I’m sharing some questions I received about our trip to Spain!
Hey friends! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We spent some time at Aulani, which was an absolute DREAM. P and I are huge fans of lazy rivers and love pretty much everything Disney-related.
In today’s post I’m going to give you one last summary of Spain. Sorry for going on so long, but I have a lot to say! I can already tell you that we will definitely be back and I’m planning to see how much time we can spend there. The pilot is retiring from the Air Force in January (!), so that opens up a lot of options. Fitnessista in Seville sounds great, just saying.
Here are the questions you sent I G!
Questions and answers about Spain
Do you have problems with the language? I would love to go, but I’m scared.
My family speaks Spanish and I have a degree in Spanish, so I understand it almost perfectly. However, I don’t have much experience or confidence. speech Spanish. As a child, I always responded to my family members in English, and in college, we spent a lot of time studying Spanish (reading novels, analyzing poems, writing essays) but very little time practicing. Becoming more comfortable speaking Spanish has been a big goal of mine, so I started taking Spanish classes. Itaki’s weekly private classes In January. It has made a huge difference and I don’t freeze like I used to!
It was really amazing to be able to practice in Spain, and I also found that they are extremely patient and I think they appreciate the fact that you try to speak their language.
If you don’t speak Spanish but would like to, I highly recommend Italki. You can also Download this audiobook to know phrases while traveling.
What made you choose Seville to visit over other cities in Spain?
We have good friends there, so that was the main goal of our trip. They have been living in Seville for the past year and love it, and we knew we wanted to visit (and also give P a chance to see his best friend in the world). Next time, we would love to visit Madrid, Barcelona, and travel to Portugal.
How/why did you choose the area you went to and what was the food like? I am half Spanish
We stayed near our friends at Alfalfa Plaza. It was a great location, close to lots of restaurants, cafes and shops.
Hotels, explored areas, means of transportation, security.
We ended up staying in a VBRO because we were going to be there for a longer period (about 10 days). It was so nice to have a small kitchen with a refrigerator, living room, and laundry. To get around, we walked almost everywhere. We love seeing new cities on foot, so this was ideal for everyone.
We rented a car for Cadiz and took the bus a couple of times to get from one side of the city to the other.
As far as safety and cleanliness, Seville IMPRESSED ME. Honestly, it’s the first time in my life that I didn’t have to feel like an overprotective mother. It was very normal for the kids to walk down the street to buy something at a store and then walk back. I didn’t have to be afraid of them going to the bathroom alone at restaurants. We also ate quite a bit on patios while all the kids played at a nearby playground. I thought it was a gift to the kids, because even though we are lucky enough to live in a safe area of Tucson, the rest of the city doesn’t feel the same way.
What did you notice about the food and portion sizes?
The food was different than I expected, but we obviously loved it. (You can see a summary of the food here!) There was more fried food than I thought there would be and the vegetables were undercooked 😉 At the same time, the food still felt light and fresh. The tapas portions were also larger than I expected. In the US, tapas are like two bites. In Seville, they are absolutely one portion size.
I also want to mention here that we ate like KINGS (like in Italy and Greece) and #1 – the food didn’t make me feel sick or lethargic and #2 – it was incredibly cheap. Our fanciest dinner (4 adults at Mariatrifulca with two bottles of good wine and multiple dishes) was 200 Euros. In the US, it would have easily been $600+. I also bought groceries one night (charcuterie board, two packages of chicken, snacks, beer, wine) and it was 40 Euros. At Whole Foods, it would have been at least $200. The cost of our food in the US is out of control and unfortunately the quality is much worse than what they have access to in other countries.
How do you plan your trips? Do you use specific websites? Travel agent or advisor?
For this particular trip, I asked my friend Sam for recommendations and she gave us a ton of awesome ideas. I usually like to plan one *thing* each day, whether it’s some sort of excursion or sightseeing event, or a special meal. I don’t like to overload our schedule so it really feels like a vacation with lots of relaxation time or free space for impromptu shopping and exploring.
We had a lot of time just relaxing and drinking coffee (or Cruzcampo, or Albariño) while the kids played in a nearby park.
I use travel agencies for certain trips (I highly recommend Laura– She booked Aulani for us!), and for others who are more “go-with-the-flow,” I like to plan myself.
Tell me, friends: what’s on your travel list right now? Anywhere you’d like to visit this year?
hugs and kisses
Gina
