Sunday, February 5, 2012 - We’re up and in search of a coffee just after 8. Our usual stop is not open, but “our” little bakery is. Great, as M needs his morning caffeine. After a quick breakfast, M went for the car, we did see a couple of spots this am fairly close to the apt so we can load up. J and T dealt with the luggage. J’s job after the first trip down was to keep an eye on the stuff while T made 3 more trips up and down those 62 steps! Quite the workout today!
By 10, we’re off to the south coast of Spain, near the city of Malaga. Graham, our landlord suggested a new highway, taking us inland instead of the coastline to Alcante, saving us some time. We have around 600 km to drive. Our route through Valencia takes us past the bull fighting ring, the beautiful train station and several other old buildings. Leaving the city we pass through more orange groves.
Today’s journey takes us up as high as 1380 m then back down to sea level before staying in the hills that overlook the coastline. We traveled through areas where there we fields of vegetables, apple orchards, really dry arid land where not much grows except some trees that produce nuts. There were quite a few of these trees in bloom. Once we passed Granada, the hillsides became one continuous olive grove, for many km, pretty neat to see the neat rows climbing up the hillsides.
We stopped for lunch around 1, in a little town off of the main highway. It was about 7C outside and windy. The place we stop at is quiet with a few locals having coffee at the bar. In the corner of the restaurant section there is a fireplace with a fire lit in it. All three of us stand by the fire to warm as the place is cold. We ordered soup and had a good laugh that we could see the steam rise from the soup as well, we could see our breath in the air. After our hot lunch, we head out for another 3 hours of driving. Once we descend toward the coast, we can see how built up this region named, Coastal de Sol really is. There are countless condominum complexes – not so much high rises but 3 or 4 story sprawling complexes. We could be in any number of warm holiday destinations around the world. We all remark how this week is going to be a yet another different experience from any we’ve had on this trip.
We arrive at our meeting place early and wait for Peter to arrive. We had met him in Cranbrook in Dec. while he was over visiting his daughter in Fernie for a month. Small world it is. Our accommodation is in a condo unit up in the hills overlooking the coastline of between Malaga and Marbella. The condo is quite large, 2 baths, 2 bedrooms, however, it is cold. The heat’s not working too well – we huddled under an extra blanket we found in the closet. As M has a bit of a cold he is all huddled up and not impressed with the heating system.
It’s SuperBowl Sunday and the boys want to watch the game. In our new place near Marbella, we have Sky TV out of the UK, so we can get the game. Only thing is, it’s at 12:30 AM here. Oh well, we can all sleep in tomorrow. J is disappointed in the Patriots loss, but was happy he could still catch the game in Europe. The boys went to bed around 4 AM!
Monday, February 6, 2012 - T is up before the boys due to their late night. While J is still asleep, we head out to go in search of a grocery store. It takes a while to find a place to shop as we are not familiar with the area and we don’t know the names of grocery chains in this area. We end up finding one about 10 km away. We arrive back at the condo, unpack the supplies and have a bite to eat. Our landlord arrived with a technician to check the heating system. He left us an oil heater to help compensate in case the heating system continues to operate inadequately. The Internet isn’t working very well either, somewhat frustrating. Peter says he’ll check into it for us.
This condo complex has a 9-hole golf course, so for the price of some rentals, we’re able to play. The place isn’t very busy so it’s easy to get on. This afternoon it’s sunny and around 19C, so we’re taking advantage of the warmth and play on this par 3. First time we’ve picked up a club since last June and we enjoy the walk. Cool condo system, but wouldn’t buy here if you’re a golfer, as the longest hole is only 120 yds with most only about 70. Still it’s a fun opportunity for us.
While watching some English TV, after dinner, we check the Internet and it’s working much faster now. We think maybe it’s like in Italy, that as the number of users decreases the speed of the system for downloading increases. Looks like the evening will be the time to do Internet stuff. M uploads some of J’s homework assignments while the system is working.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - While J is still sleeping, we go in search of a new coffee haunt for the week. As we drive along the windy road in the hills to go down to the coast, we can see the Rock of Gibraltar as well as the coast of Morocco.
We pass along side a nature reserve protecting a large area of cork trees – a good thing or a large portion of that area would have likely been developed as well. The Mediterranean glistens in the sunlight, it’s a beautiful day, supposed to get up to 19 C. Hopefully warmer! After our coffee, we take a quick drive around to find parking access to the beach. We want to come down later and have lunch along the beachfront.
It’s a beautiful afternoon, reaching around 20 C. We found the Beach House restaurant right on the beach. It’s not too busy at 1:30 and we’re able to find a table next to the beach. It’s wonderful to have the sun shining, surf pounding the beach and the breeze blowing through the palm trees. Lunch is a long affair, as it gets busier once we arrive and there are only 2 ladies waiting/serving. The food is delicious and we enjoy it immensely.
Once we are finished, we walk down to the water to test the temperature – it’s cold. J decides to put on his swim trunks just the same so he can play amongst the waves. J and M throw the football around for a while, before we walk along this expansive beach. There are a few people braving the cold waters.
We left the beach and went looking for a farmacia for M who’s suffering from a sinus issue. We also found a grocery store that is much closer to us than the one we went to the first day – actually at the highway entrance from our exit! Once we’re back at the condo, we kick back, have dinner and watch English TV finding one of the shows that T and M like NCIS with back to back episodes.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - Today’s really windy, could hear the wind blowing the palm trees big time outside our bedrooms. It’s a fair bit cooler today, even though it’s sunny. We found another coffee shop with great pastries, so we pick up a few for dessert tonight.
Later in the day after J’s homework, we went in search of an electronics store for a new 12V adapter for charging J’s Ipod and T’s Iphone in the car. We managed to find a mall and were able to pick one up. As well, there was a huge grocery store, similar to our huge superstores where we picked up a few things, including some cognac (something M and T had been missing, as we find the Spanish brandy not to be nerly as smooth) that had proved difficult to find in the places we had checked so far. We both remarked how different this week’s experience of grocery shopping has been from last week’s where we were shopping in the typical inner city Mom and Pop local shops. This area of Spain is very “western” society. As we drive along, it is amazing at the number of condo complexes around. It seems they far outnumber the individual homes in this area. We head back to the apartment, T and M enjoy a nice walk while J gets another dose of English TV.
Thursday, February 9, 2012 – Today is sunny and much less windy, it is supposed to reach 14 C. We headed for Marbella to check the place out. Finding parking in the area turned out to be quicker than we thought, although we did hav to hunt for a while. We’ve learned to search out the white marked spot as they are free, while blue are pay, and yellow means not at all or with a special permit only. Our vehicle is slightly larger than most others, so it’s not always easy to find a spot to fit it in without someone nudging it on their way out of their spot… Many vehicles have scars to show for that technique.
We were able to find a spot close to the waterfront, so in no time at all, we were strolling along the wide pedestrian walk. On the right of us was the Mediterranean and on the left loads of restaurants – one after the other pretty much with the occasional condo unit or shop tossed in. Must be tough business in the low season. We enjoyed the walk along the water, passed the Port for Marbella, as well as some great beach sand. The wind was blowing fairly strong down here, so we were zipped right up.
We went in search of a tapas bar that Peter recommended right along “restaurant row”. We found one not exactly the one he named, but one which fit the bill and was enjoyable - especially under the patio heater to add warmth. Once we were finished there, we walked through a beautiful park with replicas of Salvador Dali sculptures (he was born in Spain). We walked across the main road into “Old Marbella” with narrow cobbled walkways and white stucco and wrought iron galore. We could definitely see the different architecture representative of the time it was built, in the 16th and 17th centuries. We enjoyed a quick walk through the old section before heading back to the apartment.
After dinner we all watch a couple episodes of Friends and then Two and a Half Men, then M and T once again tune into NCIS, we have found there are two back to back episodes everyday, and today there are four. J doesn’t like this show much so he goes and watches one of our movies on the computer.
Friday, February 10, 2012 – Road trip today to neighboring Gibraltar. This was definitely on our list to check out this week and today’s temperature of 18 C was perfect. There were no clouds in the sky, and we can see across the Mediterranean to Morocco today. Sometimes clouds and humidity obscure the coastline and the Atlas Mountains from the viewpoint near the apartment.
We left the condo at 8:30 and stopped at the usual coffee bar for some breakfast before getting on the highway. It is going to take us just over an hour to get there. The drive is uneventful and as we pass Marbella, the coastal development lessens. Here we see much less populated areas and some agriculture. We travel along the toll road and talk about the great quality of highways that are in existence in this country. Here we get a good view of this famous rock.
We arrive at the border city of Conception and find our way with GPS to the border area. We see that the border lineup to get in with the car is very long. From reading on the Internet we know that there is limited parking available in this 6sq km UK territory. Since we appear to be in the wrong line we continue past the border entrance and turn around. We decide to not cross over by car but walk across. We found a parking spot right across the street from the border crossing area. It will be 40 Euro for 6 hours – YIKES! As we were driving away to get in line, we thought, why not try to find a parking spot off the main drag. We’re in luck, with about a 5 min walk to the border, 5 hours for 6 Euros – ah, much better! So, with backpack and passports, we walk through the border. Once we are on the other side, we’re asked if we want to take a taxi tour of the rock. We decide it’s a good idea as we’re not sure how to get up to the top and besides we will get some history of the rock as well.
So, off we go with our cab/tour guide for about an hour and a half tour. First thing as we are in a British territory, J find a phone booth to check out.
Next past, the airport runway, it actually crosses the main roadway into Gibraltar.
There were a couple of planes that were at the terminal preparing for takeoff. When it’s time for a plane to take off, the main road traffic is halted until the aircraft takes off. We are told this will change as in order for Gibraltar to have an international airport, this can’t exist, so they are currently constructing a tunnel on the other side of the rock/airstrip. Right now only planes from the UK can land here.
We drive along one of three main roads here and this one is built atop of the old fortress walls. We can see Old Gibraltar, the old buildings, to the left and New Gibraltar, the area built up from land claimed from the sea. The new area has high-rise condos, marinas and the cruise ship terminal. The old section has the UK architecture style of buildings, with some influence from the Moors and Spanish and space is a premium. We’re told a good portion of the rock is nature reserve now, preventing any development other than what has occurred on the rock. The streets are fairly narrow and in many cases hills. As we ascend the rock, our first stop is through Jews’ Gate to the Pillars of Hercules. Myth has it that this is where Hercules placed his foot and separated Spain from Morocco. It was a great view from this point, making us realize just how narrow the Strait of Gibraltar is. There were all kinds of ships not far from shore.
As we continued up the rock, we are told this is the route the soldiers used to carry and transport all the heavy artillery and supplies up to the top. Large iron rings are still affixed to the rock walls they used for their pulley system.
Our next stop is St. Michael’s Cave. Again, a great view to the coast below. We see a beautiful 200 m yacht that belongs to some rich Russian oil tycoon, who owns the Chelsea football club. This thing was huge from up above, it had two helipads, one complete with a helicopter and apparently also has a submarine. Pretty cool to have a look at, and realize its about 3 times as long as the biggest one we measured in the Monaco marina! We caught some of the local gossip about it from our cab driver and one of his buddies at this stop.
What a cool spot this St. Michael’s Cave was. It was outfitted as a hospital during WWII, and now is used as an auditorium for concerts.
There were some fabulous formations within this really big grotto. The rock of Gibraltar is home to 5 groups of Barbary Apes, which look a lot like monkeys but apes have no tail. The Moors brought them with them long ago. The number of these apes are kept under strict control, to ensure them do not become too much of a nuisance and overrun the place. They are notorious for stealing peoples’ food when tourists are snacking. They associate bags with food. Once we reached the top, we had a chance to interact with the apes, J decided he wanted to check one out, or should I say have one check him out! The view was awesome from up here, and we could certainly understand the military advantage of occupying this space.
Our last stop on the rock was to the Great Siege Tunnels. Here we walked into this impressive defense system that was excavated during 1779-83. The tunnels were hewn into the rock using gunpowder and simple tools such as the pick ax. Actually we could see markings on the tunnel walls from a pick ax. In WWII more tunnels were constructed to be like a fortress inside a fortress. In fact there are 50 km of tunnels within the rock. A bunch of the rock was used to construct today’s airport runway. There were some impressive displays explaining the strategy of the army and the development of the holes within the Rock face to provide outlet for the guns to shoot down on the enemy in the harbor.
We were driven through some of the older section of Gibraltar and it was explained there are strict codes for refurbishing the buildings. Our guide told us that some of the locals (like himself) have parking spots within the rock in some of the tunnel system that had been used. Great idea really as the roads are narrow and not designed for parking and through traffic. Actually this is not a place you want to have a big car.
When our tour was finished, we were dropped off at the “top of Main Street”, the pedestrian walk lined with shops and restaurants. We admired the buildings and found a spot in the sun to have a bite of lunch.
We weren’t interested in shopping, so we walked on through the remainder of the street and followed our map walk back to the border crossing. We were so glad to have parked on the other side. We’re told that there are times when it takes several hours to get through. It takes no time at all to get back to our car and we’re off back to the condo.
Saturday, February 11, 2012 – Another sunny day today, and we are treated to a wonderful sunrise.
As usual we head down for coffee at our local spot. While there we notice a hair salon and confirm that J can get a cut this afternoon, his first since being home so it’s due. Next we pick up some groceries to tide us over until Monday and return to the condo.
After lunch and the haircut, we head down to the golf course to play another round of golf on the world’s shortest course. When we return, we watch some sports and organize our bags as we are leaving tomorrow. We decide to go out for dinner and chose to return to the Beach House. We had a delicious meal and enjoyed the relaxing and friendly atmosphere – a great evening.
We returned to watch yet again another NCIS episode, likely by now we must have caught up on nearly all of last year’s episodes and perhaps some of this year’s. J wasn’t thrilled we watched these, but we enjoyed it!
great Property in Marbella
ReplyDeleteI would love to see spanish salad
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