Spain, day 3

Hello from Sevilla! : )

This whole morning my sweet boyfriend was busy with his workshop, so I had to explore the town on my own.

And Sevilla is definitely the right place to wander around, because after every corner you might step into a beautiful garden, a ceramic mosaic on a bench or a quiet fountain in the middle of a little hidden square.

I decided to use the time for those activities that my boyfriend does not appreciate so much: art museums and a bit of shopping - which I do not enjoy much in my everyday life, but which can become a lovely experience when exploring the little shops and local markets of an unknown town.  : )

The only problem?

In the early afternoon it started raining, and at the same time I discovered that my companion would have been busy all day due to a meeting longer than expected. And I was freezing - Sevilla today was 5 degrees colder than southern Sweden! 

So, let me share something with you - if you find yourself  alone, wet and cold under the rain in a foreign city, and you still enjoy it, then you can tell for sure that the place is special! : )

Plus, the solution was obvious: extra tapas in a little bar, waiting for the sun to come back again (and it did, after a while) ; )

And this is me at the end of the afternoon, trying to find the courage for a little bath in the swimming pool on the hotel terrace - I had a bikini in my bag, but the wind was really chilly and in the end I did not dare (but maybe tomorrow I'll get braver). 

And at least from the terrace the view on the park was absolutely stunning!

We finally spent the night with a tour of tapas bars recommended by a local friend. And of course there is no way to tell if the cheese salad with almonds and raspberry sauce was better than the salmorejo with jamon, or than the roasted tuna slices, or than the pork stew, or than the secreto ibérico with caramelized onions, or than the chicken with bechamel, or than the bacalao bits, or than.. 

(fades into silence and food-induced sleep).

Spain, day 2

And finally here are the pics from my second day in Andalusia! : )

We spent the morning visiting the beautiful cathedral of Malaga, and then the Alcazaba, an Arabic  fortress which includes a labyrinth of gardens and fountains. 

I have been much fashinated by Arabic architecture since I visited the breathtaking Alhambra palace in Granada, many years ago, and I much appreciate how the delicate beauty of rose gardens and fresh pergolas balances the strenght of the fortress walls.

And after such a syncretic morning, we deserved somemore delicious tapas before leaving for Sevilla. : )

And yes, as Mari and Marian already suggested, there is the real risk for me to come back more than a bit chubbier, thanks to the delicacies of Spanish cooking..

On our train to Sevilla we had the chance to spot some beautiful mountain landscapes and olive groves..

..while one of the first things we saw in Sevilla were the fragrant orange trees in the parks. 

Ah, Sevilla, the heart of Andalusia! : )

There are no words to describe the beauty of this city, which I started exploring on my own, tonight, since my boyfriend was busy with a meeting. I got pleasantly lost through the little calles of the barrio of Santa Cruz, and had a first look on the majestic cathedral of St. Mary..

..and treated myself with some other tapas (the ones in the pic are fried bits of camembert cheese served with berry sauce.. but the range of different tapas is basically endless, and I just can not resist..)

Hope you enjoyed the pics, and see you tomorrow! : )

Spain, day 1

Hi everyone, and greetings from the fashinating town of Malaga,
Southern Spain!

It's been 10 years since my last visit to Spain, so when my boyfriend was invited for a workshop I decided to join him for a little holiday trip.
So, these are the pics of our first day in Andalusia, after a quite long (more than 4 hours) flight from Sweden.

We landed in the afternoon, reached our hotel and then had the time to explore the town a bit, visit an interesting exibition about illusionism and optical tricks, and get lost in the barrios to taste many different tapas, the typical Spanish appetizers that remind me so much of Venetian cicchetti. : )

And after the tapas, we tried the famous pescaito frito, the scrumptious deep fried fish which is so popular in Malaga - you can find it in many small restaurants andbars, and the delicious smell of it is enough to convince you to sit down and eat..

And that was pretty much our first day in Andalusia. : )

After a couple of fresh cervezas, we enjoyed the sunset and then walked back to our hotel.

See you tomorrow! : )

Back to Sweden

First, let me thank each and everyone of you for all the support and sympathy I got.

I want you to know that it really meant a lot to me. 

I was very close to my grandmother, and I know I will miss her a lot.
She was almost 96, and I am glad she lived a long, active and mostly happy life.

I have rewritten these few lines over and over again, but in the end I couldn't really find another way to express my gratitude. 

So I'll just write "thank you".

And now I am back to my Swedish home (althought I am leaving soon, again..) and surrounded once more by the stunning beauty of Northern springtime.

There is so much grace and enchantment all around that it almost feels unreal.

A warm hug, and many thanks once again,

Mij