Last Tapas at La Escollera & Going Home

Sunday was our last full day in Estepona. After breakfast and doing a bit of packing, we went for our usual walk along the Paseo Maritimo, which takes 55 minutes one way to the little park where we enjoy the sun while we look out over the ocean. The weather has been about 21C and sunny lately.
On the way back, we’ve been stopping for drinks and tapas almost every day at La Escollera near the port. It’s always crowded but today, being Sunday, it was nuts. However, we soon found a couple of stools and ordered drinks, octopus salad and eventually some calamari. The food is great and it’s always an experience in there. The noise level is deafening but we’ve gotten used to it. It’s so crowded the party spills out onto the street. Everyone just keeps going up to the bar ordering tapas and drinks and not paying until they leave. Somehow the servers seem to keep track.
On Monday, December 3rd we turned over our keys to the partner of the property manager who then drove us to the bus station at the east end of Estepona. We had 1 1/2 hours until the bus left at 12:45 pm so we walked a short distance to the little park with the statues by the sea for a last chance to bask in the sun. By 2 pm we were at the airport in Malaga where we caught a city bus to the Holiday Inn Express, 5 minutes away. We nestled in for the night and had snacks in our room for dinner, since the hotel was located in a wasteland of car rentals and small warehouses.
On Tuesday morning we were up before 6 am to get the included breakfast at 7 am. After checking out shortly after 8, we walked a few minutes to the bus stop and caught a city bus (3 euros each) back to the airport. Check-in, security and customs went smoothly and our flight took off at 11:40 am. After 8 hours and several movies that one would only watch on a plane, we arrived in Montreal at 1:50 pm. Again, customs and baggage retrieval went smoothly. We found the Greyhound ticket booth and bought tickets ($30 each) on the 3:25 pm bus to Ottawa, which finally left at 3:45 pm.
We arrived in Ottawa a little after 6 pm. Our youngest son, Dylan, met us at the station and drove us to our oldest son Zack’s in Gatineau for the night. We were up with our grandchildren shortly after 5 am and on the road home in our car before 8. By 11 am, we were home for the first time in a month, tired but satisfied with another great trip.
Our final thoughts about Andalusia:
We really enjoyed seeing the Moorish architecture and the later buildings after the Christian Reconquest that were built by spending gold from the conquest of the Americas. Gibraltar was worth seeing but only barely. The Costa del Sol was very pleasant but not the sort of place we would ever go for a beach holiday when the Caribbean is so available to us.
What we saw of Spain was very clean and pleasant. The cities are very pedestrian friendly. The buses are clean, efficient and cheap. The food and wine are excellent. From the moment we left home until the moment we got back, the whole trip cost us $5,500 Canadian.
Maybe someday we’ll go back, probably to the Madrid area.

Our Daily Estepona Walk

Yesterday, Thursday November 29th, we went on our usual walk after a late breakfast and tidying up. Our apartment is on the 3rd floor (2nd floor to Europeans) overlooking the pool. Since we’re about 10 minutes straight up the hill from the port of Estepona, we can walk the whole length of the seaside promenade to the east end of town, which takes us about an hour one way.
There’s a park at the far end with about a dozen beautiful sculptures. We usually rest on a bench there for awhile and enjoy the sunshine and the view over the sea before heading back.
As we walk back there are lots of benches if we feel like stopping for a drink of water. Near the end of our walk just east of the port is La Escollera restaurant and bar. Yesterday, we decided to snack on some tapas and have a drink in the bar area before we picked up a few groceries and came up the hill for late afternoon on our balcony. We ordered wine, beer and a full “racion” of deep-fried small squid for 11 euros or a total of 14 euros with the drinks. We didn’t realize how much food that would be. We managed to finish it but just barely. However, while we’re here, why not?

Gibraltar

The weather this week has been beautiful - about 19 to 20C and sunny every day since Monday. Sunday, on the other hand, was so rainy and windy that we didn’t even leave our apartment. We’re glad that week of mostly rain is over.
On Monday we walked along the seaside promenade all the way through Estepona from west to east. It’s a really nice walk in the warm sun. There are a few people on the beach and even one or two swimmers but by far the majority are staying on the promenade. Some are in shorts but most are in T-shirts and long pants with a sweater or jacket handy. It’s always a little cool in the shade.
On Tuesday, we had planned to take a bus to Gibraltar but, just before we left, we made the final decision that Anita wasn’t feeling well enough to enjoy the trip. After she rested for awhile, we did the same walk along the seaside again, just to be out in the sun. Our apartment is good but the balcony only gets sun for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. We’ve been enjoying happy hour out there every day.
On our way past the marina, we stopped at La Escollera seafood restaurant. It’s always busy but within 5 minutes we got a table and ordered a plate of calamari, a plate of fried sole, white wine and a beer. It may be the best calamari we’ve ever had. The prices aren’t that much different from Canada, except here there’s a .70 euro service charge per person but no tipping. With a 27 euro bill, service worked out to about 5%. Reasonable.
Yesterday, Wednesday November 28th, we got up early again and were out the door by 8:10 am. We walked down to the bus stop by the Plaza de Toros where we waited until the M240 bus arrived about 8:40. For 4.58 euros each, we bussed all the way to La Linea, just across the border from Gibraltar. The bus stopped numerous times so it took us 1 1/4 hours until 9:55 to get there.
La Linea bus station is a 5 minute walk from the border. As we walked through, the British customs officer didn’t seem to pay any attention to people flashing an EU passport but he did check ours. After that we were in Gibraltar, owned by Britain but hotly contested by Spain. In 1969, Spain closed the land border and it stayed that way for years. The only access was by sea or air. Spain still wants Gibraltar and have made noise about it this week during the Brexit negotiations with the EU.
Right next to the border is the Gibraltar airstrip that we had to walk across. The road is closed several times each day for planes to land. It’s an unusual situation. Later, when we were at the top of the Rock, we saw a plane landing where we had been walking earlier.
Once we ran the gauntlet of the taxi tour vendors and guides, who seem to be anxious for business now that it’s off season, we walked a little further into town to find a bus stop where we could get a bus to Europa Point at the far south end of Gibraltar. There isn’t much information to help solo tourists. The buses are numbered but it’s hard to tell which bus goes which way or where it stops. Finally, after asking several bus drivers, we found the right bus stop and the right bus that took us to Europa Point, which has a lighthouse, a big gun battery and a nice viewing plaza. There’s also a memorial dedicated to Polish armed services members who had escaped Poland and then fought with the rest of the Allies in WWII. (Anita is looking at the sign in the first picture.)
We got back on another bus and went to the cable car station. We had planned to take the cable car up to the top of the Rock and walk back, seeing the Siege Tunnels and some of the other military infrastructure on the way down. The runway and about 1/2 the town are built on rock excavated from the 30 miles of military tunnels that are inside the mountain.
However, it was my turn to be at less than full health. I’d had a headache and dizziness all morning so we decided that we should just take the cable car both up and back down. I was a little disappointed but we still got to see the best part anyway, which is the Rock itself. Up at the lookout terrace, we got a few pictures and enjoyed the view. There were monkeys all over the place. They can be aggressive, looking for food, and one woman suffered a slight bite while we were there. However, it’s no wonder. Tourists go right up to them and pat them and cuddle them for pictures, like they’re house pets not wild animals. There are very high fines for feeding them but that still doesn’t deter some people from getting too close.
The lookout terrace was not crowded at all and, in fact, we had a cable car all to ourselves on the way back down. At the bottom, we had no desire to see the town. The streets are busy and everything is very confined. From the lookout terrace, we could see that there were condos built on reclaimed land around a marina. We have no idea why anyone would choose to live in Gibraltar if not for work. However, it seems that some Brits do retire here. Strange.
About 1:30 pm we got a bus back to the border. As we passed through customs, no-one even looked at us. We had about an hour before the next M 240 bus back to Estepona so we split a Whopper and fries at a nearby Burger King.
Back at the bus station, there was no ticket window open for the Avanza bus line so we assumed we bought the ticket from the driver. We were first in line and about 2 minutes before the bus was to leave, the driver told us this was not the case. I ran back inside and bought tickets for the Avanza bus from the Comes bus company window. Who knew?
Anyway, they held the bus for us and for 3 other people who had made the same mistake. Then we drove a few blocks to the first bus stop and the driver sold a ticket to the person who got on. Strange system.
Almost all the way back to Estepona we saw nice coastline that is unbelievably overbuilt with condos. The Costa del Sol is very pleasant, scenery and weather wise, but it’s a bit of a shock to see how many Northern Europeans want to holiday or live along the same 100 km of coast.
Gibraltar was one of our must-see sights for this trip and it was interesting because of all the military history that we’ve all heard about. However, a few hours there is all it takes. Now we we have a few more days in the sun.

A Walk Along the Sea to the Old Town

This morning, we did a little more research online about the buses and how to get around. After breakfast and tidying up, we walked down the hill to the bullring, where we found the bus stops we needed.
One day next week, we’ll take the M240 bus from Estepona to La Linea where we can walk across the border to Gibraltar. The bus stops right at the bullring down the hill so it’s very convenient. In a little over an hour, after numerous stops, we should be in La Linea.
We discovered that if we had stayed on the L79 bus a bit longer when we were coming here, we could have got off at the bullring and saved about 30 minutes walking in the rain. At the time we didn’t know exactly where we were going and we wanted to go to a restaurant anyway. C’est la vie.
When we leave here, we can catch the L79 in the other direction at the bullring and get to the Estepona bus station on the east side of town. From there we should be able to get a bus directly to Malaga Airport and then a taxi a few minutes to our airport hotel. Travel in Spain isn’t that difficult.
Our next task was to find La Escollera seafood restaurant that is recommended in Lonely Planet. We found it just on the east side of the marina and checked the menu. It seems to be a good choice so we’ll go there sometime next week.
It was a beautiful warm day so we walked along the Paseo Maritimo, the walkway along the beach, as far as the old town centre of Estepona. We found the tourist information office and got a map with all the local sights on it. There aren’t that many that we’re interested in. The old town is quite nice with lots of little pedestrian streets and restaurants. However, we’ve just spent 2 1/2 weeks in other old towns so we don’t really need to see every street here. We did go into the little museum, mainly because it was free and had a washroom. There were quite a few artefacts from Roman times but really nothing we hadn’t seen before. We had also stopped along one street where there’s the excavated foundation of a Roman mausoleum. However, the old town is really just kind of a nice place to be sometimes. There are bakeries everywhere so at one we bought a meat empanada and some chocolate pastries to share.
After walking back along the seaside, we stopped for a few groceries and then came home. Another storm is blowing in from the west this afternoon. Hopefully it won’t last too long into the day tomorrow.

Ronda to Estepona

On Thursday, November 22nd, we checked out of the Hotel Ronda about 11:15 am and walked for about 20 minutes across the New Bridge and through the new town to the bus station. Luckily, the rain had stopped for awhile. It’s great to travel light with good small packs so we know we can walk fairly effortlessly for long distances if we ever need to do so.
In the Ronda bus station is the first place in Spain that we have had to pay to use the washroom. Half a euro seemed a bit expensive but they know you have no alternative.
Our bus left at 12:15. We thought it should take about 45 minutes because it’s only about 60 km from Ronda to San Pedro on the Mediterranean coast. However, the route is so mountainous and the road so winding that it took about an hour and a half. We climbed high up into the mountains for about 3/4 of the trip and then at the very end dropped down to the coast. It was very misty and rainy. There were steep drop-offs at the side of the road so it’s a good thing Anita didn’t have the window seat.
When we got off at San Pedro, we walked over to a little bus kiosk to inquire about how to get to Estepona. The lady sold us 2 tickets  for 1.73 euros each on the L79 bus which would leave in about 15 minutes. It was a city type bus rather than a highway bus so it stopped frequently. We didn’t know where to get off so we just asked other passengers to tell us when we got to “Estepona centro”.
It was pouring rain when we got off the bus. We saw a Mr. Noodles restaurant nearby so we went in to eat and wait for the rain to die down a bit. We had a 4 pm appointment to meet the property manager at our apartment so we had more than 1 1/2 hours to eat, figure out which way to go and then walk there. We were hungry so 8.10 euros each for a plate of chicken fried noodles seemed like a good option.
It was still raining when we left the restaurant. We knew we had to walk along the main street by the sea until we got to the bullring and the marina. I have a map of Spain on Maps.me on my phone, which works great, so we followed that. After about a 1/2 hour walk under our umbrellas, we found the apartment complex. There was a bit of a mix-up meeting the property manager, since we were outside the wrong building. Eventually, we got a renovation contractor working there to dial her for us on his phone and then I talked. The contractor didn’t speak English but was very helpful and soon understood what we wanted.
The property manager arrived a few minutes later and showed us in. We have a 2 bedroom, 1 and 1/2 bath apartment overlooking the pool and about a 10 minute walk uphill from the marina in the suburbs on the west edge of Estepona for the next 11 nights. It’s costing us about $86 Cdn per night. There’s a grocery store just down the hill and lots of restaurants in the marina area. There are condos everywhere.
We were glad to get in and be warm and dry. We had already eaten and had some fruit, nuts, coffee and tea for breakfast so we didn’t have to go out again.
Yesterday morning, Friday, November 23rd, was still cloudy and cool but at least it wasn’t raining. After breakfast we walked down to the supermarket with our empty day packs and a couple of re-useable grocery bags we found in our apartment. We bought as much as we thought we needed for a few days and brought it home.
After lunch, we walked back down to the marina to check out some of the restaurants. Most of them are a little higher priced than we want to pay. The Costa del Sol is like Florida for British expats and vacationers. One restaurant advertises a full Sunday roast beef dinner for 12.5 euros so we may try that.
Back at our apartment, the weather got warm enough for us to enjoy happy hour on our big balcony. Finally, at 4:45 pm the sky cleared completely and we were able to bask in the hot sun. We hadn’t seen this much sun since the previous Saturday, 6 long days ago.
This morning is clear and bright. We may get a little more rain tonight and tomorrow morning but generally the forecast is for sun with a few clouds and highs of 18 or 19C for the next week. We’ll take it.

A Rainy Day in Ronda

On Wednesday, November 21st, when we got up Anita opened our door to go to the lobby for the advertised coffee, cookies and fruit. She didn’t have to go far. Right outside our room was a little cart with coffee and hot milk in 2 thermoses, hunks of melon, apples, oranges and cookies. The Hotel Ronda has only 5 rooms and is run by 2 sisters. They think of everything. Plus, we’re less than 100 m from the New Bridge, the main site in town. We can have a filling breakfast without leaving our room and without any extra charge. We’re due for more fruit and vegetables after all the delicious but not exactly nutritious tapas we’ve been eating lately.
Once again, the rain stopped for awhile so we walked down to the “Old” or “Arab” bridge and crossed over to the terraces along the gorge that led back up to the New Bridge. We were able to get a few more pictures once the mist lifted a bit. It was still only 10 or 12C but at least there was no wind.
We came back across the New Bridge and went exploring through the old town. Ronda is a typical Andalusian “white town”. All the buildings are white with tiled roofs. The streets are narrow and often very steep. We stopped at a church we came upon near the south side of town and looked over the cliff wall at the farmland beyond. It’s very beautiful here, even in bad weather.
The rain picked up again as we walked back toward the gorge. We came across the “Museo Lara” which we had seen the day before. Since we wanted to be dry anyway, we paid 4 euros each and went in for an hour or so. The museum had an eclectic collection of artefacts from many eras and ended up being quite interesting. There were quite a few artefacts from the Spanish Inquisition.
Afterward, we crossed the bridge back to the new town to find a restaurant. Our umbrellas are proving to be very handy. Next trip I’ll be getting a new one. The shaft on my $10 Walmart umbrella came apart the day before, so I’ve now got it pinned together with a toothpick. It works but it’s not exactly stable.
Just by chance, we came upon the bar/restaurant Las Martirio which had a sign advertising the menu del dia for 8 euros. Anita went in and spoke to the waitress/owner and decided that’s where we should eat. Good decision. We had a typical Andalusian lunch with the usual 1st and 2nd courses, bread, beer or wine and flan with real whipped cream for dessert. Excellent meal. After we ate, we talked to the owner for awhile. Her attitude was that she believed that she would have a more successful business if she treats the tourists the same way she treats the locals and doesn’t try to overcharge. As soon as we got back to our room we wrote a glowing recommendation on TripAdvisor. We wish her well.
The opposite attitude is also present in Ronda. In Sevilla, I could buy a 500 ml Spanish beer for 1.10 euros. At a little shop near the bridge, it cost me 2 euros. Rip-off.
Because of the gorge and the cliffs, Ronda was a defensible position so it has a very long history, occupied by the Romans, the Moors and the Christians. Despite the bad weather, it’s been a fascinating place to visit.

Sevilla to Ronda

On Tuesday, November 20th, we checked out of our hotel about 8:30 am. We were lucky that the rain stopped for an hour or so while we walked 15 minutes to the Prado de San Sebastián bus station. We were wearing our shells (and fleeces underneath for the cold) and we had our umbrellas handy. We were in plenty of time for our 9:30 bus. The only place to sit was outside under the roof where the buses pull in so it was good to be warmly dressed.
For the first half of the trip to Ronda, south of Sevilla, we saw mostly olive and orange orchards. Then the landscape gradually changed from fairly flat farmland to rolling hills. Finally we were travelling in valleys between steep hills. We must have dropped quite a bit in elevation.
By 11:15 we were in Ronda. The first thing we did was find the right bus company for tickets to the coast on Thursday. We had to wait 20 minutes for the office to open but at least we knew that we wouldn’t have to come back to the bus station for reservations or perhaps get there on Thursday and find that the bus was sold out. Our next stop is Estepona but we could only get tickets to San Pedro. From there, we’ll have to find another bus to Estepona. Luckily, the distances aren’t great.
As we left the bus station, it was about 10C with howling wind and driving rain - the worst weather we’ve hit so far. We got a taxi for 6 euros to the Hotel Ronda, just across the “New Bridge”, where we’d be staying for 2 nights.
Once we’d settled into our room and cranked up the heat, there was a brief stop in the rain so we went out to see the gorge and the New Bridge. The wind was still howling and it was cold but at least we weren’t getting wet. We managed to take a few pictures.
We walked into the “new town” on the north side of the gorge, to find Faustino’s bar/restaurant that was recommended in the guide books. We found it but it was closed. As we wandered around, we saw a restaurant advertising the menu del dia for 11 euros. That sounded good so we went in. The meal was good and as is usually the case, there was a first course, a second course, dessert, wine or beer and bread included.
Once we were filled up, we walked around a bit more but eventually went back to our room where it was warm and dry. We could hear the rain pounding down again through the night.