My trip was 4 days and I stayed at the Westin as it had a Spa located within the hotel, I’ve never experienced a hotel like this one as they gave an option to have a piece of gym equipment inside my room. I chose a bike machine as I thought it would keep me occupied during the evenings as I would mostly being staying at the hotel. There seemed to be very little around as the hotel was not located in the shopping district. This short vacation is from a single girl’s perspective. My first day I arrived and unpacked very quickly and was out of the hotel room wanting to explore and get an early dinner at around 5pm so I could wake up early the next morning to explore the city. I left the hotel and walked around the corner and after around 20 mins of walking I was followed by an older man, I thought that it was my imagination so I kept changing direction and even went into a store. The man waited outside the store. (quite scarey). Having just arrived in this city I wasn’t sure what to do as it was the days before the mass appeal of smartphones (2007). I managed to leave the store and walk away very quickly and shake him off as I did not want him knowing where my hotel was. After arriving back at the hotel I made sure to keep a look over my shoulder throughout the rest of my stay.
Day two I explored the shopping district and took in the sights of the lovely city, one thing that struck me was how clean the city was. I walked everywhere and despite not speaking a word of Spanish I didn’t encounter many difficulties at the stores. One other thing I found difficult was the restaurant had very little by way of English translation, pretty much all the eateries were all written in Spanish.
I got back to the hotel whilst it was still light and found a little restaurant around the corner from the hotel and for dessert I had my first Crepe Suzette cooked for me at my table. Simply delicious!
On Day 3 I walked around the shopping district not far from the old city, I turned into a residential street and was followed again. This time it was in the middle of the afternoon and I was quite alarmed as it was clear this person realised I was a tourist and was up to no good. I managed to shake them off as soon as I got back to the main high street as I knew there were always policeman there close to where they were directing traffic. Day four I decided to steer clear of that part of the city and explored in the other direction. I walked for about an hour and stayed on the busy main high road, I realised not to make eye contact with any men as they literally stopped their car in the middle of the street and tried to talk to you.
Verdict
Really clean and well kept city with some beautiful architecture, but as a single girl I would say be streetwise and be aware at all times of your surroundings. I been to many European cities alone and this is the only one that I felt a little fearful walking around on my own as a tourist at certain points during my visit both night and daytime.