Ubrique - December 8 2007

We set off early on Saturday morning to visit Ubrique.....our previous visit to this lovely village was unplanned and our arrival at 4(ish) on a Saturday afternoon had shown a very quiet little town which was closed down for the weekend. As we had been told about the wonderful leather produced here, we wanted to visit when the shops would be open. Once again, the trip through this area of Spain was beautiful, but the narrow, steep and very windy road took serious concentration on the part of the driver. We finally arrived about 2 hours after leaving home - but in plenty of time for some serious shopping. Ubrique, unlike many of the other white villages we had viewed, was actually set down in a long narrow valley, rather than sitting high, often on the side of a very steep cliff.

Whilst its situation was different, the design of the town was based on the traditional town square and the main street. We arrived at about 11.30am - early for the Spanish timetable - so the main street seemed pretty empty with most of the little cafes closed. The walk along the main street ended at a "T" junction where we found the shops and boutiques the town is famous for. Ian, as those that know him will agree, is part of that male group who do not like shopping.......and "Puts Up With It" when all excuses have totally failed (about once a year). By the end of approx one hour looking through leather shops which sold everything from the usual wallets, purses, bags and coats to leather umbrellas, shoes, card packs, ashtrays etc etc etc, Ian had converted into a major shopper (at least for that one day)

His aim was to buy a belt. He succeeded in buying 1 belt, 1 wallet, 1 coat.....and a few bits and pieces for me. Not bad for an avowed nonshopper. This is definitely one place we will have to take Dad and Mum to when they visit later in the year.

Walking back down main street was like we were in a different town. The traditional Spanish lunch hour had arrived and as is the norm in most Spanish towns, the families were out having their social weekend lunch time. The place was packed.
The empty mail was now filled with cafe tables and chairs, kids, parents and grandparents. Only trouble was, we were unable to find an empty table....so time to head out of town.

The trip home via a different route took us past another beautiful white village - this time straddling a cliff top - stretched out over quite a distance. Whilst we were looking over at it the sun rays came through the clouds to light the cliff top off and spectacularly show of this scene.

A wonderful day with beautiful scenery. And just think I get to do it all again in a couple of weeks when I go back to pick up the coat Ian ordered for me.

Casares - October 25 2007

Brother Mark who lives in Glasgow arranged to visit for a few days. This a rare treat as Mark's job takes him all over the world and finding a couple of days to "just veg" is difficult and requires organisation well ahead of time. As his previous visits to Spain had been work orientated, and were pretty much based around Seville, we decided to keep our touring close to home. So....a trip to a pretty little white village close to Sotogrande was on the cards.

The drive from the main freeway up to the village goes past some lovely rural, mountain areas, where the Spanish hills seem to go forever.
With plenty of photo-ops on the way, we made our way up the high side of the village. By coming in this way, Casares suddenly appears as we turn the final corner into the main village street.

The white villages of Spain are beautiful and Casares is generally thought to be among the better. The ruins of an Arab medieval fortress and the Iglesia de la Encarnación Church overlook the white legoblock style houses below. In the distance is Gibraltar and the shores of Africa. The area between the village and the coast is the soaring grounds for peregrine falcons and kestrels.

After a wine at the little restaurant overlooking the village we made our way through to Maybella for a tapas lunch. The day was completed with a look around Sotogrande including the Valdarama area with a stop over for a coffee and views at the Almenara golf course. A really pleasant way to round up the day.

CADIZ - June 25th 2007

Whilst Ian makes work trips down towards Cadiz on a weekly basis, our only tourist visit to the actual city of Cadiz coincided with a Fiesta day and we were unable to navigate our way around to the old city section. So today's tourist aim was to find the old walled section of the city and go for a wander to see what the place was like. We also wanted to look in on the stork nest we had filmed in early March to see what family additions had taken place during the last 3 months.

There are several sections of highways in our area of Spain which play host to families of storks during the spring and summer months. For those of you who have been born and bought up in Europe this may seem rather ho hum.......for us Ozzies, storks are something that you read about in nursery rhymes and we find them fascinating.

Their ability to build nests perched on high platforms on the edge of major freeways is great and watching them soar and fly so gracefully can be very time consuming (and also potentially dangerous as there are very few stop points along the road systems in Spain - so you tend to look out for them whilst driving - not so good). Anyhow, the nest we pictured being constructed in March (above)now has 3 members living in it (right).
The old centre of Cadiz is situated at the far end of the island - straight down the main street until it basically hits the far coast. In most places the city is bordered by a sea wall, so the beaches are either coves or run along the ocean side where the new town is located. Being a Sunday (and the start of Summer.....and hot), there seemed to be a local exodus from most buildings to the beach areas.
The walk along the ancient sea wall included a visit to the Castle of Santa Catalina. According to the tourist blurbs the original castle was built between 1598 and 1621. Originally erected to protect the city it was converted to a military prison for those of "higher condition" in 1769. The castle includes a chapel, barracks and warehouses which are used for art displays and exhibitions.

Leaving the coastline and moving through the old centre we were able to find some of the beautiful squares which seem to be typical for the old town centres in Spain. The buildings, churches and cathedrals which tend to border these squares are often impressive and the squares themselves vary from lovely gardens, to paved areas filled with tapas bars and restaurants, to road intersections and parking lots. Cadiz had some beauties. Stopping at one of the little bars and having a typical Spanish lunch under the umbrella is something that should not be missed. The relaxed middle of the day meal where it is expected that family and friends will take their time, gossip, drink and watch the world pass - usually in a little street with vine covered walls, bright umbrellas and plenty of shade is something that the younger western countries have missed out on.........it seems a very civilized way of living.


Cadiz has been able to maintain many of the old formal gardens throughout the old town. Many are small but are to be found every couple of blocks and in the heat of summer, the sound of the fountains, and the shade of the huge old trees provided another relaxing and cooling area to wander through and escape the afternoon sun. Whilst Cadiz does not have the stunning geographical scenery of Rhonda, and its historic castle was not quite as impressive as those in Malaga, it is a lovely city with a street scape which matches those we have seen elsewhere in Spain. Wandering through the narrow streets where stunning doorways allowed us to sometimes peek into houses which opened up to internal courtyards made for a enjoyable day. Cadiz was worth the visit.

Ronda - June 10th 2007

We had attempted this trip on Easter Sunday and although we actually arrived at our planned destination that time, we were unable to find a park and simply drove straight through and out the other side. So.....time for the second attempt. Success.


Ronda is about an hour to hour and half drive from Sotogrande, through wonderful hills and magnificent scenery. The drive is windy and sometimes steep but worth taking if you have the time. On a clear day the view from several of the lookouts can take in not only the distant Spanish hills and Gibraltar but can include the distant African mountain ranges. At this time of the year, the hills are covered in red poppies, yellow wildflowers and the various greens from the dirty green of the olive trees to the glossy sheens of orange tree leaves. In places it is truly majestic.

Ronda is a city which combines the heritage of Roman, Muslim and Christian conquests. The architecture is wonderful and in some cases the feats of engineering undertaken so many years ago are awesome.

The city square in the old town was built to combine the main functions of religion, justice and defense. The square is dominated by the Church of our Lady of the Incarnation with the City Hall providing an impressive boundary to the gardens which make up the centre section of the square. We were lucky enough to catch a parade of about 40 young people dressed for their first communion. Accompanied with a brass band, the various parish priests, nuns, parents and the rest of the parish it was an impressive pageant which went from the city square, along the main road and across the spectacular "New Bridge".

The Bridge of Ronda is spectacular. According to the ever reliable guide book it was built between 1751 and 1793 and is 98 mts high and made up of 3 arches. The central arch is 90 mts high. It is worth the walk to view the bridge from all vantage points - not just walk along the main street. We followed the track down to the Arab baths and crossed over the divide by the Bridge of San Miguel. The walk back along the edge, looking back across the river towards the House of the Moorish Kings was awesome. The view of houses perched and hanging off the edge of the almost sheer drop of 70 odd metres was breathtaking and the scene back towards the "New Bridge" was better than any available closer to the main street.


Once back at the main street, we were able to look back along the route we had taken and the landscape opened up to probably the best view of the day. The very deep, very narrow chasm which cut its way through the city, with houses perched on top overlooking the wonderful rural view which stretched away to the mountain ranges in the distance. Far below the river wound its way slowly through the rocks and pools which made up the base of the cutting. Generations of Rondarians had used the plazas and balconies which just seemed to be suspended over the gap for entertaining. We were able to watch one lucky couple have their wedding photos taken from the gardens of the House of the Moorish Kings. I imagine the background of their photos would have been world class.

It was a great day and the town was really worth the trip - highly recommended. Favorite spot for Sharyn was the House of the Moorish Kings. It now looks derelict - but that was actually part of the appeal - and its situation was 2nd to none.

TANGER - Sat 26th May 2007

As we are currently living in Sotogrande Spain - near Gibraltar, a day trip to Tangier is almost compulsory. The day started with an early rise (very rude for a Saturday) to catch the 9am fast ferry from Tarifa Spain (about 1 hour drive around the coast) -however we needed to get to the Port about 1 hour ahead of time to make sure we were able to snatch a park in the port area (not very big and is usually full by just after 8am). Ferry ride took approx 1 hour and we arrived to meet Mr Aziz just after 8am (they are 2 hours behind). Aziz is used by many of the expats and came highly recommended. After collecting the rest of the group we headed off to the coastal areas. Tangers has 320 days of sunshine each year. In other words IT NEVER RAINS........except when we are there. It started raining about 30 minutes into our tour and did not stop until we arrived back on Spanish soil - so rather than complain throughout this posting just read that into the following.......There was the usual camel rides and photo opportunity with the baby donkey (cute ....but). The drive took us through what can only be called "snob hill" and past various royal residences (very impressive), international rulers holiday homes (equally impressive) and sheiks residences (ditto). Unfortunately we were unable to see a couple of items during the trip due to an international selection committee who were viewing Morocco's bid for the 2012 World Expo. Obviously places which were involved in the bid presentation were "out of bounds" for the day including The Cave which we will return and see sometime soon.

Once the market place opened, we were taken to see the wet market. Unlike those we had seen in Malaysia, this was more western style - but very much larger, and noisier. The chickens were already slaughtered, the fish were fresh that day, and the vegetables looked fantastic. A great mix of commerce, conversation and community. Smells were fantastic with fresh herbs, dried herbs, various olive and garlic mixtures combining with fresh fish, meat and fruit aromas. From there we wandered throughout the old city. Narrow paths, archways, stone steps, small local shops with hawkers peddling a variety of goods including lovely cedar boxes, t shirts, fake watches and just about anything else you can think of. The architecture was fascinating.........small hand cut tiles making beautiful Mosaic patterns in the typical Moorish geometric patterns. Stone fretwork decorating the sides of buildings and providing artistic entrances in many of the door ways. Community ovens every few minutes where the local housewives bring their bread in the morning and their biscuits in the afternoon to be baked in large pizza type wood fired ovens. The smell was fantastic.

Then we had to pay our dues by going to the local tourist targeted shop (every city has them and every tour goes to them). Selling carpets, silver teapots, ceramics, leather goods etc etc etc. Morocco is known for its Berber hand made carpets. And no...... we did not buy one. But we had a serious look. The polite hard sell was on...wrapped in delicious mint tea and very friendly Arab hospitality...but we were unable to find exactly what we wanted - so once again we will come back.

Lunch was an interesting affair. Food was great, building was colourful - full of intricate tile designs, company was good. Not bad for a day tour. Then it was back to see the other side of the old city wall and the various sights from the highest point of the ancient town.

Tangier has been owned, colonised, invaded and ruled by just about everybody. The city has a French centre, a British area, a Portuguese element, Spanish quarter, Jewish area and obviously an Arab feel. Each succeeding power bought its own architecture and culture to the city. It is truly a mixture of races, and influences. Aziz took great pains to tell us that the place was truly international and laissez faire. Certainly we were able to see synagogues in one block with a mosque facing it on the next corner. It seemed to be a very tolerant society with the women dressed in anything from full western attire to the full Islamic requirement to cover faces, hair, arms and legs. We were informed that women were able to chose their adherence to religious dress for themselves.

Another stamp in the passbook (running out of pages very quickly). We will return in a few weeks and try to see other parts of the city and some of the coastal scenes without the rain. As with all tours one day just is not enough to do this city justice