I think calling our trip to Spain a babymoon is spot on. It really was a second honeymoon. It also felt like the first honeymoon in the sense that after this romantic trip, I'd be moving into a new apartment with my love. I am so glad that we got to have this week together in Spain. He really is my best friend and I love traveling with him. He is the perfect combination of foodie, adventurer, art aficionado, intellectual and historian. One of my favorite travel traditions is to buy a book of a famous author from the region where we will be traveling. We read it together during our trip. I love this tradition because it takes our experience of learning about the local culture to a higher level. It sets a good tone. For Spain, Sean bought a book of short stories by Cervantes.
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We took an evening stroll down a beach in Malaga. We stopped to read some Cervantes
and watch the sun set into the ocean. One of my favorite moments of the trip. |
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| We sat in front of this mill/battlement? as we watched the sun set. |
Right before we got engaged, Sean started going through a phase where he was fascinated by the Lost Generation. We read Fitzgerald on our honeymoon and Hemingway on our trip to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. Sean is a romantic to his core and his interest in these colorful figures has been a welcome influence on the start of our marriage and family. Like the romantics we want to take pleasure in living and seek for the ideal. Sean calls it the 'joie de vivre' - I could think of no better way to describe what life with Sean is like.
When I was looking up ideas on where to go in southern Spain, I came across a photo of Ronda, Spain with a quote from Ernest Hemingway about how he felt is was the most romantic city in the country. Obviously we HAD to add it as a destination on our itinerary. I must say that it was more than we could have hoped for. We loved it! If we could do our trip over, we would have stayed the night there. We could could definitely picture Hemingway spending time here as we ate Bull Tail at the restaurants, toured the bullfighting ring, strolled the cobblestone streets and gazed at Puente Nuevo.
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| My handsome husband channeling Hemingway with his beard in front of Puente Nuevo. |
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| I just love him! |
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| It was a bit of a hike to get to this look out point and would be all uphill on our way back. So we decided to take a break and read a bit more of Cervantes. I don't think we could have chosen a better spot for soaking in romantic Spain. |
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| Baby Greenley and I. |
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| Sean 'El Toro' Greenley at the bullring in Ronda. |
As I mentioned, Sean is a foodie. As this was our babymoon he wanted to treat me to a fancy night out. He took me to Dani Garcia's restaurant in Malaga. It had two Michelin stars! This was by far the finest dining I have ever partaken of. The theme of the restaurant and the tasting menu was inspired by the book "The Little Prince". It was magical and very filling - the tasting menu had 21 courses. You could tell that they cared just as much about the innovative food and flavors as they did the presentation. Each course had its own unique presentation. For one of the courses we went into the kitchen and had to unlock small chests with a key we were presented with at the beginning of the meal.
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| Our desert came with the purple planet on top with dry ice coming out of the craters. |
On the last leg of our trip, we drove up through the western part of Spain to get back to Madrid. Sean was delighted to find that there was a city that was dedicated to ham. So we stopped over and got ham sandwiches. They even had a ham museum!
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| We loved the sculpture shaped like ham, welcoming us to the city Monesterio. |
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Sean had found a great deal on a boutique hotel in Madrid. When we got there,
they gave us a free upgrade to their luxury suite! The balcony and view were to die for. |
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| It was the perfect way to end the perfect trip! |
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