Long Time No…Anything

Good afternoon fellow royals!

It’s been a while hasn’t it? This past close to year has been one big whirlwind, and as I’m sure some of you can relate, I haven’t been inspired to blog. Honestly I haven’t felt the need to share the wonderful experiences, food, and people from the last year, and I’ve been way more focused on living in the moment. Yes I still travel, yes I still dress well, of course I still eat a ton, but those things are done to death in the blog world. However, it hit me the other day that there are a few topics that people ask for my thoughts or advice on. Since they’re topics that I haven’t seen a lot of material for online, I thought maybe I can give it a go! So from here on out I’m going to be focusing more on teaching ESL, as well as my day to day lifehacks from Southern Spain. Ojala que os disfruteis! (I hope you all enjoy!).

Day Trippin’

Travel

One of my top tips for travel? Pick a location with plenty of easy day trip options! Instead of moving all your things from one city to the next every day, book your accommodations for at least 3 nights and then do some more in-depth exploring of the area. This method also works if you’re doing a ‘staycation’, like I tend to do from my current location in Cordoba, Andalucia. Here I’ll be sharing a few of my favorite day trips from Cordoba, as well as tips and tricks for travel in southern Spain.

Las Ermitas

Take a hike! On a nice day, the hike up to the hilltop hermitage Las Ermitas offers some of the best views of the city as well as being worth visiting in and of itself. Bus transport (line 13) will get you decently close to where the trail starts, give yourself at least 2-3 hours so you’re not rushing and have time to enjoy the hike and the view! While the views from outside are worth the hike, be sure to plan around the hermitage’s horario (schedule) so you get a chance to enter, it’s a wonderfully tranquil space that offers something for outdoors aficionados, history buffs, and avid photographers.

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Almodovar del Rio

What do you think of when you think of European countryside? Probably vineyards and medieval castles. Just a 30 minute bus ride outside of Cordoba stands the classically medieval and wonderfully preserved castle of Almodovar del Rio. Head to the bus station and look for the company San Sebastian, ask the nice person behind the taquilla (ticket counter) for ida y vuelta to Almodovar, it’s about 4 euros round-trip. If you’re worried about getting off at the correct stop, mention that you’re going to the castle to the driver and they’ll probably help you out by letting you know as you’re pulling up to the stop!

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Ronda

It’s a classic Andalucian day trip but don’t let its popularity dissuade you! The key here is to do it on your own rather than an organized trip. I ended up staying 2 nights here, there are plenty of inexpensive hotel and hostel options, so for those of us on a budget consider ‘splurging’ for a hotel si te apetece! The town itself is adorable, but the real attraction here is the outdoors, my suggestion is to pack your comfy shoes and burn off all those tapas with a hike! You can actually hike into the gorge that the famous 300+ ft Roman “puente Nuevo” spans, and the photos will of course be amazing! Bonus: if you’re scared of heights (ahem…me…) this also counts as cheap exposure therapy. If you have more time, a tour of the bullfighting ring is definitely worth seeing! Thank goodness there are no bulls kept there now, can you imagine a redhead in a bullfighting arena??

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Juzcar

This little town settled in the foothills of the Malaga province is only notable for one thing…it’s THE smurf village. Literally. The town won the contest to be the first place to debut the Smurfs 2 movie in 2008 because they painted all the buildings Smurf blue. Now this tiny little town is covered in Smurf memorabilia. And that’s it, it’s the first and only Smurf (pitufo in Spanish) village in the world…

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Antequera

So…there’s a few attraction in and around Antequera. The best way to do this trip is by car sin duda, as two of the main attractions are in the middle of nowhere! The town itself is picturesque and has a medieval castle (have not visited this, but it looks very nice from the outside); but keep going past the town and head up into the mountains…keep going…even more…yeah until you literally can’t drive any further…and you’ll reach El Torcal. This UNESCO world heritage site is a natural park filled with unique limestone formations that haven’t been found anywhere else. There are plenty of hiking routes and if you’re lucky you’ll get a glimpse of the goats jumping and climbing from one formation to the other!

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Hope you all get the chance to visit at least some of these places, they’re all remarkable! Leave a comment with any questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them!!

Stay royal,

Maryanne

Luck of the Irish

Travel

First things first, despite the red hair I have no known Irish roots. However, when you have the opportunity to spend a weekend in Northern Ireland with a lovely fellow auxiliar and round trip flights for only 3o euro total…you take it. The possibility of seeing the Northern Lights and the promise of great food are just added bonuses. Of course not everything can go to plan, and waking up with a fever added on to horrible congestion threatening to turn you into ‘the blob’ is not exactly how you want to start a whirlwind international vacation. Read on to see how the trip ended up being a once in a lifetime Irish adventure that couldn’t actually have been planned!

Friday:

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So technically we left Spain for Ireland on Thursday, but arrived right around midnight. Unfortunately I came down with a bacterial yuckiness, and was running a fever while we were travelling! Despite that, the trip was smooth and we had no problems getting from the airport to our hotel (took the airporter bus into the bus station…right across the street from our hotel). The Holiday Inn Belfast was lovely, clean and modern with a perfect location in the center of the city literally across the street from the main bus and train stations.

Friday morning we checked out (and got to leave our luggage!) to hunt down some brunch and see a bit of the city before our 12:30 bus out to Derry. The place we initially chose wasn’t open, which was fine because we ended up at Harlem Cafe. Just take a look at their menu! Budget tip: brunch is great because not only do the hours tend to work better with travel, but it’s two meals for the price of 1; especially if you can get a to-go box for the leftovers.

3 buses later (not complaining because the longest one had charging ports AND wifi) we finally made it up to Sandrock Hostel at the most northern point of Ireland in Malin Head. Just take a look at this view when we arrived! The owners are lovely, and in our 20 minute tour we learned almost everything about the (very small) area around the hostel. Since I was still sick, and nightlife in Malin Head is non-existent, Friday night consisted of homemade bone broth provided by one of our new friends, a pint of Guinness at the local pub, and chatting with the 2 other guests with a cuppa around a wood burning stove. Did I mention that sometimes you can see the northern lights from the area? We didn’t, but still got a lovely view of the stars reflecting off of the Atlantic.

Saturday:

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If there’s one thing that travel teaches you is that while you have to make plans…you also have to be ok with those plans changing. In our case they definitely changed for the better! One of the girls staying at the hostel was headed the way we were planning to get to Belfast, so for the price of a tank of gas we had an impromptu road trip. To make it even better, the weather was absolutely fantastic, with the sun showing off why Ireland is the Emerald Isle.

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From Malin Head in Donegal (btw also a Star Wars Rogue One filming location), we followed the coast to Derry stopping at the oldest bridge in Ireland which was commisioned (supposedly) by St. Patrick himself in the 5th century! We stayed in Derry about an hour for a true Irish brunch at Cappucino’s for less than a 5er…for my American readers, beans and toast isn’t half bad. Adding to the “couldn’t have planned this better” vibe, we were left Derry with a full rainbow over the Peace Bridge. From Derry we followed the Northern Irish coast, stopping for photos at the famous Dunluce Castle and Giant’s Causeway. By this point we were nice and chilly, so we stopped at Bushmills Inn for a hot chocolate by the fire at this incr.

Perks of doing a road trip instead of public transportation is the flexibility to stop at places like Asda…which is owned by Walmart and was a pleasant taste of home as well as a great place to stock up on Irish tea and peanut butter Oreos! We finally rolled into our hostel, Global Village Belfast, around 8 Saturday evening. The staff were lovely and the rooms were fine, but I’m not a huge fan of co-ed bathrooms and if the hostel was full I imagine the bathroom situation would be a nightmare. One of the advantages is the location right in the heart of the university area. With both of us feeling a little under the weather, having a plethora of cheap food options within a 5 minute walk was great. Since good burgers are in short supply in Cordoba, we took a chance on a place called Ribs & Bibs because of the burgers named after American presidents. We split the “Obama” burger, and while it wasn’t the best burger I’ve ever had it was still tasty and the ‘chips’ were top notch. As if I wasn’t already convinced that it was meant to be that we were in Belfast, we popped by the Belfast Empire Music Hall for a drink. While the crowd was older and Katie’s Pinot Grigio was barely drinkable, the band was killing it with Boston’s “More than a Feeling”…which is the ONE song with my name in it. Crazy right?

Sunday:

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Since we had to leave for the airport at 2, our Sunday itinerary only included brunch (again), St. George’s Market, and strolling around the lovely Queen’s University campus and Belfast botanical garden. For brunch we headed around the corner from the hostel to the very popular Maggie May’s with tried and true Irish breakfast staples and great coffee. A pleasant walk through town got us to St. George’s Market, which has existed since 1604 with the current building dating to the late 19th century. The arts, food, and music scenes are thriving in Belfast, all of which you can see at George’s on Sunday! I was kind of sad that I had already eaten because there were so many amazing options for every type of cuisine you could think of. What I did end up getting were some lovely inspirational prints from Itty Bitty Book Co that are currently hanging on my wall.

Taking the long back to the hostel included the Belfast Botanical Garden and Queen’s University. Both were stunning on a rare sunny day, and I have to admit I’m a little jealous of the university students going about their Sunday business like their campus isn’t absolutely amazing. One thing that I never get over living here in Europe, is how much history many of these buildings contain. It’s something that’s lacking in the States simply due to the shorter history of city planning and architecture (not discounting our rich Native American history, but the majority of their constructions don’t exist for us to see today).

All in all, this was one of my favorite trips I’ve taken. Cheap transportation, no rush, rich culture, great food, enjoyable company, phenomenal weather, what more can you ask for? I’m already looking at heading back to Ireland again, and hoping that my streak of luck continues! What are some places you’ve visited you can’t wait to return to?

Stay royal,

Maryanne

Life Itself is a Quotation

La Vida Loca

2016.

What a year, amiright? As the year closes, I hope that you take time to reflect on what impacted you this year, what you hoped for, and how much you’ve learned. Some people can write at length about their feelings and experiences…I’m not one of those people. Instead when I see a quote or poem or colloquialism that sticks with me, I save it. Isn’t it neat that other people express similar experiences, thoughts, and feelings?

Here’s the first of my quotes for 2017, and one that I hope you all adopt as well:

Stay royal,

Maryanne

Hyères I am

Travel

You know one of the best part of having friends? Visiting them. Especially if said friends live in the French Riviera. I got to spend a weekend with a lovely friend from university, who is also currently a post-grad ex-pat (check out her excellent blog for more a francais here: Alexa). With only 3 days, getting the timing and planning for this trip was key. So in addition to sharing photos and memories from the trip, I’m also going to talk about my budget weekend travel process!

Nice to See You

The city of Hyères is on the western side of the Nice province, and about an hour by train from Marseille. Even better, the train follows the Mediterranean Coast through the Provencal countryside! While not as well known as its neighbors to the East (St. Tropez, Nice, Cannes), Hyères was actually the original Cote d’Azur resort.The likes of Tolstoy, Dumas, Edith Wharton, and even Queen Victoria vacationed in Hyères during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

“I was only happy once… and that was at Hyères.” – Robert Louis Stephenson

Even though the main town is not directly on the coast, it’s a quick bus ride down to windsurfing, beach strolls, and fantastic sunsets. For those looking for Riviera views without the price tag and crowds, follow the lead of turn of the century jetsetters, authors, and royalty and rediscover “Les Palmiers”. Less predictable than Nice or Monaco, better for writing a book than Paris, all wrapped up in Mediterranean warmth and southern charm!

I managed to perfectly time my trip to that one weekend it rained, but the city has an average of 300 sunny days a year. Friday was spent travelling, napping on the beach, and celebrating a birthday. Saturday started out foggy and drizzly, which had the effect of highlighting the colors and architecture of the Provencal style. Luckily for me by the time sunset came, the clouds had cleared and we got to see one of the beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen from the beach. Not pictured is the rose wine the region is known for, or the copious amounts of rich foods and pastries that were devoured too quickly to be photographed. It’s France, everyone already knows the food and wine is great, amiright?

Have Carry-On, Will Travel

One of the great things about travelling is that there are so many other people who have shared similar frustrations and struggles who you can commiserate with and learn from. Since it’s my 3rd time in Europe, I feel like I’m finally starting to develop my own system for getting where I need to go with more comfort and less stress. In case you’re curious, here are some of the techniques, coping mechanisms and advice that came into play for this last trip:

Figure out what makes you feel the most comfortable and at ease and go from there, this applies to everything from luggage, timing, and spending.
Make sure your luggage fits on whatever mode of transportation you’re taking and that you can deal with it between transfers, cobblestone streets, and stairs. (I use a backpack designed as a carry-on).
Bring more than enough underwear and socks.
Save important documents to a locked folder on Google Drive, Dropbox, or somewhere similar. Then make sure that at least one other person has access to the folder just in case something were to happen.
On a similar note, especially for international travel, at least one (preferably 2-3) should know your itinerary, transportation, and accommodation info.
Try to memorize at least a few phrases (including I don’t speak your language very well) in the native language, and download Google Translate for that language offline. Then you can always hand the phone to them to type in their response, or you can really quick find the one word you need in the moment.
Have a system for getting through airport security. I keep my liquids bag and laptop in my tote for easy access and then switch them over to my carry-on once I’m through. Also I always wear socks, no jewelry and no bobby pins; unnecessary germs and setting off metal detectors are just not worth it to look good.
Always have tissues and baby wipes.

Do you have your own travel system? I’d love to hear it!

In the meantime…stay royal,

Maryanne

Home is where the heart is

La Vida Loca

9 months from landing in the States from my study abroad experience in Sevilla, I was on a flight headed back to Spain. This time however, I’ll be here the whole school year as an assistant, or auxiliar, of conversation in a public school.

So many things I could (and will) write about my journey thus far, but none of them felt right as my re-introduction into blogging. Why am I here again? What have I been doing? How awful was packing? Until my good friend and fellow blogger (Alyssa Driscoll) pointed out in her post on Antwerp, when you can see yourself doing errands in a city and enjoying it, take note of it. More than any other reason that’s why I’m back because for at least this point in my life, Spain is where my soul wants to be.

Being here for 3 weeks has only confirmed this for me. I live in a city called Córdoba, which has a wonderful atmosphere of feeling like a small town with city amenities. My new life here already has a comforting rhythm to it, rather than being an overwhelming struggle. Did I mention how absolutely gorgeous this place is? Walking outside of my piso always takes my breath away a little.

I can’t say for certain, but I would hypothesize that the feeling of familiarity we sometimes feel with a place never really goes away. When I ventured back to Sevilla for a day, it felt like coming home. Headed out of the train station I didn’t have to look at a map even once to get around to my study abroad program, my host mom’s flat, or my favorite shops. Walking past the Cathedral like I used to do every day brought back so many wonderful memories and reminded me of how much I had missed the experience.

The great thing about having a ‘home base’ while traveling for whatever length of time is that it provides a safe place to head off on new adventures. Even better is when ‘home base’ adapts to how you change with new experiences. For now, I look forward to seeing how my home morphs as I have new experiences and explore new places.

“The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one’s appreciation of fundamental things, like home.” -Amelia Earhart

Do you have any places you have traveled to that felt more like living there rather than visiting?

Stay royal,

Maryanne

Have Suitcase-Will Travel

Attempts to Fashion

Anyone else hate packing? For those who have an entrepreneurial (that’s actually a word?) mind, here’s a business idea for you: people tell you where they are going and for how long, and you send them exactly what they’ll need, minus what they’ve told you they already have. Would definitely be worth it when you consider saving hours of researching packing lists, fashion blogs, and actually shopping. You could call it packing consulting.

Unfortunately, I don’t think any like that exists yet, so I had to pack for 4ish months in Europe by myself….in 1 suitcase, a personal item, and a carry on. For the record, I made it both there and back without overweight fees or having to check in a second bag (except for a 1 hr domestic flight to get to my state, but I don’t count that). So here’s what I packed, and how I made it all fit.

Y’all don’t need to know brands, when I bought it, and all of that (unless you have a question about something in particular, then leave me a comment!)

The suitcases: 28″ and 21″ with four wheels. NOTE: I knew the 21″ would be too big for budget European airlines, so I bought a cheap smaller one once over there, highly recommend!

Other Bags: a giant Longchamp knockoff, and a smaller leather backpack that actually used to be my mom’s. NOTE: The giant tote was too giant to really be an every day bag, but worked great for getting some extra packing space for flights.

CLOTHES:
Pants: Brought 7 pairs of pants, black jeans, regular jeans, burgundy skinny chinos, 3 (yes 3) pairs of joggers in various fabrics, and a pair of flowy pants for good measure. VERDICT: probably should have stuck to the neutral basics but I wore all of them at least.

Shorts/Skirts: 2 pairs of nice looking shorts, 2 skater skirts, leather midi, mini tulle, and a bodycon burgundy velvet. VERDICT: Definitely should have had more casual shorts/denim shorts, I ended up buying a pair there! Also did not get to wear that leather midi as much as I wanted, which sucks cause how cool is it?!

Shirts: Really I could have brought a third of these for what I ended up doing, but I still think I had a good mix.

Sweaters/Outerwear: Southern Spain, don’t need much in the way of outerwear, right? Wrong if you actually want to fit in, I ended up buying some sweaters there and wish I had bit the bullet and bought an olive utility jacket (they’re everywhere!)

P.S.: Didn’t get a pic of the sweaters! But I brought a long black cardigan, striped peplum pullover, and a slouchy metallic pullover. Also not pictured, a floral kimono I wore on the plane.

Dresses:
Ssooo many dresses! I love dresses, but turns out Spaniards aren’t as big of fans…so I ended up wearing some of these only once.

How did I make all this (+8 pairs of shoes and all the other things you need to live abroad for four ish months) fit into my luggage? Two words: vacuum. bags.

I bought these Space Saver 12 Pack and they were a lifesaver! Here’s a pic of the big suitcase after it was all packed (bunny for scale)

Had room left over even though the weight was right under the limit (50 pds.). Any more questions about what I packed or how? Let me know!

Stay royal,
Maryanne

Pasta, Pizza, and Gelato

Travel

What else does a girl need in life, am I right? I realized that even though I spent a large portion of my time in Italy eating, I never posted about it! So here’s a short post with a rundown of what I ate and why I picked it. Buen Aproveche!

-Florence for a Day: On a limited time frame, tried and true sounded like the best option. Panini Toscana is the #1 restaurant listing in Florence and ended up being perfect for a quick lunch. Located in the plaza around the Duomo, for around 5 euros I got not only a great Panini made with local ingredients, but an above and beyond service experience that was definitely appreciated by this non-Italian tourist.

-Locals Know Best: I found myself in the lovely city of Siena for dinner, since eating pizza at least once is obviously on the list when one visits Italy, some of my new friends and I asked our guide to recommend a pizzeria. Great idea, because we got large portions, low prices, and real Italian pizza.

-Ferraresi: So the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, where I stayed, is known as the best area for food in Italy. I had checked out some recommendations for local specialties before I went and that made deciding on food much easier! Instead of staring at a menu for 20 minutes and just hoping I picked something I would like, I had a general idea of what I could order. My favorite was a pumpkin ravioli in a sage butter sauce, and handmade tortellini in a from scratch broth was a great option as well.

-Life is Sweet: Italians LOVE coffee. One of my favorite parts about everyday life there was running into a bar for a shot…of espresso…anytime I needed a pick me up. Just order, don’t even bother sitting down, savor the greatness that is Italian espresso and head off to the next thing. If you want a bit more, add either whatever pastry looks particularly amazing, or stop at the gelateria that is more than likely nearby.

-Italians Can Cook: If you havent tried either Couchsurfing or AirB&B, I would recommend doing it at least once. I had phenomenal hosts in Italy that became friends as well, oh and they could cook. Got to sample several iconic pastas and sauces, and learn the basics behind making them to try when I got home! Now they need to come to Spain so we can all make paella and empanadas.

Eating on a budget is hard anyways, but I was pleasantly surprised by how my money went for the amount/quality of food I got. Be careful though, all those 1 euro pastries and espressos add up…

Stay royal,

Maryanne

Panini at the top rated TripAdvisor restaurant in Florence

Pizza (for 1.50 euros!) and new friends in Siena

Tortellini en brodo at Il Mandolino in Ferrara

Cappucino (only before noon!) and custard filled croissant to start the day

Penne and pesto made by my amazing hosts

Cappellacci di Zucca Ferraresi

Gelato in Ferrara, I think I got a hazelnut flavor…

Age of Worry

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“Don’t be scared to walk alone, don’t be scared to like it. There’s no time you must be home so sleep where your darkness falls.”

Anyone else ever use songs to describe experiences? For me, John Mayer’s Age of Worry was perfect for my first SOLO international trip.Yup, you read that right. Solo. From Seville Spain to Ferrara Italy. For 5 days. With almost no agenda. Those of you who know me well may be able to understand why this was both something you could and could not see me doing. On the one hand, I love people…but not traveling to once in a lifetime destinations with them. On the other hand, traveling without plans (really travel…and life…in general) is a guaranteed meltdown. I promise there will be a post with more pictures and travel info, but I wanted to talk a little about solo travel.

My biggest fears of course did not occur, and actually as far as travel goes the trip was very smooth. Somehow I got everywhere I needed to be, met wonderful people, bonded with Italians while being locked outside our apartment, toured medieval towns, and only ate pasta and gelato. Sounds perfect, right? Wrong. The downside of traveling by yourself is that you are your only company. Great for reflection and figuring your life out if that’s what you want, not so great for relaxing and making the most of the moment. There were definitely times when in the middle of a gorgeous day, I can honestly say I was completely miserable. Not sick, not stressed, just on the verge of tears because there was no one and nothing that my mind could redirect to. On that happy note, here are my tips (please note that I’ve only done this once, I am NOT an expert!) for travelling alone:

-Upload every document, travel itinerary, online boarding pass, accommodation number/address, contact numbers/addresses, and credit card info into a Dropbox or OneDrive folder that is synced across all your devices AND that is shared with at least 1 emergency contact. My mind was much more at ease knowing that I, or my emergency contact, could access all those files easily.

-Plan at least 1 thing a day. Those plans may change, but with 1 thing planned you are not going to be sitting around wondering what to do, but you also have room to be spontaneous!

-Know that you are by no means guaranteed to meet the love of your life, make super cool friends, or be able to buy a Tuscan villa on your solo trip. If you are not ok with the possibility of the mundane, you may end up sorely disappointed.

-You do NOT have to take everyone’s advice, whether you asked for it or not. That restaurant that a local recommended doesn’t sound good? Don’t go, simple as that. In a way, this is your time to be selfish and do what you want, enjoy it!

-However, you are the only one responsible for your decisions on your solo trip. For me that was both liberating and terrifying. It is a great opportunity to figure out how you make decisions and to test out the results, which may or may not go well, and you won’t know until you make and act on that decision.

-I gotta throw this in here for liability, please don’t purposefully put yourself in unsafe situations. Common sense and a bit of awareness go a long way.

For myself, I know that I tend to try to have life figured out, make the best decisions, not make mistakes, and in general not enjoy being a 21 year old living in Europe. So if you’re anything like me, I have no advice better than that of John Mayer (weird I know…), “Rage in the age of worry, act your age in the age of worry, and say worry get out of here!”

Stay Royal,

Maryanne

Basque in the Glory

Travel

Ever heard of Basque Country? No? Good, that’s more room on Playa La Concha and more cheesecake from La Viña for me!

The Basque region of Spain is in the far Northeast, it shares a border with France. In addition to speaking Castillano (Spain Spanish) they have their own language called Euskara. The climate is very different from the rest of Spain, with the result being an abundance of greenery that ends in pristine beaches. I have a theory that Spaniards keep this region as a secret for themselves, because other than a few adventurous foreigners like the other study abroad girls I was traveling with, the region seemed devoid of the mass groups of gawking, selfie stick using, obnoxious tourists.

I’m ashamed to admit that I do not know enough about the region to give you all an accurate overview, so if you would like head to EuskoGuide for more info on the fascinating history and culture of this area. Unfortunately I only had 3 full days to explore the two most well known Basque cities: San Sebastián and Bilbao.

Because I have a TON of photos, I’m going to split them up into different galleries. First off, shots that I think capture some of the landscape in San Sebastian and Bilbao:

Captured from the window of a bus going 70 mph, pretty proud of myself!

Most photogenic theme park I’ve ever been to, more pics to come!

Sunset from the top of the funicular in San Sebastian.

Ignore my geared towards any type of weather outfit and look at this gorgeous view!

Literally. There was a tunnel behind me.

Taken from Playa La Concha in San Sebastian

Lush green mountains and the…BEACH. Need I say more?

Because one was obviously not enough, you all need to see more this place.

After a 1.5 hour hike up a mountain with luggage in the dark, at least we woke up to this.

From Madrid, my group and I took a 5(ish) hour bus ride to San Sebastián, which is one of the most North-Western cities in Spain. It’s reputation as an amazing resort town is completely accurate in my opinion. Upscale, friendly people, beautiful beaches, and a world-renowned food scene. Just take a look at these photos! Also, those sunset pics? Taken from a VINTAGE theme park just casually on top of a MOUNTAIN. NBD.