A Diary of Our Trip to Spain

We never took a honeymoon. We got married, stayed a night in a Bed & Breakfast, and Ty went back to work the next day, and we both went back to college a couple of weeks later. We were young and needed the money to simply survive.

In fact, we didn’t even take a vacation until our oldest was about 6 months old. And that consisted of a weekend trip to Nebraska to see Harold Warp’s Pioneer Village (a place I had visited as a kid) and the Cabela’s Outlet store! (History and Hunting seem to be a theme for us as you’ll soon see!)

So, when friends proposed a trip to Spain to welcome Ty back from deployment and give us an opportunity to reconnect as a couple while also giving Ty a chance to hunt animals he’d never otherwise have the chance to hunt, we said, “Thank you, YES!”

The 4 of us traveled together to Spain and met up with another couple who own a hunting and touring company in Spain – IberHunting. Because we were spending the tour with people from Spain, we got the insider’s view of all the country had to offer and it was AMAZING!

What follows is a condensed (but still quite extensive!) account of our trip because to share it all would be impossible! So much beauty, so many blessings! ❤️

DAY 1 & 2 – February 26/27 – U.S. to Madrid to Málaga, Spain

We boarded a plane late morning and met up with our friends at DFW. Together, we traveled American Airlines to Madrid, then to Málaga in the south of Spain.

I have never flown internationally, but our 2 oldest children have and Ty has for the military, so I got several pointers from them. Comfortable clothes, slip on shoes, and noise-cancelling headphones were their 3 best tips.

I also bought these packing cubes on a tip from a travel website and they worked out really well to keep my things better sorted for such a long trip with several hotel moves.

Thankfully, we had seats at the bulkhead so that Ty had more room for his 6’4″ frame. On the flight to Spain, we were served supper and breakfast. It was “overnight” for us, but I only managed to sleep a couple of hours. We arrived in Spain around 9:30 am local time.

Once at Málaga, a driver picked us up to take us to our hotel near the historic district. The room had high ceilings and was aqua and white striped.

We could see the Mediterranean and the beach (including a lighthouse!) from our window!

Ty and I were exhausted, so we fell asleep on top of the covers of the bed and woke up around 5pm and got ready for dinner. Before dinner, Ty and I took a quick walk down the coastline. So beautiful!

For dinner, we decided to eat at an Italian restaurant owned by Antonio Banderas that was just around the corner from the hotel. It was very good!

Then, we went to the old part of town and walked the zig-zagging streets that were lined with shops and cafe’s and lots of people since it was a holiday weekend for them. I loved how people were out and about chatting, having coffee, playing chess, and enjoying each other’s company late into the night!

As a side note: we saw very few people on their phones during our entire trip. It was refreshing!

DAY 3 – February 28 – Málaga to Mojácar

I woke up around 6am and enjoyed the open balcony while I waited for Ty to wake up. Before breakfast, we walked down to Roman ruins we had read about that were very near our hotel. They were discovered in 1951 and the city had simply been built over the top of them. We have been studying ancient Rome in our homeschool, so I’m excited to take photos and information back to the children!

Breakfast was a huge buffet of delicious selections from Spain, the UK, France, and even the U.S. Cheeses, meats, breads and pastries, lots of fruit, and so much more! And oh so fresh!

Our driver picked us up at 10am and we drove 3 hours up the coast to Mojácar. We stopped once for a restroom break and saw ham legs with the hoof on hanging in the store for 250 euros!

A lady was slicing off very thin pieces from one of the legs that was braced on the counter. I realized this is basically prosciutto! However, they call it Iberian ham and it comes from a specific species of pig from that area.

We checked into the Parador hotel along the beach. The rooms had large windows and a balcony that opened toward the water and beach.

We had lunch in the hotel. I had ham and cheese croquettes and Ty had a pork steak. They also brought around a variety of breads and olive oil to dip it in.

Then, Ty and J headed out to hunt Southeastern Ibex a day early because there is rain expected and it will be difficult to hunt in the rain.

C and I walked down to the beach. It was very windy and the waves were incredibly large and choppy.

Our hostess picked us up to drive to old town Mojácar up on the hill.

We saw the original city gates:

We learned about the indalo that was found in a cave nearby that has become the symbol for the Andalusian region:

We saw a church that also served as a fortress:

And toured the narrow streets lined with geranium pots on the walls and bougainvillea flowering vines.

The town is also the legendary birthplace of Walt Disney. More on that HERE.

We finished our tour in a local middle-class home turned museum where we saw many household items that would be typical in a Spanish home. The most fascinating to me was the botijo – a clay water container that hangs from the ceiling and cools the water as it evaporates from the porous bottle!

Ty and J both shot their ibexes so we got to hear their stories over steak dinners, coffee, and dessert until 11pm. Ty was unable to retrieve his ibex that night due to it being toward dark.

DAY 4 – March 1 – Mojácar, Spain

We awoke to pouring rain in a region that hadn’t seen rain in a year! There was no way to recover Ty’s ibex in the downpour, so we spent the day at the hotel. We had a leisurely breakfast, chatted in one of the hotel’s salons, napped, and had a hot rock massage!

I took this photo of the light fixture in our room because it was so beautiful, I often slept with it on!

That night, we had dinner at 8:30 pm – paella with prawns, squid, mussels, and fish.

I must say every hotel we stayed at had it’s own flair and I loved different things about each one. At this hotel, it was how personable and friendly the waitstaff was and how late the restaurant stayed open, both for breakfast and dinner. It allowed us to have a very relaxing stay!

DAY 5 – March 2 – Mojácar, Spain

After a leisurely breakfast, our hosts met up with us to drive up the coast. It continued to rain, more rain than most people in the area had ever seen! When we stopped for a photo op, a mudslide came down on the other side of the road!

We had a 3 hour lunch at Lua – a beautiful restaurant where we had 7 appetizers, a delicious main course, and dessert…and coffee! No need for dinner tonight!

On the way back, we found out the hunting guides had been able to retrieve Ty’s ibex despite the treacherous conditions. However, they could only salvage the head due to damage sustained to the rest of the body. What that means for Ty’s taxidermy is that they will have to use a cape from another ibex plus the head of the one Ty shot to create the full mount.

It continued to pour rain, but we still got out to take photos with the head of Ty’s ibex!

We went back to the hotel and changed out of our wet clothes. Then, Ty and I went down to the restaurant for a little date night coffee, just the 2 of us.

DAY 6 – March 3 – Mojácar to Nerja, Spain + Granada

This morning, the guys headed out to hunt Ronda Ibex while C and I packed up and left the hotel for a trip to Granada before checking into our next hotel in Nerja.

We passed by the Sierra Nevadas with their snow covered peaks:

At Granada, we met up with our tour guide and began walking the city. Due to the location of Granada, very few people are allowed to own automobiles because of how the pollution settles upon the town. They are nestled among mountain ranges and the air stagnates over the city. There are taxis and there are motorbikes, but everyone else must walk.

Granada means “pomegranate” and there were lots of pomegranates to be seen and purchased in the city:

Granada was first settled by the Phoenicians, then Alexander the Great, then Rome, then the Arabs, then on January 2, 1492, Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand conquered the city and the last Muslim stronghold of the Alhambra. In school, we have been studying all of these things, so it was fascinating to see it all in person! I cannot wait to take all this information back to the children!

The first place we visited in Granada was the Monastery of San Jerónimo where the nuns are still in cloister right in the heart of the city.

Then, we traveled down a street that was made to resemble an old Moroccan market to show the Arab influence in Granada.

Notice the intricate mosaic stone work on the streets?!

We purchased some roasted and sugared nuts from one of the shops and they threw in Turkish Delight for free.

NOTE: This was the place where I learned the hard way just how much 4 euros per 100 grams is!

Then, we toured the Granada Cathedral in the center of the city. It was gorgeous!

Below are just a few of the photos I took of this beautiful place. I could have spent hours studying the architecture of this majestic cathedral!

We ate lunch at a local favorite that had a long line to get in. Thankfully, our hostess sent her daughter on ahead to get a table, so by the time we got there, we were able to be seated immediately.

At this restaurant, when you order a drink, you get free tapas. We learned that they are called tapas because when people would order drinks, they would also ask for a piece of bread or a plate to put “on top” of the glass to keep the bugs away! We ordered Sangrias and had a huge variety of tapas for lunch!

The restaurant also featured Flamenco music and we learned a bit about Flamenco, which originated in this area of Spain.

Our hosts like to offer us local tastes of each area, so they took us to a coffee shop that sold Piononos for us to try. Not my favorite, but it was fun to try them! Fun little factoid – they are named after Pope Pius IX.

Then, we headed to the main attraction – the Alhambra – a Muslim stronghold on top of a hill outside the city. It served as the residence and government center for many sultans until this final Arab fortress fell to Isabella and Ferdinand (the first of the Catholic monarchs).

Each sultan built a new residence within the compound and even Charles V (one of the Catholic monarchs) built a palace he never lived in right in the middle of it all.

The most fascinating thing was seeing the very room Christopher Columbus came into to ask Isabella and Ferdinand for the money for his famous voyage! They were on a high from having finally conquered all of Spain, and were feeling free with their purse strings. Right time, right place.

We also climbed up the hill to the Summer Palace of the Sultan. When they would tire of being in the midst of the palaces and government and heat, they would move up the mountain to a summer palace with breathtaking views!

One of the most incredible aspects of the Alhambra were all the fountains and how the water was carried by ancient aqueducts built by Moors from Roman designs all throughout the palaces. The Arabs saw water as a sign of wealth and to have all of those aqueducts bringing water from the mountaintops into the palaces would have shown just how prestigious they were. The fountains are absolutely gorgeous and still run to this day!

Another interesting history to the Alhambra is how it lay in ruins as basically a “flop house” for the poor and transient of the area until Washington Irving (yes, THAT Washington Irving of Sleepy Hollow fame) visited and stayed for a while, listening to and writing down the stories of the people living there. He went on to publish Tales of the Alhambra, piquing the interest of others in this ancient site, leading to a restoration of the Alhambra.

After our whirlwind tour of Granada, we met up with the guys at our new hotel in Nerja. They were unsuccessful with their hunting today and will go back out tomorrow.

After dinner in the hotel, I began to feel odd. My stomach felt huge and I couldn’t think straight, so I finally excused myself and went back to our room where I tried to lay down only to realize I was going to vomit. For the next several hours, I lived between the bed and the bathroom. I was hot, nauseous, and at one point, my legs cramped so bad, I screamed out in pain. Not the way I wanted to end the day.

DAY 7 – March 4 – Nerja + Canillas de Aceituno

I went to breakfast, but didn’t eat anything and didn’t stay long, choosing instead to go back to bed and let the other ladies explore the area without me.

Near noon, we found out the guys had gotten their Ronda Ibexes and would meet us up the mountain for lunch in Canillas de Aceituno. I didn’t want to miss their stories, so I got myself up and dressed and went with the ladies to lunch.

However, one of the guys also felt sick and spent lunch sitting in the truck. I had thought maybe I had food poisoning until he got sick. Now I began to wonder if we would all drop like flies. (thankfully that didn’t happen!)

We met at Restaurante La Sociedad. I could only eat rice and drink water for lunch, but Ty and the others shared chivo – a baby goat – including the head!

Ty’s second ibex also had a mishap and ended up falling off a cliff. Ty and the guide had to go after it, and yet again, only the head was salvageable! After lunch, Ty took pictures with his ibex head.

In that same town, I found huge, beautiful strawberries that sounded so yummy considering how sick I was. So, I went to the local market and bought some.

We also visited a small church in the town.

I slept all the way down the mountain, and then all afternoon and evening until about 10:30 pm when I woke up and managed to eat some of those wonderful strawberries and a couple of airport snacks Ty had hoarded in his bag. Then, I went back to sleep and slept all night.

DAY 8 – March 5 – Nerja, Málaga, & Frigiliana, Spain

I was still feeling a bit off and couldn’t eat a lot, but I was so much better after sleeping so much and so was the other guy who got sick. We all drove to Málaga to meet our tour guide and tour the city more than we were able to the first day we were there.

We toured the Cathedral that we had seen from the outside on our second day in Spain. It was beautiful, but unfinished due to lack of funds.

Then, we toured Pablo Picasso’s childhood home. He never returned to Spain after leaving because the dictator Franco was in charge. While I still do not have an appreciation for Picasso’s work, I feel I understand who he was a bit more and why he went the direction he did with his art.

On our way to lunch, I stopped at a shop to buy turrón – a nougat that is very popular in this area. The American Airlines employee at the check in counter in the city we flew out from mentioned how she loved the almond nougat from Málaga, so I had to find some and bring it home to the kids!

Then, we visited a local indoor market that was absolutely HUGE!

At the market, we bought olive oil, raisins on the vine, and bread.

We ate lunch at the restaurant Vinoteca in Málaga. I had only a small bit of my salmon and some cheese. I am still unable to drink coffee and most meats turn my stomach.

On the way back to the hotel, the ladies stopped at Frigiliana – a “white town” near our hotel. It had been dreary weather, so the shops were not open and it was nearing dusk as we climbed the many steps to the top of the city, but it was well worth it for the views!

DAY 9 – March 6 – Nerja to Pollença in Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Ty and I got up early to pack so we could head to the beach before breakfast. Our hotel was right on the beach and the views were gorgeous.

Of all the hotel rooms, this one was my favorite (also a Parador hotel). However, I felt like I had lost a lot of time there due to my being sick.

Ty and I walked the beach, collected shells and smooth stones. I even dipped my feet in the cold water of the Mediterranean! What a gorgeous morning!

We had breakfast on the terrace, and then drove to Málaga to catch a short flight to the Balearic Island of Mallorca.

The island is beautiful, but very different from the mainland of Spain. The architecture and landscape is much more Italian in nature. The villages are not white-washed, but are stucco and rock instead, resembling Italian villas. The island has many tourists from all over Europe, but especially from Germany. Many of the signs in the cities are written in Spanish or Mallorquin (the language of the people on the island), English and German.

On our way to the hotel in Pollença, we stopped at a restaurant that used to be a glass factory. However, they were closing soon, and we were only allowed to order from a few menu items, so I had the Russian Potato Salad, which was very tasty!

Our hotel was the Mod Boutique in the upper city of Pollença. Most hotels along the beach (Puerto de Polleça) are currently closed for the season and won’t open until closer to April. We were in the heart of the city, so once we got settled into our hotel room, Ty and I walked the streets and bought some drinking chocolate at a supermarket for the children to try. Then, Ty went to get his hair cut at a local barber shop.

That evening, we ate at La Parra Celler, a restaurant owned by 2 brothers and famous for their suckling pic (which is exactly what we had!). For dessert, we had a soufflé that was set on fire in front of us!

DAY 10 – March 7 – Pollença, Palma, & Valldemossa in Mallorca, Spain

The guys headed out to hunt around 7:30 am and after breakfast, the ladies drove to Palma to pick up our tour guide for the island. It was pouring rain, but we were undeterred from enjoying the day!

We first stopped at a glass blowing factory, known for their olive oil dispensers. Of course, I bought one! Ty is an expert packer from all his deployments, so I have no doubt it will make it home in one piece.

While at the shop, C fell in love with a local textile, so we decided our quest for the day was to find a shop that sold that fabric so she could have curtains made for her dining room.

We drove on to Valldemossa, a beautiful city higher up the mountain.

Our first stop was a local cafe to drink chocolate with a potato cake that is basically a round loaf of potato bread with powdered sugar on top. And the drinking chocolate is literally bars of chocolate melted in a cup! So rich!

While in the shop, our tour guide shared about the difference between Mallorcan pearls and organic pearls and also how to spot a Chinese fake. We also learned that Grace Kelly and the Prince of Monaco honeymooned in the area and she bought Mallorcan pearls!

Next, we toured the Chopin Museum. Chopin and George Sand (his lover who was an author and changed her name in order to be taken seriously) stayed on the island for 3 months one winter. We enjoyed a live concert of 3 of Chopin’s works:

Then, we toured the Palace of King Sancho which was later turned into a monastery. It was in this monastery in 1839 that Chopin overwintered with George Sand and their 2 children.

One of my favorite parts of this tour was the monk’s apothecary with original bottles and labels! It was fascinating!

We took a quick visit to where Saint Catalina was born and then traveled down the switchbacks of the mountain to the coast for lunch.

We ate at Es Port, a lovely little cafe with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean. Oh, how I wished Ty were there to enjoy it with me!

We had black paella made black by the squid ink in it! It doesn’t look particularly appetizing, but it tasted very good.

We also learned that paella is only eaten at lunch! We were such novices eating paella last week for dinner!

We also had a local dessert called Cardenal de Lloseta. It was a delicious mouthful!

We traveled next to Palma where C found her fabric for her curtains! Then we toured the city, including the square where people were executed during the Spanish Inquisition.

We also saw a 1000 year old olive tree that had been moved into the city…

There were many Gigantes on display – huge paper maché puppets people get inside of to walk in parades. There were some of Chopin and George Sand, as well as other famous figures!

At the end of our tour, we saw the outside of the only cathedral on the sea, plus the Muslim fortress next to it. It was unusual for them to leave the Muslim fortress completely in tact. Usually it was either torn down or incorporated into the Cathedral.

Then, we stopped at a local ice cream shop for almond and chocolate ice cream. It was very different from our American ice cream.

Once back in Pollença, we met up with the guys who had a successful bok hunt! And this time, Ty’s animal didn’t fall off a cliff! The Balearian Bok is a beautiful black and brown goat that only lives in the northeast portion of Mallorca. This is by far my favorite animal of the hunt!

DAY 11 – March 8 – Pollença, Alcúdia, & Port Pollença in Mallorca, Spain

This was our last full day in Spain. I am not ready to go home. I know I’ve had a wonderful time when I am not longing to be back home. I rarely feel this way about a place, and know I will come back to Spain again.

Since the guys got their boks, we were all able to travel together to sight-see today! We started by driving to the spot where they shot their animals and then venturing further on up one of the fingers of the island to a lookout point where these same animals were eating all along the stairs!

Then, we traveled on to Formentor Lighthouse. What a view!

We had coffee and a popular sweet on the island – ensaimada. (YUMMY!). I have noticed that desserts here are not nearly as sweet as in the states (except for that drinking chocolate!).

I also got up close and personal with a lady bok!

Next, we stopped at the medieval town of Alcúdia. There are Roman ruins outside the city limits and lots of medieval walls and ruins scattered throughout the town.

We had lunch in Port Pollença. This became an infamous meal where the food just kept coming out long after we thought it was over!

First, grilled squid cut up with the ink right in front of us!

Then, paella – the best one yet!

We thought that was the entire meal, but then out came scallops on the shell, prawns that were huge, and John Dory fish (also known as St. Peter’s fish due to the “fingerprint of St. Peter” on it’s side) – all of it incredibly delicious!

We desperately needed to walk the city after a meal like that, so we ended up climbing the 365 Calvari steps up to the Hermitage of the Calvary on the hilltop.

Then, Ty and I toured the parish church in the city and walked the streets until evening time.

What a blessing this trip to Spain has been! We will never forget it and all the people who made our time there so special!