In the first week of February, we often go away for a couple of days to celebrate the anniversary of our first date. Usually, we decide on the destination together, but this time I thought out a surprise trip for Matthijs based on some things he had been mentioning for at least five years. Luckily, I enjoy the planning more than he does, so he didn’t mind at all not being involved in the process.
I started about five months in advance to make sure I could arrange everything as I wanted. Involving my little brother in the process because I needed a credit card to pay for a couple of things and I didn’t want to risk Matthijs finding out what the surprise was from his credit card statement. Yes, I’m crazy like that. And the most remarkable thing about this endeavor was that I managed to not slip my mouth. Except for once, but he didn’t even notice.
So, on a Sunday morning, we arrived at the airport, Matthijs still not knowing what our destination was going to be. And to make it even more of a surprise, we weren’t going to stay in the place stated on our tickets. Still, I thought part of the plan would be revealed once he boarded, but when I mentioned this, he said he didn’t know in which country this place was. Based on the title of this story, I assume you know that we were going to Spain.
After just a few hours we arrived in Málaga, a name I only knew from the ice cream my father used to eat when I was little. We picked up a small rental car and I guided Matthijs to the first stop on our little road trip: El Caminito del Rey, in English: the small road of the king. I was not particularly looking forward to this first stop of our journey, but I knew that Matthijs would love it, so there we were. About to walk a path along the side of a mountain, with the biggest surprise a bridge made of wire grids I don’t even want to know how high above the ravine. That was so much fun. Not. But we survived, and despite me not being able to keep my camera steady, I managed to make some decent photos of this adventure.
From there we drove a short while to our hotel in the smallest town. The hostess was lovely, but she only speaks Spanish. So if you don’t, make sure you write down some basic sentences in order to let her know over the phone that you have arrived.
Oh, and yes, I was wearing a blazer on this day because it took too much space in my backpack, and I forgot to take it off before we were walking El Caminito. So don’t think I’m some sort of weirdo dressing up for outdoor adventures.
And one last note: just as I kept this adventure a surprise for Matthijs, I will keep it a bit of a surprise for you. Next month I will share the next leg of our little road trip through Andalucía.
