Head over heels

I’m feeling as old as the hills and, at times, graveyard dead. I’m not under the weather, so I will step up to the plate and hope I don’t go down in flames with this post.

Matt and I are spending January in (on?) the Iberian Peninsula with my brother, Tom. It’s once in a blue moon that we can travel this far because of Matt’s school. I’m going to spill the beans: Spain is the best thing since sliced bread.

Sunrise in Estepona.                                                                   

“You can say that again,” says Matt. 

I’m not going to beat around the bush: you will miss the boat if you don’t discover this wonderful area for yourselves. The ball is in your court.

We spent last September in the northern Spain town of Llançà (Yahn-sah). It may be the best kept secret in Spain. Shhh! Mum's the word.

Historic district of Estepona.                             
 

The weather isn’t as warm in winter in Llançà as in southern Spain, so figuring there’s more ways to skin a cat, we decided to head to Estepona in the Andalusia area. We were as right as rain choosing it. We are in a flat right on the ocean. If we were any closer, we’d get wet. Take that last remark with a grain of salt. 

Weather here has been consistently lovely, food good, prices low. We'd be cutting our noses off to spite our faces if we didn’t appreciate all that.

Tom and I took the ferry one day to Tangier, Morocco, from Tarifa on the Strait of Gibraltar. Unfortunately, no dogs were allowed on the ferry, so Matt opted to remain home with Reiver and catch up on some writing. 

Tom and I went on a bus tour and maybe just saw the wealthiest neighborhoods, but we also got to spend some time in one of their large markets. We also had an excellent lunch as part of the tour, and I made a new friend, too (see video).

Seville's Palace of San Telmo.                          

Everyone told us to see Seville, so we jumped on the bandwagon and headed there for an overnight stay.  I am not sitting on the fence: it was very beautiful. We took an early evening bus tour which showed the city in the waning light of day and all lit up in the evening. We need to return for a longer visit.

On our way to Seville, by chance we stopped at a small city called La Roda to eat a picnic lunch. We went into a cafeteria for our drinks and then journeyed on.  We later learned that La Roda is known for a type of pastry called a Miguelito that was invented by a baker there a century ago. 

However, after reading about the pastry, we were consumed by finding some and we began making stops at small villages all over that region looking for the Miguelito, figuring there is more than one way to skin a cat.  But alas, there wasn’t. We had to take a rain check. 

From Estepona, we have also made day trips to Casares, Cadiz and Gibraltar. 

Heading to dinner in Seville's historic district.

Casares in foothills above Estepona.                                                              

Tom and I will fly to Portugal Jan. 26 to see Lisbon and the Algarve region in the southernmost part of the country. Matt heads back to London (with Reiver) to start winter/spring term in school. He will make it back by the skin of his teeth. Class starts Friday and he'll be back to his daily grind.

One of the historic bridges in the cliff town of Ronda.