Travel Recap: Amsterdam > Seville > Malaga > Morocco

I haven’t been on vacation for over a year. Well…a real vacation. You know when you go away for more than a long weekend. The point is this vacation was much needed!

We traveled to southern Spain with a stop in Amsterdam. I have never been, so my friends graciously (because they have both been already) agreed to stay for a few days so that I can check it out. I will have to come back and spend a couple more nights. I think four would be perfect.

Amsterdam

Of course there are museums and historic spots you can visit. I will do that when I come back and have a bit more time. We did stop at the red light district, because it’s some sort of first timer right of passage.  I could’ve skipped it. Other than museums, I would like to see the windmills and the countryside and do a little bit of shopping! We loved the Heineken Factory Tour. I am not a Heineken drinker, but it tastes different here. Much less bitter and very refreshing. At the end of the tour they have a rooftop overlooking the city and a free canal ride back to their souvenir shop. If you don’t go on the tour you must taxi through the canals. They are beautiful.

Hotel

We stayed at Inntel Hotel Amsterdam Centre, which was perfect. Do yourself a favor and stay close to everything! We walked most places and took the train everywhere else. Next time I will definitely rent a bike.

Food

English breakfast is wack. Sorry, but it makes no sense to me. Vinnies definitely sells a much more modern version of the traditional meal. This is the only one that I can fuck with. Overall the food was decent, two nights was not enough time to really explore the cuisine around the city. I will have to go back and give it another try.

Southern Spain

Southern Spain is much more beautiful than the pictures and we lucked out and experienced the most amazing weather during our whole trip. I found the scenery endlessly inspirational with the bright colors, elaborate doors, castle, and gardens.

Seville more so than Malaga has a very vintage vibe to it. The people were older, lots of couples, and it was slower than Malaga.

Seville

Hotel
This hotel was great. The location was perfect, the room was nice, and there was an amazing roof top pool.

Food 

I could eat tapas all day err day. Most places offer similar choices so you cant really go wrong. We tried a bunch of them and didn’t have a bad experience.

What to do

Take this free tour! It was very extensive and we had an amazing tour guide. At the end of the tour we tipped Luppe and signed up for the flamenco show later that evening.  We had a great time and ended up revisiting the places we saw on the tour but didn’t get a chance to go inside. When we weren’t eating, drinking, and touring, we were laying by the pool.

Malaga

Hotel

NH Hotel was really nice and had the most impressive continental breakfast I have even seen. However if I go back I would stay closer to the beach!

Food

Eat all the seafood you can get your hands on here! The fish was so good and I’ve never tasted calamari quite like this!

What to do

Other than enjoy the beach, we climbed Alcazaba de Malaga, and went on a day trip to Morocco. Go on a tour with a local guide rather than taking a day trip with a larger tour group. One day in Morocco is NOT enough, if you can stay for longer. Morocco is overwhelmingly beautiful and I am definitely going to go back.