada and view of the plaza and the hills, leaving early morning to head back to the Mediterranean and the town of Malaga. I selected a Spanish Parador for our last hotel stay. The Parador de Malaga Gibralfaro is quite pretty. It lies in the old quarter of Malaga overlooking the town and the port, next to the Alcazaba Citadel, which was built by the Moors. 

We wandered around the Alcazaba and continued our walk down the steep hill to town.

As Picasso was born here, there is a fine museum devoted to his works. After touring the museum, strolling through the park and the old town area, we stopped for tapas and the best sangria of the trip.

A Final Spanish Meal at the
Parador de Malaga Gibralfaro

We made our way back to the hotel where we, much like we began our trip, enjoyed a delicious final meal on the hotel's terrace overlooking the town and sea. We feasted on scallops, fried sardines and fresh fish, then raised our glasses to a wonderful trip and to uno mas ...