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POSTCARDS: Seville is the filming location for Dorne
At least once a year, thehappyfew escape into their favorite fantasies. After Meereen, we follow the #GoTlocations and travel to Dorne. The luxurious and vicious High Gardens are filmed in Seville’s incredible Alcazar.
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POSTCARDS FROM RONDA, MY FAVE ANDALUSIAN TOWN
Andalusia is one of thehappyfew’ s favorite realms, a true kingdom of Moorish adventures, of wonderful and often dramatic findings and hot temper. It is a country and a culture in itself, and its thrills are downright endless. And still, if I was to pick one place on the map, for a one-time escape, I would pick Ronda. Crossing the Puente Nuevo bridge over the El Tajo gorge and the Guadalevin river, you cannot but marvel at the 100m chasm below. Then take a breath in Plaza Espagna, walk pass the Parador towards the Miradouro for immense views over the Serranía de Ronda mountains. Without a sense of time, stroll endlessly through…
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Day trips from Valencia? Your first choice must be PENISCOLA!
Who was first? The Knights Templar or the dragons? The must escape is yet to come, and, as any proper magic, it should last three days. You simply must go to Peniscola. Take Costa del Azahar north from Valencia towards Barcelona on either the highway or the national road, if you want to make some stops along the way.
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Outside Valencia: 3 escapes
AZAHAR means “citrus blossom”, and the word has a ring to it and stays with you forever once you’ve seen the orange trees in bloom. Valencia has it all for a truly captivating holiday; the sea and the oranges and the food and the urban surprises, and even some happy escapes that you can try if you’re feeling adventurous. As I said, driving in Valencia is completely stress-free, and outside Valencia you have the usual Spanish quality roads, so there is absolutely no reason to not venture beyond.
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ON RICE AND MEN (and possibly giraffes): VALENCIA
Delicate rice fields, equally delicate elephants, huge beaches and huge whales, original paella and a river to play tennis in – incredible findings in one city, but oh so true.
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GoT LOCATIONS: MEEREEN
Game of Thrones lovers, don’t just sit and watch in awe: follow the sneakers and go to Meereen. The sneakers walked with Tyrion and Missandei and Varys and lingered on the streets haunted by the Harpies – so can you. The dragons are still there, remember? Season’s 6 Meereen was filmed in Peniscola, Spain, and this is one of our favorite escapes to wonderland 🙂
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VALENCIA #SINEQUANON: THE THINGS YOU CANNOT LEAVE OUT
Last day in Valencia and here are the likely and unlikely musts in this gorgeous and happily (and thankfully) underrated city – besides paella and the old city center. Random order, you really have to try them all1. Bioparc You can call it a zoo, but you’ll be a gross understatement. This is the most wonderful “bio immersion” you’ve seen. The concept of immersing the visitor into the animals’ habitat – and not the other way round, the way a classical zoo does – is magically re-creating Africa in Valencia downtown.
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ANDALUSIA #SINEQUANON: THE THINGS YOU CANNOT LEAVE OUT
She may appear to you as a mala mujer or a bruja (witch), and she will not be tamed. Andalusia will paint your fantasies hot, the color of those wretched blood-boiling impulses. Too hot to handle during the summer, the diva region of Southern Spain is smoking hot all year round. ONE: RONDA TWO: STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR THREE: CADIZ FOUR: GRANADA FIVE: SEVILLA SIX: CORDOBA SEVEN: LOCAL TRADITIONS: corrida, Andalusian horses, flamenco Andalucia is no place to go with a purpose or a timeframe. Don’t ever judge her: it is as intense as its flamenco rhythms and as savage as its corridas. It is also mute and dry at times, but at…
