Category: travel

Tapas at the Palacio de los Patos | Granada

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I’ve been a fan of Hospes Hotels ever since I was writing as the Seville Expert for SimonSeeks and was given the opportunity of staying at their luxurious rustic-chic Las Casas del Rey de Baeza and sampling the delights of the Senzone restaurant there.

So when I was invited to take a tour of five-star Palacio de Los Patos while I was in Granada this week I jumped at the chance. In a word – stunning. The swanky deluxe rooms are located in the old lovingly restored 19th century palace and the “Dreamer” standard rooms are in a modern annex, along with the restaurant and spa. At first I didn’t know what to think of the façade, which I was told was meant to mimic the moorish latticing in the Alhambra, until I saw the effect from the inside of the spacious minimalist rooms. The cool alabaster tiles let in a cool diffused light without letting others see in, and all the Dreamer rooms look onto the garden. Which is what this post is mostly about, because after once glance at the garden area I was in love.

This is a fabulous oasis in the centre of the city, with various fountains cooling the patio area where you can either sit at tables to eat a meal or curl up on sofas to enjoy a drink. Large trees and hanging wisteria provide natural shade and all the greenery running along the wrought iron fence shuts out traffic and city noise. My favourite was the gnarly pomegranate tree, which I was told was over 200 years old. If you don’t know, the pomegranate (or “granada” in Spanish) is the emblem of the city.

I was surprised to see that the Senzone Restaurant offered tapas as well as a full-service menu and an intriguing tasting menu made of Riofrio caviar products, and so I was thrilled to be invited to a tapas tasting lunch the next day (my last day in town). I went with my friend John Sullivan, ex-Londoner, musician and fellow foodie, who has been living in Granada for over three years now.

And well, the food was gorgeous, the setting divine, and the service was both efficient and friendly (but Hospes! please get those poor girls out of head-to-toe black when it’s 35º out there!). We tried four tapas, which were all so good that they left us hankering to come back and try out the rest of the tapas menu…

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Patios and Feria in Córdoba

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I’d been trying to do a day trip to Cordóba all during May, as that’s the month when everything seems to be happening there, and although I missed the Cruz de Mayo and the Festival of the Patios, I finally made it on the last Friday of the month, in time for the Cordóba Feria, which was also my 20th anniversary of living in Spain, so that turned out to be a good choice.  And the weather was perfect.

First stop was for late breakfast/elevenses, at a little café alongside the Plaza de Colón, with some rather yummy tostadas topped with olive oil, fresh tomato and tiny taquitos of jamón. Thus fortified, it was off past the Torre de la Malmuerta (tower of the bad death) to our first stop, and one of the main reasons for coming to Cordóba, the newly opened Palacio de Viana, the Palace of the Patios. As you can see from the photos below, this wonderful 500-year-old building has no fewer than eleven interconnecting patios, as well as a garden, each with its own individual design and character. Really worth a visit. Also nice that it’s a bit outside the main tourist area around the Mezquita, and wo walking back to the centre through the winding streets of the old town we saw a part of the city that we hadn’t seen before.

Palacio de Viana

Along the way we stopped off in the Plaza de la Corredera for a pre-lunch cold beer. This is a magnificent Castilian-style Plaza Mayor, apparently the only one of its kind in Andalucía, mostly built in the late 17th century, although the buildings on the south side of the square where the market (a former prison) is are even older. The name comes from the fact that it was once used for bullfighting, and it is also thought to be the site of the Roman amphitheatre. Then it was off to find some lunch…
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Córdoba Feria 2012

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[youtube=”http://youtu.be/PATKgtofgxs”]

[watch full screen if possible]

Some pics from my first visit to the Feria de Córdoba. Another fair, like the one in Jerez, that is totally different to the Feria de Sevilla and which, in my opinion, is much better. The casetas are larger (with air con) and are open to the public. Depending on what you fancy you can opt for traditional flamenco music (sevillanas), flamenco rock, salsa, disco… the casetas ranged from fairly rough & ready tents to solid structures decorated like country homes with servers dressed in maid’s outfits. You can get some great looking food, watch the crowds or join in, or stroll the streets and enjoy the parade of horses and carriages in the afternoon.

It really felt like being at a country fair – I even went on the ferris wheel! Too bad we were just there for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I found myself wishing that I could stay to see the fairground lit up at night but duty called and we had tickets booked on the 19.30 train (which we almost missed, arriving at the station with about two minutes to spare).

Note: at 2.44 is the horse of the day – a gorgeous beast, my photo doesn’t do him justice.

Travel tip: the Sevilla – Córdoba Avant (19.10€ one way)  is much better value than the Ave (33.20€) and takes the same amount of time (45 minutes). And if you return on the same day you get a 20% discount.

My 20th Anniversary in Spain!

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Twenty years ago today I arrived in Spain. Really until almost the last minute I wasn’t sure about how I was going to move from Bristol to Salamanca, but it turned out a friend of mine was looking for a short-term adventure and so one fine day we packed up all of my worldly belongings into her car and headed to Dover to catch the ferry that would take me to my new home. The first day we got as far as Le Mans, after a short stop for lunch and a walk in Tours (actually Tours was so darned pretty I said to my friend that we should just stay there!). As we were trying to avoid the toll motorways we ended up having a few “where the hell are we now?” moments out on country roads in France, but eventually made it to the Spanish border. It was only then that I thought… “Will they let me in? How do I explain taking a sewing machine on holiday??” But when the border patrol guys saw my Canadian passport they just wanted to know if I spoke French (good thing I was still young and pretty enough to flirt my way over a border back then…).

And well, I know this is going to sound silly, but as soon as we crossed the border and were on Spanish soil I suddenly knew I was home. I can’t explain it. It was like a “phew, I finally made it!” feeling, although that first night in Spain was far from perfect. We had driven into San Sebastián and commenced looking for a pensión to stay the night, preferably one that had a room on the ground floor as we would have to lug all of my wordly belongings into our room. Well, after six hours of driving around that exquisitely beautiful city we decided to try our luck in the next small town we came across. Turned out it was past midnight by the time we reached the next small town and then found out that the only pensión there only had rooms one floor up (no lift) so fuck… we spent a good hour unpacking the car and then finding a place to park it. Once back in our spartan room we lay awake listening to the chucka-chucka-boom of the discoteque next door, and the sound of drunken shouting and bottles breaking in the street below us. Far too soon it was daybreak – had I even slept? – and I staggered over to the window, opened the shutters and… holy crap! It was like the pensión had been airlifted overnight into the quaintest and most tranquil village I had ever seen. The cobblestoned streets looked freshly washed, women were walking together carrying straw shopping baskets, men in berets stood on the corner smoking and waving their arms about in animated conversation. I was in love.

After a quick shower my friend and I hastened to the nearby market for coffee and breakfast. We were immediately charmed by absolutely everything and felt like we had walked into a time warp. But thoughts of how this lovely little village would disappear at sunset got us moving and so we repacked the car and headed south to our destination – Salamanca. Which I had basically chosen because I liked the sound of the name and because it was a university town. As I planned to make a living teaching English I reckoned it would be full of students. Right?

We had a rather hairy ride through the mountains (sometimes literally through them – lots of tunnels!) until we hit less hilly land that eventually flattened out even further. I was struck by the rich colours of the soil and how everything felt so different yet so familiar. When we finally reached our destination and – by sheer stupid luck – found a totally decent and cheap pensión in the centre of town, we unpacked the car for what we hoped would be the last time (for at least a few days) and headed out to get to know our new home.

Remembering all this now I cannot believe I actually did this. I mean, my friend was just going along for the ride and knew she’d be going back to the UK probably sooner than later. But for me this move meant everything.

Anyhow, to celebrate my 20th anniversary I’m planning a few day trips, and also some overnight jaunts to here and there. Starting today! I’m off to Córdoba for the day to check out the Feria, a couple of great tapas bars, the newly renovated Palacio de Viana “Patio Museum” and, well, whatever else takes my fancy.

Hasta pronto!