Discover more of Spain on a road trip through Andalusia

To rent a car isn’t really expensive in December. The best amount of people to rent a car with is five or ten. Renting a car for a week in December for five persons will cost you around 50 euros. So, 10 euro per person! In the summer this will be way more expensive than in the winter.  Don’t worry about the cold because we could even walk around in shorts in December! You will see the amazing weather on the sunny pictures of our road trip through Andalusia.

Day 1: After picking up our cars from the airport in Valencia (you can choose the location for yourself), we drove to Alicante (1,5 hour). We booked a house at 5 to 10 minutes from the city center. Our house had a beautiful view over the mountains and the landscape.

Day 2: After waking up we drove to Elche. Where we visited the Palm Groves (Palmeral) of Elche. The Palm Groves covers over 3.5km2 including 1.5km2 inside the city of Elche. This park is very rare because it counts around 97 different sorts palmtree families over 200.000 palms. This makes the Palm Groves one of the biggest palm gardens of the whole world! After seeing this we went to into the city center of Elche to visit buildings and eat a delicious ice cream. When we were finished we drove to our next house (3,5 hours) where we would sleep the rest of our trip in Almuñécar. We arrived around 9 pm, and gosh, what a house it was. A home cinema, a pool and even a jacuzzi! We found the house easily on Airbnb and it wasn’t that expensive because we were with 10 people. The road trip through Andalusia was for us already a succes with such a nice house.

Day 3: We had to wake up early because we were going to Granada and the Alhambra (1,5 hour). There is a great history behind the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a palace which was built by the Nasrid (the last Moorish Muslim dynasty in Iberia) and Mohammed ben Al-Ahmar which was the first ruler of the emirate of Granada. The palace is a reflection of the Moorish culture, it has a big garden and beautiful inscriptions and vaultings. If you are close to Granada, you should definitely visit it! After the visit to Alhambra we went to the city of Granada. This city isn’t really lively in comparison with the other cities of Spain, but Granada has a beautiful historical look with many old buildings and squares to visit. After a long day of walking nothing is better than to chill in the jacuzzi with a glass of red wine.

Day 4: At day 4 we went to the beautiful Ronda (2 hours). Ronda lays in the province of Malaga an it’s a mountainous area. The city of Ronda has a great atmosphere, the streets are small, the squares are big and outside of Ronda you can see he Puente Nuevo bridge which spans the 120 meter and is with the largest bridge at carries the Guadalevín river. It’s kind of sad we didn’t go to Malaga, but you will overrate how long everything is driving. Especially after a long day of walking you just want to sit in the jacuzzi again.

Day 5: After 4 days of exploring the beauty of Andalusia it was already time to heading home, what would take 5 hours. However, you will not be bored during your return trip, because you drive through the mountains with beautiful fields. On the way back we drove past the Tarbenas desert and made a stop in Murcia.

Do you want to discover Spain as well? Find a language course on Suspanish and make a road trip with your new friends!

The post Road trip through Andalusia appeared first on Suspanish Blog.

Bilbao travel information: driving, cycling, sailing

In Bilbao you have plenty of choice when it comes to transport options. You even have special buses and boats specifically designed to show you the beautiful spots of the city. You drive or sail past the tourist attractions. The nice thing about this is that you don’t have to do anything yourself, you can just sit and relax. With our Bilbao travel information you’ll know how to move from A to B, but also the nicest ways to admire the tourist attractions during your trip to this nice city.

Bus

Indispensable in a big city is a large bus network. Traveling by bus is very convenient and with such a large bus network as the one in Bilbao, there is always a bus stop near your destination. Buses in Spain are quite cheap, you pay €1.25 per ride. It doesn’t matter whether you are in the bus for half an hour or 5 minutes. The price is always the same no matter what the distance is.

Metro

The metro is just like the bus, quite cheap in Spain. A single ticket with the metro costs around €1. Prices vary between €0.90 and €1.20 per zone. Bilbao consists of five zones, A, B.0, B.1, B.2 and C. If you travel between the same zone, the price will be €0.90. If you travel between A and C the price will be €1.20 because this distance is longer. In Bilbao they use the Barik, this is a public transport card that you can use for the bus and metro. These cards can be obtained from vending machines at various sales points where you pay €3. The card is not linked to your personal information and you can travel with multiple people on one card, super handy and cheap as well. It’s even easier to travel with a map of the metro lines. You can find the map here.

Bike

It’s also possible to cycle in Bilbao. And if you want to be active during your trip, then traveling by bicycle is a great option. There are many companies where you can hire a bicycle for a couple of hours. If you don’t know where you should cycle to, or how to get to your destination, then there’s also a great solution for you: bike tour organizations. You cycle together with a guide and they will guide you to the best sights in the city.

Taxi

Of course you also have the possibility to be transported by taxi. The ideal thing about a taxi is that you are dropped off exactly where you need to be. The taxi is a more expensive means of transport than the bus or metro, but in Spain, compared to other European cities, a taxi is relatively cheap. The starting price in Bilbao is €4 and per kilometer you pay between €0.75 and €1.50, this varies per taxi company and time. You can get a taxi at many different places.

Bilboats

Do you want to relax and not worry about anything else? Then you should definitely make a trip with a bilboat. With a bilboat you sail over the river and you can admire the sights from the water. You can choose a trip of 1 or 2 hours.

Train

If you want to see more of Spain than only Bilbao,  then the train is the perfect option to travel to different cities. There are many trains to different places. For example: a trip to San Sebastian would be a good choice!

Hop on- Hop-off bus

A well-known phenomenon is the tourist bus that you see in many big cities. Often red in color, you’ve probably seen them. What is really fantastic about this bus is what is also in the name: you can get on and off at different places. So do you see something that you really want to see up close? Then you can hop off and get back on, on the next bus. We find this a very good initiative!

With this Bilbao travel information you can easily drive, cycle and sail through the city. Do you also want an overview of which sights are worth a visit in advance? Then read our blog of things to do in Bilbao.

The post Bilbao travel information appeared first on Suspanish Blog.

The history of Salamanca from the 15th century

Salamanca was divided into two halves, San Benedito and Santo Tome in the 15th century. Two rival noble families faced each other and at that time and had quarrels in Salamanca. By establishing a guild for livestock farmers, called the Concejo de la Mesta, Salamanca became increasingly important as a center for textile making and exporting wool. In 1218, the most famous and oldest university in Spain was founded by King Alfonso IX, in Salamanca. At that time, two cathedrals were built.

In 1520, the city of Salamanca joined the Comunidades de Castilla, a covenant of several cities and regions protesting against new taxes imposed by King Charles I of Spain. At one point these revolts were crushed and Charles I of Spain demolished the palaces of his opponents in Salamanca.

In the 16th century the population of Salamanca grew to about 24,000 inhabitants, this is an important development in the history of Salamanca. Especially because there were around 6500 students and the most important intellectuals of that time studied at the University of Salamanca.

Although the city had become one of the most important cities in Spain, it was completely ruined in 1812. The Battle of Salamanca has caused centuries-old college buildings, palaces and roads to be destroyed. This is all known as ‘the battle of Arapiles’ and was during the Napoleonic Wars.

Main sights

Universidad de Salamanca

An important building in the history of Salamanca is the University of Salamanca. It is possible to get a tour with an audio guide for about ten euros. Especially the library is a masterpiece of this building, you can only view it behind glass.

Casa de las Conchas

Another very special building is Casa de las Conchas, the house with the shells. It is a building that contains more than 300 shells on the outside. Most likely it is a reference to the family arms of Juana de Pimentel.

Cathedrals

Salamanca has an old and a new cathedral. One was built in the 12th century and the new one was built in the 16th century. Especially the old cathedral is huge and contains a lot of art and architecture from the history of Salamanca.

Convento de las Dueñas

Last but not least, one of the highlights in the history of Salamanca; the Convento de las Dueñas. A monastery for Dominicans. Especially the courtyard is a picture!

 

Don’t wait any longer and book your trip to Salamanca now!

The post Part 2 | Development and history of Salamanca appeared first on Suspanish Blog.

The history of Salamanca, the origin of the City

It is important to have some background information, before you start reading the story about the history of Salamanca. Because it can be a difficult story if you don’t know some of the names of the first inhabitants of the city and all the empires that existed at that time. That is why there is some information about the different empires and its inhabitants of that time.

Celts

‘The Celts’ were a collection of peoples who inhabited large parts of Europe in prehistoric times and in ancient times. The languages spoken within the Celtic populations sometimes differed greatly from each other. Despite the differences in language, the speakers of a Celtic language were still referred to as Celt. The culmination of the Celtic population was in the 4th century BC. The British Isles, the Iberian Peninsula (Andorra, France, Spain, Gibraltar and Portugal), parts of Central Europe, the Balkans and Gaul were all populated by Celtic tribes.

Carthaginians

Carthaginians were the inhabitants of Carthage, the capital of the Carthaginian Empire. The inhabitants of Carthage and the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea were also called Puniers by the Romans. The Romans also distinguished between inhabitants of the Carthaginian Empire, you had the Punic, the Phoenicians (the inhabitants of Phenicia / Phenicia, the area that is now called Lebanon) and the Afer.

Romans

Of course we all heard of the Romans, the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. In the third century BC, the republic conducted various wars with its enemy Carthago. An important aspect in the history of Salamanca.

The area, which later received the name Salamanca, was inhabited in the sixth century BC by the Celtic tribes called the Vacceos and the Vettones. The Vacceos built two fortifications around 400 BC on the river Tormes to protect it, the Ocela Durii and the Salmantica (Salamanca). Around 200 BC. Hannibal besieged Salamanca. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general and the great opponent of the Romans in the second Punic war. Not to be confused with Hannibal Lecter;).

But in 146 BC Carthago fell and the Romans took over. They spread throughout Spain, including Salamanca. The city became one of the most important stops on the ‘Ruta de Plata’, better known as the Silver Route. The reason why Salamanca was so important? The city served as a crossing for the river Tormes. A Roman bridge that dates from the first century, was located here. Half of this bridge even has been preserved! The Silver Route ran from the mines in Asturias to the south of Spain.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire

Salamanca has had many different residents, as you have read. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the story for the Romans, in the history of Salamanca, stops. You guessed it; new residents arrived in Salamanca. Right after the fall, the area was conquered by the Alans, an Iranian nomadic tribe, followed by the Visigoths. The Visigoths were an important (East) Germanic nation, during and after the fall of the Roman Empire. Salamanca’s city wall was expanded by the Visigoths with two towers.

But it also did not work out for the Visigoths. In 712 the city was conquered by the Moors. This area, between the south of the Duero river and the north of the Tormes river, has been the battlefield of the Christian kingdoms and the Al-Andalus (the conquered territory of the Moors) for years. It was only after the battle of Simancas that the Christians conquered this area again, after which Salamanca could slowly start rebuilding the city.

There have been some big fights in the history of Salamanca and the fights we’ve told you about weren’t even all of them. We will tell you more about how Salamanca developed herself after the wars in our next blog.

The post A glimpse at the history of Salamanca appeared first on Suspanish Blog.

The prettiest places of Nerja

Nerja is a municipality in the Spanish province of Málaga, located on the Costa del Sol. Besides the small but beautiful beaches, Nerja has much more to offer. Read further to discover the prettiest places of Nerja.

Cueva de Nerja

Cueva de Nerja is located a few kilometres away from the centre of Nerja. Cueva de Nerja is a limestone cave with a length of more than four kilometres. Five young people stumbled on the entrance of this cave in 1959, during their search for bats. The caves are opened 363 days a year (it’s close on January 1^th and may 15^th). Visitors may enter the caves every half hour and there are several tours to book. Go to the site for more information.

Balcón de Europa

One of the most famous places in Nerja is ‘Balcón de Europa’. The Balcón de Europa got its name from King Alfonso XII, after he visited Nerja for an inspection after an earthquake. He seemed to be fascinated by the view that he gave it this name. The extending cliff was originally a fortress with a cannon arsenal. It was mainly used by the French, to stop the attacks from pirates and the British.

Río Chillar

For the active people among us, a walk through ‘Río Chillar’ may be a fantastic daytime activity. The route from the walk runs through Sierra de Tejeda, Almijara and the Alhama nature park. During the walk you will encounter the most fantastic views. It certainly belongs to the list of prettiest places in Nerja!

The post Discover the prettiest places of Nerja appeared first on Suspanish Blog.