It seems only fitting to end a week of posts about a great food-lovers’ trip to Spain and Morocco with a shot of something sweet. Jaime and David Caldwell had an a “fascinating cultural experience” on their adventure. I’m so happy to be able to share all of their incredible images.

For some couples, travel at the holidays and being away from family would be hard. But from the looks of it, these two had an amazing time just being together in a gorgeous setting. That’s the fountain of Plaza del Triunfo below.

Jaime talks about how they decided on a honeymoon destination, “Spain is always great (David had been before but I hadn’t) and we were both excited to visit Morocco as neither of us had ever been. A friend of ours spoke very highly of Morocco and we couldn’t wait to dive in!”

She adds, “We originally wanted to take a grand tour of Africa – Namibia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Seychelles, but once we took a hard look at flights and due to David’s limited vacation days (due to school), we realized we needed to scale back to a smaller geographic area. Spain and Morocco had the food and culture we were looking for and were very easy to navigate.”

Lots of couples struggle to decide if they should travel right after the wedding or wait a while to take their honeymoon. Jaime’s very glad they pushed their trip off a bit. “Due to David’s school and summer job schedule, we delayed our honeymoon by nearly 6 months. This turned out to be the biggest blessing as we were able to spend time planning and anticipating our trip completely apart from our wedding. Ours was a destination wedding (in New Orleans) with 175 people which required a lot of planning and preparation (as all weddings do) and in the end, we were so glad that we didn’t have our honeymoon right afterwards as it would have added that much more planning. We were able to focus 100% on our wedding and making it a great event for our friends and family and then 100% on our honeymoon and making it a great trip for us. Whether it’s for scheduling reasons or financial reasons, I cannot stress how great it was to separate these two events. It made everything that much more fun and enjoyable for us!”

Thanks again to Jaime and David for sharing their story with us this week. Here’s wishing everyone a Merry-Christmas-in-April!

David & Jaime Caldwell of Cambridge, MA, took some time between their summer wedding in New Orleans and their December honeymoon in Spain and Morocco. The anticipation made the trip all the sweeter for these two newlyweds.

Jaime, who’s a freelance food publicist and recipe developer (plus a part-time foodie/lifestyle blogger) and David, a 2nd year law student at Harvard Law, say this trip was “a fabulous opportunity to explore exotic places with each other.” That’s Seville, Spain below on Christmas Eve.

Jaime adds, “Ours was an active honeymoon with a lot of cultural immersion. I would highly recommend it to those looking to experience something exotic and a bit out of their comfort zones.” For them, food was a huge highlight of the trip. Below is a photo from their incredible 23-course dinner (no, that’s not a typo!) at La Terazza del Casino in Madrid.

That shot at the top is these two on the flight oversees. She says, “David’s parents gifted us with first class tickets to and from Spain. This was the first and probably last time we will ever be able to fly in such style and we enjoyed every second of it from the reclining seats to the free movies to the fantastic dop kits to the delicious multi-course meals!”

There’s no question Seville is beautiful, as the photo above proves. Those Spanish really know how to work the tile. Karen and Tom loved wandering the city. Check out this wikitravel page for a list of activities.

These honeymooners typically try to avoid the tourist traps when on a vacation, but made sure to see some of Barcelona’s best-know sights. She offers some great advice about things to see and things to skip. “We truly enjoyed seeing all of the Gaudi architecture throughout the city. La Sagrada Familia (above left) is amazing to see and nearly impossible to comprehend that it has been under construction for over 125 years. The audio tour is a must. You will have to wait on a long line to get in but it is so worth it to see the intricate architectural detail. Park Guell and the other Gaudi buildings (above right) throughout town are all must-sees, too. We went to the aquarium in Barcelona and while it was huge for European standards, was not all that impressive. Many of the tanks were empty or had minimal fish in there. I was disappointed that they didn’t have any educational info about endangered species. “

They also visited Granada, in the South of Spain, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, a place rich with culture, architecture and history. If you go, be sure to visit the Alhambra de Granada. The photo above was snapped at Palacio del Pórtico.

We’ve loved getting to experience Spain through this couple’s eyes. When it comes to planning honeymoons, there are no rules. If the beach is calling, then grab you towels and go. But don’t be afraid to pack your trip full of cities, sights, and romance. Thanks for sharing, Karen and Tom!