This Spanish Life

If the thought of 21 km of stunning coastline, set to an awe inspiring backdrop of a dramatic mountain range, all wrapped up in 325 days of glorious sunshine each year sounds like your idea of heaven then Estepona will surely capture your heart as completely as it has captured mine. 66000 happy residents can't be wrong! Estepona is a town moving forward and with many developments (planned, under construction or already implemented) aimed at making this wonderful town even more so. 

Just what is it about Estepona that makes it so attractive?

Estepona is fortunate enough to have its own micro climate, thanks to its position, nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja mountain range. This ideal location explains how the town can boast a highly desirable average of 325 days of sunshine each year. However an abundance of sunshine is not the only aspect of Estepona that makes it such a great place to be. There are many things to be appreciated here. 

Estepona has numerous beautiful, well maintained beaches some of which have been awarded Blue Flag status. From the picturesque coves dotted along the coastline, such as the popular Playa del Cristo, to the endless stretch of golden sand of Playa de la Rada in Estepona centro, there are beaches that cater for all tastes. Estepona is also home to Costa Natura beach which was the first official naturist site in Spain. The paseo is an ideal place for a walk and it also caters very well for families. A large playground complete with a variety of swings, slides and climbing equipment can be found mid way along the paseo. There are many chiringuitos along the whole length of the paseo, tempting you in with the delicious smells emanating from the sardine boats. The views of Gibraltar and Africa just across the water can be surprisingly clear on fine days.

The Sierra Bermeja mountains offer another amazing view but this time from a much higher vantage point. Los Reales reaches its peak at 1449m. It is a noteworthy mountain range because it is quite rare for a mountain to reach such heights so close to the sea. It is only 10km inland. You can take a scenic drive up the ascending road to the refuge, which only takes about an hour and from the refuge you can walk a short distance further to the peak itself. For the more adventurous there are walking routes that you can follow and for the less adventurous, you can explore around the refuge itself which is a great spot for a picnic, especially with its breath taking views. 

Estepona has a working fishing port where you can watch the fishing boats return with their catch. The adjoining Puerto Deportivo is home to many bars and restaurants, as well as being the site of a very popular market on Sunday mornings. The marina itself is a wonderful place to look enviously at the boats moored in the harbour, or even to hire a boat if you are up for some sea bound fun or just for a considerably more sedate stroll. You can wander out to the small lighthouse at the end of the pier and watch the boats sail in and out of the harbour before returning to the marina with your lungs full of rejuvenating fresh air and stop off for some welcome refreshment at one of the waterfront bars and cafes. 

The town has been subject to a major rejuvenation plan known as the 'Estepona, Garden of the Costa del Sol Project'. One impressive feature of this is the 'Ruta de Murales Artísticos'. Attempting to locate the murals scattered across the town is an entertaining and unique way to spend an afternoon. The Tourist Information centre has a map that you can use to help you find them all. This series of wall murals was implemented by the local council and was started in September 2012. The murals are painted on the sides of buildings, transforming them into massive pieces of art. It was initially hoped that they would not only rejuvenate some of Estepona's neglected neighbourhoods but also become a tourist attraction, putting Estepona on the map as a cultural destination and they certainly have done that. The murals are definitely a big talking point. 

Furthermore, currently in development is the new Green Lung Botanical Park which is due to be finished early in 2016. It is going to feature a huge glass dome which will be a 15000m3 glass orchid house. This will be divided into two sections, providing optimal growing environments for orchids and other plants. One section will recreate the natural environment of South America and the other will recreate that of SE Asia. As well as incorporating a small lake and a waterfall, it will eventually be one of Europe's largest orchid houses. The huge dome is currently being constructed and it certainly looks very impressive. 

Estepona also boasts a pretty town centre. One thing that I love about Estepona is the fact that it doesn't have a huge, faceless shopping centre full of the usual big brand shops. Instead its shopping streets are lined with a wide variety of small, independent shops and cafes. If you venture off of the main street and along some of the smaller back streets you will be rewarded with the discovery of some quaint squares edged with cafes, which are a perfect place to sit, have a drink and people watch. 

It perhaps isn't a widely known fact that in the early 1990s Estepona was the original choice for the new Euro Disney resort. It eventually lost out to Paris of course and I for one am glad that this was the case. Estepona is a small, friendly town with a charming personality. If Euro Disney had been built here then the town would have been changed beyond recognition and its personality very likely lost.

If you have never visited Estepona then why not come and see what all the fuss is about? If you have been to Estepona or perhaps if you are fortunate enough to live here, then lucky you! You have experienced one of the gems of the Costa del Sol! 

 

 

Oh hello! Would you like to hear a story? You would? Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. 

 

Once upon a time there was a lovely young girl who needed to go to the chemist in Estepona. She could have gone in the car because it was a bit rainy outside, but no, that would be too easy. She decided to go on her bike. Her concerned family warned her that the skies were looking dark and that the rain might get heavier, they implored her to go in the car, but no, the lovely young girl was determined to go on her bike. And so she did.

 

As she set off she quickly realised that this wasn't going to be as easy as she had thought. The rain was getting heavier and it was quite windy too, but our plucky friend wasn't going to be beaten by the weather and so she carried on. 2 minutes later she was soaked through and she quickly realised that wearing just a t shirt under her lightweight jacket hadn't been the best idea. Her sodden jacket sleeves clung to her goosebumpy, stick arms and she felt quite cold. Determined to carry on in her quest she came to the main road and pedalled along through the pouring rain and the deep puddles that had settled along the side of the road. 

 

As she went along through the puddles the water sprayed out quite prettily from her front tyre, rather like an aqueous Catherine Wheel. Unfortunately the water emanating from the back tyre was being sprayed in abundance all over her back and bottom which made for quite an unpleasant feeling. But she had little time to dwell on that for at that moment she cycled through an especially deep puddle and her feet were instantly drenched in icy cold water. As the wind caused her soggy sleeves to flap unpleasantly against her arms, her feet squelched in her trainers and she felt the unrelenting spray on her back she ignored her discomfort and carried on. 

 

Eventually she reached Estepona and stumbled across a chemist that she hadn't expected to be open (you see, it was Sunday, and only one chemist was due to be open). For some reason, unknown even to her, she decided to cycle on past that one and go on to the one that she had originally found out was going to be open.10 minutes later she approached the chemist and stopped to lock her bike to a nearby tree. As she fumbled in her bag for her bike lock key, trying to shelter her bag from being soaked by the rain she noticed that this chemist wasn't in fact open. It was shut. Getting back on her bike, allowing herself an indulgent tut at the unreliability of the Internet, she cycled on through Estepona, rebelliously going the wrong way along a long one way street all the way back to the chemist. 

 

Locking her bike to a tree she went into the chemist where the assistant was mopping the floor after the departure of the last customer who had dripped rain water in the shop. She took one look at our gallant young friend who was currently creating a sizeable puddle as she stood in the doorway. Sighing, she put her mop down resignedly and assisted the young girl who bought some iodine that she needed for her ailing child back at home. Returning to her bike and not particularly caring that a small lake had formed on the seat she sat down and pedalled off. 

 

Having felt, albeit temporarily, the welcome warmth of the shop while she had been in the chemist the return of the cold slap of her sleeves against her defenceless arms dampened her spirits just a little. She cycled through the back streets of Estepona, past endless restaurants and bars where people sat in sheltered comfort, warmed by outdoor heaters and seated on comfy chairs in the golden glow of the lights and delicious smells wafted out to the young girl's nose. The people looked at the young girl with sympathy in their eyes but she carried on. 

 

As she returned to the main road the heavens opened and there was a torrential downpour. The wind got up, the skies grew dark and the young girl thought 'oh ****!' She noticed that her sleeves resembled gutter pipes as the relentless rain water ran down her neck and literally poured out from her sleeves. The water spraying from her front tyres that had seemed so pretty before was now being blown into her eyes, blinding her temporarily and jostling for space with the water that was also pouring down in a torrent from the front of her helmet. The pounding rain drummed noisily on top of her head and the deepening puddles at the side of the road drenched her as she cycled on through them. She found herself laughing hysterically at the whole situation and at how pathetic and drenched she must look. At one point she cycled past a lady stood under a very large umbrella at a bus stop, and the lady waved and smiled at the girl as she went past, splashing through the puddles and giggling uncontrollably. 

 

The girl's legs ached as she fought her way uphill in the highest possible gear, because her poor wet, frozen, numb hands couldn't find the grip needed to change down to a lower gear. Eventually she reached the home stretch and fought her way to the top of the last hill, pedalling upstream against a downhill flowing river of rainwater. Her house came into sight as she turned the last corner, the lights from her front room glowing invitingly as she got ever nearer. Finally she reached home and as she went inside her family looked at her as she dripped onto the floor. "I got a bit wet" she said as she stood in a rapidly growing puddle. And so, having returned to the safe dryness of home she was able to peel off her wet and mud streaked clothes, she had a shower and a nice cup of tea and made a wish that she wouldn't catch a cold from her adventures. 

 

And so ends our story. I hope you enjoyed it. What's that you say? Did this story really happen and who was the lovely young girl? Well, I will leave that for you to work out. Until next time.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last weekend we went to Castillo de la Duquesa. This perhaps isn't a well known place to anyone who lives outside of the area but it's a sweet little village that has lots of fun things to do and it's well worth a visit. As the name suggests, there is a castle here and it is usually open for people to explore inside. There are surprises to be discovered if you venture into the rooms that lead off from the courtyard.

 

 

Inside one of the rooms there is a fencing museum filled with information about the history of fencing, and if you feel like challenging someone to a duel then you can do just that because there are masks and epees for visitors to try out. We decided that our boys and weapons might not be a good combination and so we moved swiftly on to the next room hoping that it would prove to be a less hazardous environment. 

This wasn't completely the case. The next room is full of glass display cabinets with lots of historical artefacts including some great reconstructed pottery bowls, as well as some free standing displays of various clay objects and sculptures.

Having wandered around the roo. After declaring everything to be 'broken' Henry went up to a display of stacked tiles, put his hand on it and gave it a little push. "This doesn't move mummy!", he said. Feeling very relieved indeed that it didn't move we quickly ushered him out deciding that we would climb up to the top of the castle walls. Surely castle walls that had stood for so many years would be Henry proof! 

From the top of the castle there are some lovely views and the walls are not so high that they bring on a case of vertigo. It has been previously documented that certain members of my family don't like heights and won't climb to the top of high buildings, so it is proof of the moderate height of this particular castle that we all successfully reached the top and nobody suffered any ill effects or made for a quick descent! 

As we wandered out of the castle we headed down to the playground so that the children could have a play. While they played with some local children under Daddy's watchful eye I wandered off to take some photographs to show some of the highlights of Castillo de la Duquesa. It has a reputation for having some fantastic restaurants and while I've never actually eaten at any of these, judging by the smells emanating from them and the contented looking people sat outside on the sunny terraces I can only assume that they live up to their reputation! 

The village is very scenic and there are some wonderful details to be noted.

Around the playground and along the paseo there is a series of seats decorated with beautiful mosaic representations of scenes from the local area. Each one is different and they are very striking. There is an eye catching mosaic mural of the name of the village as you drive in, and even the walls of the local guarderia are decorated with mosaic pictures of children's TV characters. It really does make for a very colourful experience! 

After exploring the village we went back up to the park which is next to the castle. This has an open grassy area, a playground and a little stream running from a water fountain to a well. We often sit in the sun while the boys play on the slides and then find little leaves on the surrounding grass and follow them as they float along the stream. 

So you see, for such a small area it really is packed full of fun things to do and it is definitely worth a visit! 

 

Ah, Mérida, so good they named it, well, just once actually but it's so very lovely that by rights they really should have named it twice.

We visited Mérida today and we absolutely loved it. Loved it! It was the last day of our holiday and we wanted to go out with a bang, (especially after some of our earlier fizzles) and we did! Wednesday was spent in Guadalupe, Thursday was spent having a bit of an unscheduled disaster in Monfragüe and today was spent in Mérida. Our not wholly satisfactory trip to Guadalupe has already been documented on a previous post. Our trip to Monfragüe hasn't been documented, and won't be. I don't feel I could bear to relive the day again in any detail, but I can summarise it in a few poignant phrases. From these you may get a hint of how 'well' it went.
1. The petrol gauge in the car suddenly plummets to empty.
2. The only petrol station for miles is closed.
3. We find ourselves travelling on hope and fumes to the next one. 
4. Daddy reverses the car into a wall - back bumper is cracked and hanging off.
5. We discover that Daddy has forgotten to pack the picnic that Mummy lovingly made. 
6. Daddy drives the car into a wall while parking - front bumper is damaged.
7. Children comment, "Daddy keeps breaking the car."
8. Daddy shatters the iPod but doesn't know how. 
9. Mummy comments, "Daddy is breaking everything."
10. Daddy comments, "None of it is my fault." 
11. Nobody believes him.
12. We are all relieved to eventually get home, where we find the picnic in the kitchen and then some duct tape to stop the iPod from disintegrating completely.

So you see, by Friday we were in need of a more successful day out. Having first made sure that the picnic bag was actually in the car we set off. We stopped at Alange on the way to have our picnic and as we drove into the town I tweeted a woman called Sue who I follow on Twitter and who posts wonderful photos of Alange sunsets every evening. I told her that we were visiting her town and she immediately tweeted back that we should head to the beach as it would be a fantastic place to stop. As we found the beach and I tweeted back that we had located it and that yes, it was indeed a fantastic place. She then sent me a tweet back with the caption "is this you?" It was a photo of our car and the four of us sat at a bench, taken from the other side of the lake where she lives! "Yes!" I replied, amazed. 10 minutes later a car pulled up next to ours and it was Sue come to say hello! Well, Sue is the loveliest stranger you could ever hope to meet! She told us all sorts of interesting information about Alange and then gave us some hints on what to do in Mérida. It was so strange to think that through the magic of social media I was talking to a lady who I hadn't know previously but whose tweets I have enjoyed following for some time! Social media certainly makes the world a much smaller place. Unfortunately our meeting came to an abrupt end when Henry had a sudden and rather urgent 'toileting' need and we had to set off to find somewhere suitable to cater for it! 

It only took about 15 minutes to get to Mérida from Alange and following the advice that Sue had given us we parked next to the lovely Roman bridge and walked across it to get to the town. Our boys aren't too big on history (of which there is a lot in Mérida) and this might become clear when I tell you that these were the boys' favourite things to do there,
1. Take a ride on the little yellow tourist train that takes you around Mérida showing you the sights and landmarks.
2. Stop at the little cake shop near the square where they could stuff themselves with donuts and hot chocolate! 
3. Try to walk on the cobbled streets without stepping on the gaps.

So you see, I can't really comment on the bountiful, historical richness of Mérida but I can comment on the beauty and welcoming atmosphere that it had. The people were friendly and went out of their way to point us towards places that would be fun for the children and we all really enjoyed being there.

The tourist train was fun. It departed from the amphitheatre and for 30 minutes it took us around the local places of interest, complete with commentary by a very happy and helpful man. It did seem to take us into some dubious looking areas though. We travelled through some areas dotted with littered wasteland and graffitied blocks of flats but that was where the ruins were so that was where we went! It was very hard to hear the commentary about the historical sites because Henry kept asking "what's that mummy?" and "are we going to get a donut soon?" throughout. I only caught a few snatches of important dates and occasional, isolated words like 'iron', 'train' and '73' so I really don't feel that I have any better understanding of Mérida's history now than I did before the train ride, but it was a pleasant way to spend the time.

We found the spectacular Temple of Diana too and we even managed to take a quick photo of the boys (momentarily) standing still in front of it before we had to usher them away for playing a game that involved taking it in turns to push each other which meant that they got getting dangerously close to photobombing everybody else's photos. Instead the game continued as we walked up a pedestrianised shopping street and the boys pushed each other into shop doorways, bins and various foliage. 

Actually, the only time that they were quiet was in the donut shop where we enjoyed a glorious couple of tranquil, noise free minutes while they ate. But that is the joy of travelling with children. Well, with our children. We get to visit some wonderful places, and Mérida is definitely one of those, but we don't really get to see them in too much depth. We do get to eat a lot of donuts though, so it's not all bad! 
We were sad to leave Mérida and as we walked/pushed our way across the Roman bridge we decided to return next time we visited Extremadura.

So, brace yourselves tourists and residents of Mérida.

We're coming back!