Trevor Huxham

Springtime in Andalucía is when the sun shines stronger, when people fill streetside patios, when festival season starts back up, and when the orange blossom perfumes whole cities. The most southern region in Spain is famous for its sunny stereotype and vivacious residents, but the powerful heat in the summer is legendary—think 40º C (100º F) as the daytime norm. Living in Úbeda last winter, it was cloudy and rainy most days, but once March rolled around, the weather underwent a transformation—and Andalucía came back to life. Cordoban women wearing traditional trajes de gitana The sun came out (and I wore shorts, thank you very much), it seemed like there was a festival happening every weekend somewhere in the region, and people flocked to bars and cafés to sit outside and soak up the warm, relaxing atmosphere. Let me share with you why I think the months of April and May in Andalucía are simply the best time to experience this exciting part of Spain. 1) Warmth ...

(Disclaimer: I’m fully aware I’m about to step on approximately 11,920 toes with this post…) Patio de los Leones, the Alhambra Granada is… one of the biggest cities in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía home to the Alhambra, a beautiful Moorish palatial complex built in the Middle Ages during the last Muslim kingdom in Spain a center for generously large free tapas with your drink the burial place for the monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella a home base for going skiing in the snowy Sierra Nevada a great place to study abroad in the last city in Spain to be “re-conquered” from Muslim rule in the 1400s full of interesting neighborhoods like the winding, hillside Albaicín a popular place for the springtime Cruces de Mayo festival an essential stop for almost any trip to Spain Granada is nice and all, but… Tilework in the Alhambra Don’t get me wrong, the first time I visited Granada back in November of last year,  I loved  it. I...

I finally had the chance to visit Sevilla, the capital of Spain’s southern Andalucía region, in April of this year, and I don’t think I could have arrived at a better time: the springtime weather had made the city warm but not a frying pan, the long winter rain had finally let up, and a fragrant, floral air had invaded the streets and plazas. Torre del Oro (foreground) and the Giralda (background) at the blue hour Sevilla (pronounced “say-VEE-yah” [seˈβi.ʝa]) began as the Roman city of Hispalis , which served as a judicial capital within the province of Baetica. Over the centuries it continued to grow, and was an important city during Moorish times. When Columbus “discovered” the Americas, Sevilla discovered a monopoly on trade between Spain and the New World and subsequently became one of the richest cities in the world. The silting of the Guadalquivir River, however, effectively closed off its ports and pushed the center of trade south to Cádiz on the coast, and Sev...

I’m fully aware that I’m just now getting to blogging about Morocco well over three months after the fact. But even after being gone for that amount of time, one memory still vividly stands out in my mind: Three Moroccan teenagers chillin’ at the Borj Nord After six hours of travel and one train transfer (not to mention an overnight ferry from Spain), I had finally emerged from the dreary rain to behold the houses and streets of Fez as we circled the city on the train tracks. The spring-green forests veiled the city once again, but it wasn’t long until we pulled in to the Fez Train Station , a white, horseshoe-arched structure that in Spain would be called Moorish Revival but in Morocco…simply the norm. Weary from a day of transportation, I strolled into the main hall and gaped at the beautiful wooden ceiling and tilework-clad walls. Although the beautiful interior was finished just three years earlier, it nevertheless linked the new part of town with centuries-old artisan...