Journal: A Month in Spain

I left Spain in 2007, after my second residence there. I have regularly returned for a month with my family for summer vacations. Over the next few posts, I will roll out the highlights from last summer.

July 13-20, 2019

July 13

We arrived in Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport from Stockholm, a lovely, elegant city where we spent five days.

On the evening of our arrival, my husband and I went to Plaza Norte 2 , one of the largest commercial centers in Spain. Located in San Sebastian de los Reyes, just outside Madrid, it has over 200 shops and services from fashion, to home decor, restaurants and a cinema. I have been there a handful of times, but never paid particular attention to the interior architecture until now. Always on the lookout for inspiration for my planned front entry project, I could not help but notice the striking tile patterns of the marble floors. Colourful, bright, high contrast and glossy. This is not normally my style, but is well suited to the neo-classical architecture of the center with its columns, balustrades and obelisks capped off by the striking 35-meter glass dome.    

July 17

After one night with my sister-in-law, we rented a car and drove from Madrid to stay with my father-in-law in Cala de Finestrat, a coastal town about a forty-five minute drive from Alicante.  

A few days into our stay, we visited Polop de la Marina, a hillside village of about 5,000 inhabitants located about a 20-minute drive from Cala de Finestrat. We did not spend as much time here as I would have liked because my son complained about the heat and other issues. Still, we spent a few hours exploring the ruins of the ancient castle, the old cemetery within its walls and the streets of the old town.

Old town, Polop de la Marina