Seville & Granada with Tory Miller

Welcome to Seville, the capital of Andalusia! Seville (suh-BEE-ya to locals) has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans and Moors; a stroll down its bustling streets is the best kind of history lesson. This morning, we’ll meet up with Tory and head out to Triana, one of Seville’s oldest districts and the traditional home of flamenco. We’re here to explore the Triana market, with more than 100 stalls of local purveyors selling garden-fresh produce, freshly caught seafood, straight-from-the-oven bread, olives and Andalusian spices. We’ll pick out our favorite items, then head to our own private kitchen for a hands-on lunch featuring sevillanos tapas prepared for us by Tory and a local chef.

In the afternoon, we’ll have time to wander on our own before reconvening in the evening for cocktails at our hotel. This is just a prelude to a truly special welcome dinner at Michelin-rated Restaurante Tribeca, where we’ll toast to our adventures to come.

This morning we’re off to explore Seville by e-bike, pedaling through the bike-friendly city and covering many of its most interesting districts, including the old quarter of Santa Cruz with its centuries-old gardens and whitewashed houses. We’ll peddle past the vast medieval cathedral, La Giralda, and the mighty Alcazar, the city’s magnificent royal palace.

For lunch, we make like the locals do, embarking on our own tapeo, or tapas crawl. With Tory and our local guide, we’ll wander maze-like alleys to buzzing tapas bars, from traditional to contemporary. Along the way, we may sample anything from sizzling shrimp and toast topped with quail’s eggs to spinach-and-chickpea stew. We’ll learn how to pair our tapas with local wines, elegant Sherry and crisp Spanish beers.

Back at our hotel, enjoy another local tradition—the afternoon nap—or simply relax and lounge by the rooftop pool. The afternoon and evening are yours to explore this magnificent city.

Today we head north into the Sierra de Huelva, homeland of the world-renowned Iberian pig. We’ll wend our way through hilltop towns near the Portuguese border, where jamón ibérico de bellota—the finest ham in the world—is cured in the fresh mountain air for up to three years, producing its signature silkiness and succulent flavor. We’ll be warmly welcomed at a family-run pig farm in the foothills of the Sierra de Aracena mountains. We’ll visit the acorn-strewn grounds where the pigs graze, and the salting area, tasting as we go.

Lunch is in the nearby village of Jabugo. We’ll visit the cellars where the vast hocks are hung to cure and sit down to a delicious rustic lunch featuring ham, of course, plus regional cheeses, mushrooms, wild asparagus and artichokes—all accompanied by spectacular local wines. After lunch, we’ll head back to Seville for an evening to explore the city’s restaurants and tapas bars on our own.

Our destination today is Jerez de la Frontera, one of the three towns that form Spain’s celebrated ‘Sherry Triangle.’ Here, the limited rainfall and strong sun give local grapes—Palomino for dry, Pedro Ximénez and Muscat for sweet—their uniquely high sugar content, producing wines with elevated alcohol content and a rich golden hue. Sherry was once highly regarded (and William Shakespeare’s drink of choice); today it’s associated with the brandy-fortified cooking version and widely under-appreciated. We’ll taste true Sherrys at a small, family-run bodega in the city center, using a traditional venencia to serve traditional Sherry straight from the barrels. It’s the perfect prelude to our home-cooked bodega lunch on the patio.

Tonight is a special treat: dinner and a traditional performance of flamenco. This typically Andalusian spectacle of color, music and dance strikes such an emotional chord with its audience that there’s even a special word for the intense passions it inspires: duende!

Our goal today: magical Granada. But first, as we drive through the lovely Andalusian countryside through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, we’ll go behind the scenes at an olive mill and estate. The Romans referred to this stuff as liquid gold; we’ll learn about the entire production cycle, from growing and picking to pressing and bottling, at a private tasting and lunch on the estate grounds.

In Spanish, they say that quien no ha visto Granada, no ha visto nada—the person who hasn’t seen Granada hasn’t seen anything—and for good reason. Its exquisite beauty is a direct product of centuries of Arab influence, a fairytale-like place of minarets, flowing fountains and cármenes (garden-shrouded villas). In this “city of a thousand castles,” every corner hides a surprise, whether it’s an unexpected vista spied through a stone window, or a sunset turning stone ramparts of the old town a gentle rose-gold. After settling into our hotel in the heart of the old town, we’ll walk to dinner in a traditional cármen (urban house) hidden by terraced gardens and an orchard in the middle of Granada’s ancient Moorish quarter.

They say that a visit to the Alhambra “breaks all the senses.” We’ll spend the morning exploring this sprawling, hilltop fortress complex, with its stunning array of royal palaces, serene patios and reflecting pools from the Nasrid dynasty. A World Heritage site since 1984, it has been a tourist attraction for centuries, luring weary travelers from all over the world to its halls and gardens to experience its dreamy geometric precision and riotous color.

We’ll stroll in the orange-blossom air, the sound of birdsongs and soothing splashing of fountains—just like Moorish kings of yesteryear. We’ll have the afternoon and evening to ourselves, to keep the spell unbroken.

The day is ours to explore Granada. Perhaps start with a strong café con leche on the sunny terrace, then head off into the cobbled streets and leafy parks, the historic palaces and traditional tapas bars, that make Granada an absolute wonder to explore. 

‘Celebration’ is the theme for the afternoon and evening as we head to Sacromonte Abbey, a 400-year-old masterpiece perched atop Valparaíso mountain with views of the Alhambra. We’ll start with cocktails in the abbey’s cloister, and have time to explore the abbey’s grounds. Next, we move to a private room for a farewell feast to remember, with dishes prepared by Tory and a local chef. Whatever dishes we end up making, this will be a feast to remember, a time to come together and celebrate everything we’ve learned, seen and done over a leisurely, wine-filled Andalusian feast.

After breakfast, we’ll say farewell to Tory and to our new friends, and transfer to Seville’s airport for flights home. Our time together has come to an end, but Andalusia will remain in our hearts.