A City and Beach Vacation

Those are two places that I never imagined Karlo and I would spend our vacation time, but as it turns out, that is mostly what this place is all about. After our visit to the bustling city of Cadiz we spent the next day on our beach. It is still impossible for me to sit still on the beach for more than one hour so we took lots and lots of walks. I’m so impressed with how many barefoot miles I logged. The shore goes on forever and the rocks were so pretty it was like a giant treasure hunt for me. It looked like tiny bits of granite counter top samples washed up on the beach. When the rocks were wet they glistened in so many different colors and were perfectly polished after years and years of waves making them smooth. All I could do was picture them all as jewelry. I can’t lie on the beach more than an hour, but I can hunt for pretty rocks all day long. Good thing I packed light to accommodate for the 5 pounds of rocks that I want to keep!

In the later afternoon we headed up to Fuengirola for dinner. (Or was that considered lunch?) This was another beach side city in Costa del Sol, but really they all sort of start to look the same. From there we headed to a much more unique town called Mijas. This one was on the side of the mountain overlooking the sea. It was beautiful. The views from up there were gorgeous and the village was so quaint. Every building is painted white and stacked one upon the other. The best business in Spain has to be selling white paint! We strolled through the shops just before the sun completely set and the shops closed up for the night.

So after our relaxing “beach day” it was once again time for another city visit. Gulp. We drove 2 hours northeast to Granada. This was another huge city that is considered the gem of Spain’s Moorish heritage. There was way too much to see in one day so we thought we should start at the most famous part, the Alhambra, which is a medieval palace built in the 11th century. According to our guidebook, you need to book tickets to see this place one year in advance (during the high season) so we figured it MUST be good. Since it wasn’t high season we couldn’t miss the opportunity . . .

Well, we will never know just how good it is. It was a nightmare of waiting in line. First we waited 30 minutes in one line only to find out there was a separate line if you wanted to pay by credit card. So we bailed from the first line and went to the credit card line, which was shorter so that was a bonus. Only problem was they didn’t really mean ‘credit card’ but rather ‘debit card’ which we didn’t have. I could see the steam starting to come out of Karlo’s ears despite his very cool exterior. No doubt both of us had dwindling patience.

It was back to the even-longer-now main line for another 30 minutes of waiting until we both decided that nothing on Earth was worth the wait and we split. There went the morning. Uuuugh. But there was more that I wanted to see in the city so we braved another parking garage (crazy, I know) and headed out on foot. I was determined to find the streets that make up “Little Morocco.” This was a labyrinth of narrow alleyways lined with Moroccan shops and tea rooms. It felt exactly like we were really in Morocco. I was not expecting such Arabic influences in Spain. There was no shortage of Arabic writing on signs and even Arabic music on the radio. It was a very unique experience.


We had a nice lunch in the city square, took a short walk past some huge and amazing churches, and headed back to the coast. After the drive through the traffic I needed another beach stroll. We got changed and walked for miles as the sun set. It was so romantic. It went something like this . . . Karlo walking in the water and me 8 feet away, trying to keep drier. Karlo comes up to hug (grab) me and I yell, “No, no! Get away from me. Don’t touch me.” Karlo laughs his evil laugh, trying to pull me towards the water saying, “Don’t you trust me?” and I reply, “Of course I don’t trust you. Don’t be ridiculous.” It just doesn’t get any more romantic than that ;-)

If you would like to see more pictures from these outings, please click here.

A Visit to the Oldest City in Europe

Today we took a drive to a city called Cadiz. It’s on the Western Coast of Spain on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. It was established by the Phoenician in the 1100s. My guidebook said that it’s the most under visited city in Spain and much of it remains unchanged from the early days. Based on this we were expecting an old deserted village, but it was far from that. Instead, it was bustling city, jam-packed with people and cars. Finding a parking spot was quite the challenge because there was no way we were risking another parking garage. Once we conquered the sport of parking we walked all over the small peninsula. It had everything that a typical port village had: tiny alleyways, a city center, plenty of churches, and lots of little shops. This place should share the nickname of “the windy city.” Because of its location with water on three sides, the wind never stopped. But I guess that was a good thing because it sure was hot. We had ice cream in the town center, strolled the shops for some souvenirs, and took in the sights of the town.

From Cadiz we drove a different route along the coast to the most southerly spot in Spain. The town was called Tarifa and it’s a famous spot for windsurfing. And I thought Cadiz was windy! This is where the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea come together. Africa is only 7 miles across the Strait of Gibraltar. We had an awesome lunch at a place right on the beach while gazing across the sea to Morocco.

Next we headed to the Rock of Gibraltar. We couldn’t come this far and not see that icon. It sure was an impressive rock!


By the time we got back to the villa it was late and I will still full from our big seafood lunch. We decided to go to the market for supplies and have a light dinner on our patio. It seemed the wind was even strong back on our beach which caused the waves to be bigger than usual. We sat and relaxed, munching on our picnic dinner, sipping our cheap Spanish wine, and listening to the crashing surf.

To see a few more pics from this outing, please click here.

Life in Andalusia

Much like Northern Italy, nobody speaks English here. I’m wishing I downloaded my Spanish translator app at this point, but we are managing. We went out on the town for dinner last night and walked the streets of Estepona. What an adorable city right on the shore. We had dinner outside on the boardwalk of the beach and walked along the shore at sunset. It was very relaxing and just what my shoulder needed.

But today was a different story. We decided to take a long drive through the mountains and experience part of the motorcycle tours – by car. All I got to say is THANK GOD we didn’t rent bikes like we had originally planned. These roads are terrifying. Yes, the views were amazing, but the stress of driving them was killing me. There goes the shoulder pain again . . . . Not only did we get to see the sights of the beautiful Spanish country side (sorry no pics from a moving car), but we also got to gawk at all the cool motorcycles everywhere. They have so much nicer bikes in Europe. It’s just not fair!

We visited an awesome town called Ronda in the late afternoon. This was the birthplace of bullfighting and we toured the biggest and first bullfighting ring and museum. Karlo was in heaven. The city was very cool and was separated into two parts, divided by an enormous gorge and connected by a massive stone bridge. One side was the “ancient” side and the other the “modern.” I personally couldn’t tell the difference as their definition of “modern” was a strange one.


After our lovely sightseeing and a very late lunch in the town center the stress started all over again. We parked in a public garage that required you to take a ticket upon entry. For some reason Karlo thought you needed to enter your credit card to get the ticket and that is exactly what we did. We stuck in our credit card and out popped the ticket. We assumed that our card would be charged when we exited the garage. Looking back on it now we realize how ridiculous that idea was . . . based on the “modern” side of the village. Anyway, we got in the long line of cars trying to exit and when it was our turn the ticket didn’t work. We had other cars honking and the attendant came over and yelled at us in Spanish. He kept yelling the same thing over and over despite the fact that we told him we don’t understand Spanish. He moved barriers and made us get back in the line of traffic trying to exit the garage. Now what? We were trapped. I got out of the car in search of somebody that spoke English. Come to find out we were trying to use the entrance ticket to the bullfighting museum instead of the parking ticket! Good heavens, stupid tourists.

So now that we got that all figured out it was once again our turn at the gate. Before we had the chance to put the right ticket in our buddy came running back over, grabbed the ticket out of Karlo’s hands and started yelling at us again. We were stuck all over again. The guy was going on and on in Spanish and we didn’t understand a word. Karlo pulled out his money and waved it in front of him, but instead of taking our money the guy took off with our ticket leaving us sitting at the gate with the cars honking their horns behind us. What a nightmare. It was then that I realized the gate was in the open position. I yelled, “JUST GO . . . QUICK . . .DRIVE!!!” Karlo floored it and we ‘escaped’ the parking garage and got the heck out of Ronda as quick as we could.

It was all very stressful so by the time we got to the long mountain pass with its dizzying heights and fast twists and turns my shoulder was killing me again. But we did get some good laughs at our Bonny & Clyde exit from Ronda. A piece of advice: if you ever visit Andalusia, learn some Spanish and don’t park in any garages!

By the time we got back to the villa it was nearly too late for dinner. I felt the need for a relaxing stroll so we went to Estepona for a nice walk along the beach. We strolled the streets and opted for a gelato dessert instead of dinner. We got back just in time to go to bed, listening to the waves crashing on the shore. By then I was all better.

If you would like to see more pictures from this day, please click here.