Playabella Spa Gran Hotel Luxury 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 ...

... river. We hiked to the puente viejo (old bridge) which was just as cool. The hike took a while, but we were killing time at this point. We ended up in a cute wine bar and chatted with the waitress there a bit. We wanted to visit a few wineries - but it looks like they're pretty far from town. We may try to hit them up on the way to the coast on
thursday when we leave.

So, it was getting time for us to make our ...

... more small towns around Andalusia. So far, I am really enjoying myself and the landscape around me. Also, while the Spanish culture is different from what I expected, I like it. I believe eventually it will grow on me, once I loosen up a little bit. Right now I am probably most stressed that I don't speak the language and I almost feel like I never will. But if I am persistent and really take this serious, I think it is possible. We'll see.

We woke up saturday morning and headed into ronda for the day. ronda is about a 15-20 minute drive from montejaque and was voted one of the best small villages of Spain. The drive over was again beautiful! rolling hills, huge mountains, vineyards, farms...So magical. It was pretty busy in Ronda being Saturday - so our gps saved us and got us right to a parking spot and the tourist office. We walked around the two towns connected by the puente nuevo ...

... body rash, hives, tongue swelled up, nausea, etc. It was bad. I call the emergency number at the Palo Alto medical clinic and talked to their on call doctor. He advised taking him to the hospital if he didn't get better within an hour. Thankfully, he started to get better, the rash disappeared, the nausea went away. The only thing was the pain in his ankle where the bee stung him. That lasted for quite a while. So, long story short we stayed in ...

It was hurling a "blowy" as I stumbled through the rain at Gatwick North terminal...Bank Holiday Monday was going to be another wash out at least for the the South ...Flights were stacked up as we sat on the tarmac waiting for our 30 second window of escape..the steward sounded so monotonal and depressed that I wondered for a moment what a man so obviously uninspired with his career was doing or perhaps he'd was suffering from a lovers tiff ...

... about furniture sales, shopping malls and half-price pasta. The thing about Spain is that it seems to be very relaxed. I mean, to build a two-hour break, the Siesta, into one's business day is just about the greatest achievement in human history. It's also very frustrating when you arrive in town at two o' clock and find that nothing is open. I don't know if it's because I've come from America, but by far the majority of the service we've experienced ...

... Spanish could be rude, but it just reminds us how rude the Brits can be!! Not all of them of course. Off to Cadiz tomorrow to check out ferry crossings to Gran Canaria - but we think the cost will be too high. Rocky has bought a fishing rod which we used in Torre Del Mar, but the little tiddlers were not big enough for tea!! Well, it kept him busy. Keep your e-mails coming, it is good to have contact with the outside world. Be hearing from you soon. Liz and Rocky