Costa Natura Apartment Hotel Estepona

... New little bars and restaurants opening up
as well as beautiful small hideaways! One of which is the newly opened Hotel Claude!
A Haven of Hotel Chic! Truly a boutique hotel, as they should be! Small, elegant, personal and warm! Hotel Claude Marbella redefines the boutique hotel concept with luxurious accommodation, five-star amenities and a very personal touch by the owners!
It feels as if you are staying at an ...

... 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 ...

... the chef (tossing pizza dough) and the waiter; high-fived each other as the television showed photos from Obama's inauguration. "No more war," said the chef. "Yes, that's one thing of many," I replied. After dinner, we received a glass of a very tasty limon-coco digestivo. I love the practice of giving gratis in these small cafes. Make one feel welcome. The entire meal, with drinks, was €20 for the three of us. Returned to hotel, to have a hot bath, read, and sleep.

... Toss up between the good old English food here in Gibraltar, Bangers and Mash or Pie ? Shaz - Chicken Caesar Salad at Irish Murphy's Pub in Spain (sad I know) Pete - Too many to name. Many served on board Bella. Worst Food Harri - Italian pizzas Tom - Peperoni pizzas in Sardinia which didn't have pepperoni at all but big soggy pieces of capsicum called pepperoni. Shaz - Lunch in an Italian/Asian Cafe in Rome with very plastic pasta and pizza. It should ...

... dropped our big backpacks at the lockers there, then took an overnight bag and walked casually across the border, and the damn guard wouldnt stamp our passports cause were canadian? i want a stamp! anyways, we walked past the air strip ( apparently u can fly to london for only 100 pounds here) then grabbed a gebraltar city bus to the lift carts to get up the mountain the lazy way! theres sites u can see along the walk down, so we paid for a mountain pass, lol, 26 euros i ...

... and nightlife, a port for ferries to Tangiers in Morocco, and a dazzlingly white-washed cluster of old town buildings typical of the style of Mediterranean towns found in southern Portugal, Greece and Spain. I love a quick wander through the narrow alleys of old towns like this. There's plenty going in corners and side ...

... We took our time, kicked around down at the mariner and all the way back round for a hot breakfast of huevos revueltos at one of the cafes down by the water. The plan was to head along the N340 coastal road, which misses the A-7 toll and provides plenty of opportunity for stopping often to check out more seaside villages. This we did, through Marbella and San Pedro and all the ...

... minute walk from the bus station in Spain, with the rock looming in front of us, the guards simply waved us through. Now, I ask you, who bothers to make the trip to Gibraltar if they don't want to get their passport stamped with that magic "GBZ"? But they were naive to these concerns in Gibraltar. We found ourselves on Winston Churchill Avenue, which was pretty weird because after a block or so, we came to the airport. But this was no ordinary airport ...

... in for free. I think the guy thought he was a child. The tunnels were pretty interesting. The back end of the rock looked out over the the Spanish border. Someone had the bright idea to put a tunnel along this rock with openings for cannons. They could then fire directly down at them. They even had to design a cannon mount that could angle downwards. This tunnel saved them from being overwhelmed by the Spanish forces. After the siege ...