Albero Lodge Estepona

... friends home! This former artist´s club is located in a 17th century townhouse in the heart of the old town and it literally boosts with history! Back in the 19th century it was the summer residence of "Eugenia de Montijo" (Empress and wife of Napoleon III) and "Ferdinand de Lesseps" (architect of the Suez Canal)! The absolutely perfect renovation and divine interior of this landmark townhouse make you fall back in time ...

... Benalauria. The restaurant was an old converted olive mill. It was very cool inside and had 3 levels and an outside terrace for dining. We started off outdoors, but the bee's were scaring us so we moved indoors and sat next to a woman who was in her late 70's holding court with her 3 friends. She spoke 7 languages and was really interesting to talk to. It was nice meal. Again, great salads! We headed back to town and decided to eat in and pack up our things ...

... took us about 30 minutes to get to Grazalema and we fell in love with it as we were driving in. It's set in the hillside but is surrounded by national forest land. I've said it a hundred times about how beautiful the scenery is, but this by far was our favorite. It was breathtaking. The village was so cute set up a bit more for tourists than where we're staying. It has a great square where everyone was meeting. Monday ...

Well, well, well...after being MIA for quite a few weeks, I'll try to give you the cliff-notes version of several lovely places I've been buzzing around and what I've been up to. This weekend I went to Gibraltar!  Monkeys, views to die for of Southern Spain and Morocco and some damn fine Fish and Chips and Carlsberg!  Every year around 4 million people cross La Linea here to see this little speck of England attached to the ...

Since I missed a couple of days, I've booked some ship tours at upcoming ports. Today was Gibraltar, and I chose the tour for history nerds, "Gibraltar Under Siege." Our guide was amazing, a British ex-pat who is passionate about Gibraltar history. Gibraltar is between Spain and Morocco, but it has been a colony of Great Britain since the Treaty of Utrecht in the 18th century. It's not an island, as most people think (and as I thought). About 28,000 ...

... not my place and I'm always keen to get back to the Spanish side but its a great place to learn to sail or in Spring months find a crew position on the many boats heading off towards Greece. I was heading inland to my parents finca below the idyllic, white washed village of Cesares. My parents moved here 8 years ago..it was the second house they saw and they fell in love with it or rather with the mountain and the spectacular views to the ...

... control at the border, and walked across the border onto the isthmus. The border itself is unique - to get to the town and the rock, you have to walk across an RAF airstrip that has now transitioned mostly to private, commercial use. Since only 6 flights come in a day, almost all from the UK, people mostly just walk across, but when a flight comes in, traffic is completely stopped. We went straight to Casemate's square, a huge square full of shops ...

... resplendent houses of governors, the bobbing Bobby helmets of the plods walking by and, just to complete the picture of mundane British urban life, rubbish bins and letter boxes all emblazoned with the royal coat of arms just as they would in London or Edinburgh. Cute. No wonder the Spaniards are continually irked by ...

... that no ferries leave from Gibraltar. Why would they, when it would just mean more customs hassles for the UK? Hindsight would make this clear, but not before we lugged our bags to the far end of the island and back, looking for the nonexistent ferry dock. Then we passed a McDonalds, whose bright lights and crowd of delinquents running around the playplace acting tough made it seem like it was made for such a surreal place. Finally, we made it back to ...

Ahh, Gibraltar. I definetly recommend travelling here. I was delighted to discover that everyone here speaks English. I almost had a heart attack when I found a big, well-stocked English bookstore (yes, I am I big nerd). Today I went to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar, and it was very beautiful. I escaped off the tourist path and managed to get quite close to the monkeys, and even managed to take a picture when one jumped on me from behind ...