Living vs. Touring in Spain

We are not taking a “tourist” vacation with a checklist of sites and museums we must visit. We are taking a three-week break from our daily lives to experience life in Spain, wandering its streets, finding what we find, seeking out the places the locals frequent, meeting them and learning about the way Spaniards live.

Our Apartment in Valencia
Our Apartment in Valencia

It’s been observed that my last post contained a couple of cursory nods to non-foodie features of the cities we’ll be visiting, but it really read like a food blog. Guilty as charged.

Here’s the thing. We are not taking a “tourist” vacation with a checklist of sites and museums we must visit. We are taking a three-week break from our daily lives to experience life in Spain, wandering its streets, finding what we find, seeking out the places the locals frequent, meeting them and learning about the way Spaniards live.

Food is a huge part of any culture and anyone who knows us knows we are die-hard foodies. So, yes, our primary entry point to enjoying Spanish culture will be its food and wine and the folks who prepare it and any locals or fellow travelers we meet and chat with.

Of course we will enjoy other cultural aspects of life in these cities, but we will happen across those in “accidental tourist” fashion.

For this reason, we booked apartments via Airbnb.com, rather than hotels. The apartments we found are centrally located with lots to do in walking distance and easy access to public transit. But really, we expect to do a LOT of discovery by walking on this trip.

(Honestly, one of the strong motivators for us to drop the weight we have, was enjoying this trip. Fifteen months ago I couldn’t comfortably walk one mile, let alone several. Looking forward to spending my days on foot over the next three weeks!)

As I write this we are waiting for our house sitter to arrive so we can hand off the house and Chico to her care during our absence. Next post will be from Barcelona! ¡Hasta luego!

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