¡Hola Friends!
If you ever get the chance to go visit Spain, DO IT.
Bryce and I went to Marbella, Spain. We picked this destination truth be told, solely off of the numerous Youtube videos we watched about people who live here (if this doesn’t say a lot about us, idk what does). Both of us had little knowledge about the place we were traveling to and what there was to do there. It looked like a total vacay destination. Although we were probably the only Americans in the area, we had an absolute ball and my college Spanish classes paid off quite nicely.
Marbella is a low-key Ibiza and is extremely popular with the yachting community. I was taken by surprise whenever we ended up at the bay and saw rows after rows of incredible yachts and sailboats. Of course where they dock is near a luxury outdoor shopping center with brands like Tom Ford and Chanel. Bryce and I were in aw to say the least. I have to mention the food though… it was out of this world! The first night we were in Marbella, Bryce and I both got Sea-bass served in a white wine sauce, with seaweed pieces on top. This is definitely a foodie lover’s city.
After traveling for 13+ hours to get to Spain, we chilled out at the beach and just explored the town. I couldn’t get enough of the fresh flowers on the roads and the intricate tiles on homes. Marbella is one of those places where something that you think would be ugly is absolutely stunning. Alleyways had vines growing in them, bathrooms at the beach were oddly nice, and every street had at least two little outdoor seating cafes. Next door to our Airbnb there was a quaint coffee shop that served the best Americano (my mouth is watering as I type this).
Before leaving for Europe, we booked all of our excursions and everything in advance. We wanted to have it all planned out so we knew exactly what we were doing each day and how much money it was going to cost us. On our third day in Spain, we were supposed to take a day trip to Granada. I heard from multiple people that it was a place I needed to see. We ended up booking a tour and everything, but the company emailed us the morning before the trip to Granada that the buses canceled on them (lol never heard of that before, but oh well). We decided that we would go to Seville instead! I’m pretty sure we woke up at 5 in the morning to catch the bus at 6:20am, but it was so worth it. We were gone the entire day and had fantastic tour guides. One of our tour guides spoke six different languages back to back without taking a breath! It was so impressive.
When I’m traveling I like to do a little a bit of the sightseeing tours to understand the culture and learn about the history of where I’m visiting. I also love to wander to not as popular tourists spots. We had one day in Seville though, which was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, so a tour was great. Bryce saw his first European Cathedral, and was quite lucky because his first one happened to be the largest gothic cathedral in all of Europe. My jaw kept dropping from the insane architecture and history the entire time we were in the church.
If you are from the midwest and familiar with the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, it was actually modeled off of Seville, Spain. Kansas City’s sister city is Seville! Walking around the city I found so many similarities; fountains on every corner, the Spanish architectural arches, and the use of detail. Seville absolutely blew me away with all of its charm. For booking a last minute excursion, I’d say that it was one of my favorite things we did on whole trip to Europe.
For real though, GO to SPAIN. The beaches are incredible and all of the streets are lined with an insane amount of flowers. It is absolutely breathtaking and I must go back to see more. There are also ice cream stands that sell Toblerone ice cream bars…(if I didn’t persuade you enough already). If you go to Marbella, I highly recommend going with a group of people and staying at a resort. It’s definitely a place to relax poolside during the day and hit up the clubs at night.
by Twofold Media 
