So I have been back in Spain for 2 weeks now, and it’s basically like I never left. How how does that even work? I think it’s weird, really weird.
All the old familiar words in Spanish have come back to me, the sounds, the daily routine, even the smells of Spain have triggered a massive wave of nostalgia and love for a place I called home for years. Until someone blows cigarette smoke in my face and I step in dog poop while waiting in line for an hour. Then I remember why I left.
But that’s besides the point. Back to España.
I spent my first week chilling in Madrid with my friend Lauren from Spanish Sabores and Madrid Food Tour before catching the train down to Córdoba, my old stomping grounds. I lived in Córdoba for a year from 2010-2011, and it was both an amazing and terrible year, and likewise, I was both nervous and excited to return.
5 years is a long time, and colorful Córdoba has changed a lot, and to be honest, I’ve also changed a lot too. Not to mention that was the year I started blogging. Oh man. If anything, I was excited to return as a professional travel blogger and Instagrammer, to see the city with news and have fresh experiences, return to places I loved and to find some new cool spots and update my photo library.
And, you know, find my way around again. Time to log back into Trover!
I had only 3 days to explore Córdoba, and I wanted to make the most of it. That’s where Trover comes in.
I introduced you all to Trover my favorite travel app, a year and a half ago (has it really been that long?) and showed you how it worked, well, at least how I used it and why I loved it. Six months later I shared with you guys how I used Trover to plan a 2 week road trip around New Zealand in winter. Obviously, I’m a fan.
But before I get ahead of myself, if you aren’t already on Trover (tsk tsk) especially as I have been talking about it for over a year, you can download it for FREE here in the App store or here on Google Play.
But now, I want to share with you guys a much more localized way of using the Trover App and how I used it to make the most of my time revisiting Córdoba, a place I already knew fairly well.
So while I was on the train (I love traveling by trains BTW) from Madrid, I created a list within Trover called Córdoba Inspirations. When I was living there it was 5 years ago and I still used a flip phone. There was no data on it and my only lists where ones I wrote by hand.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still old school and make lists of things to do by hand in one of my bajillion notebooks.
But I am also a digital nomad through and through and I like to have things organized out easily with maps and everything on my phone. That’s one of the main reasons I love Trover – the maps. But more on that in a minute.
I’ve also built a more general list for ideas for when I am traveling in Spain this June here.
I create a list in advance pinning posts from other Trover users for 3 main reasons:
1. Places I want to go (so. many. places)
Whether they are places I want to go that have been in the back of my mind that I want to put in one place or scroll through the maps and location feature to get an idea of what’s nearby or what’s near where I am headed, I like making a list of things I want to see and do in advance to help me plan. This helps enormously when you are also on a time constraint and don’t have a year in a place to see things. Most of my city breaks are for 2-3 days or a weekend, and I want to take it all in.
2. Places to eat (OBVIOUSLY)
I also like to make a list to get an idea of where to eat. This is secretly one of the most important things for me on the road. I would rather starve than eat a shitty meal. I’ve also found that when you are traveling in very popular tourist destinations, you can’t always trust Tripadvisor with foodie suggestions. Of course sometimes they the target, but I find more often than not they miss it by miles, with the most popular place with the most reviews just being a very well-known tourist restaurant.
This happened to me in Córdoba. There weren’t enough places to eat reviewed yet on Trover, and I ate at some of the popular ones on Tripadvisor and they SUCKED.
3. Photo ideas (it’s the ‘grammer in me)
Finally, the third way I use Trover (which is quite sneaky actually, don’t know if I should be admitting this publicly oh well) is for photo ideas. Now that I have gotten really into photography and Instagram, sometimes I search for photo ideas online. Whether it’s for lighting, composition or just generally photogenic places, Trover is a great way to keep all those ideas in one place.
So how did that work out for me?
Pretty well actually!
1. Places to go (the reality)
For example I found this post about the Murallas de Córdoba and the Puerta Almodovar. I am not sure if this is the case, but I don’t remember those fountains and pools around this area and Calle Cairuan AT ALL. In fact, I used to walk this way to get a ride to work in the mornings um, every single day. Maybe I was just oblivious, but I definitely wanted to check it out this time around- you can see my post here.
2. Places to eat (the unfortunate reality)
While there weren’t that many good foodie spots to chose from, I did have a chance to grab a traditional arabic tea while in town thanks to this post. Córdoba was the capital of Islamic Spain and I love all of the amazing arabic influences you can find around town, like the teterias. I added my own spot which was pretty central and had an amazing and local tapa menu here.
3. What to photograph (wahoo fave part!)
Ever since I got a Vanguard Tripod I’ve been doing a lot more night photography. I’ve seen the most epic shots of famous Puente Romano (Roman Bridge) leading towards the Mezquita all lit up at night and I’ve been determined to get that shot one day for myself. Seeing it here on Trover, I had to save it straight away on my inspirations list.
So what else?
Basically I had a blast in Córdoba and made the most of my time with Trover which allowed my inner OCD goddess to shine. Thank you for that.
I love lists more than anyone on the planet (no, don’t argue) so this takes the cake for me. Once I was leaving Córdoba, I started to build my own list for future travelers interested in exploring Córdoba for themselves one day. I started, as usual, on the train to Ronda, and also as usual, finished it about 30 minutes ago.
Be sure to check out my Best of Córdoba, Spain list and also give me a follow once you’ve signed up or logged into your account. And please don’t unfollow me if you’re tired of hearing me talk about Trover. Good. Thanks.
Also I’d like to add that Trover has monthly scholarships for $500 where you don’t have to do ANYTHING except be an active user – they monitor the usage and the Trover-er who is showing the best engagement in the community wins. Easy peasy. I have known half a dozen of the winners personally so I can vouch that it’s totally achievable.
Also they have monthly contests with prizes around $500 to $1500, and again, I’ve known people who have won, though not me. Yet.
Are you on Trover? How do you plan your trips?
Trover looks fantastic, I really need to check it out! I still make, and travel with, those hand-written lists, but I find they aren’t as helpful as I planned for them to be before setting off.
Your photos of Cordoba are so perfect!
Ohhh I haven’t tried Trover I’ll have to check it out.
Have you checked out Travellers Point? I just wrote a post about why I love it so much but in short its a great way to plan a big trip with lots of destinations- their bookmark tool is the best thing ever- anytime something random about one of the destinations I hope to go to comes up I can bookmark it in an organised way. I seriously used to have saved links all over the place!
I think Trover would be a great addition to my travel planning tools- using Travellers Point for the big picture and then Trover for organising things more specifically. I love the idea of finding places to eat as its always something I’m looking out for. Totally agree with your comments about trip advisor and how food recs can sometimes go wrong. I find Zomato is truly the best when its popular in country- for example in Australia, especially Melbourne its great to find restaurant reviews from locals- its how I’ve found some of my favourite restaurants! I’ll definitely be checking out your trover page for Cordoba when I’m in Spain!
Seriously the map feature rocks!
Grea Post Liz!! i will download trover it sounds like a good app for me…. and you are not the only one that makes list for everything.
Lists are the best!
Love your posts! Are you coming back to NZ after Spain or changing where you live? 🙂
YEah I’ll be back in a few weeks!