Seville

One of the very best excursions you could try while staying on the Costa del Sol is the day trip to Seville. Sights to see here are the Plaza de Espania, Barrio Santa Cruz which is a maze of narrow cobbled streets, Alcazar, Jardins de Murillo and the Cathedral with its Giralda tower, here you can climb the stairs to the top for spectacular views of the city.

Seville is said to be the place where the Spanish tradition of tapas were invented, this is now a favorite pass time of many locals and visitors to Spain. Every one has their own favourite tapas bar where you can order a drink and get a free tapa, some bars even allow you choose from their selection. There's certainly no need to go hungry in Spain or thirsty for that matter!

Nerja

In complete contrast to the white washed homes of the locals are these very colourful shops and arcades tucked away in the narrow streets. Many of the shops sell exclusive items which you wont find in any other store, such as paintings done by local artists and various local hand made goods, these items always make a nice gift to take back home for friends or relations.

A Taste of Spain.

Spain is to set up promotional campaigns in Britain to try boost tourism for this year. The reason behind this is the 22% drop in bookings from the UK market during the first 3 months of this year
''A Taste of Spain'' promotions are to be held in open air festivals in large cities such as London & Edinburgh. These will include all things which we associate with Spain, such as Flamenco Dancers, Spanish horses will be performing and giant paellas will be on the festival menus!

Estepona - Costa del Sol

One of the quieter resorts on the Costa del Sol is situated 75km down the coast from Malaga airport. Maybe this is the reason it still retains much of its fishing village character, with none of the high rise apartment blocks as seen in other resorts along the coast.
In the older part of town is where you will find the typical white washed homes of the locals, with their flower filled balconies and the decorative wrought iron gateways.

To the west of the seafront is the marina where you can stroll around the magnificent yachts moored here, and also early in the morning see the fishing boats land their catch and see the auction taking place.

Views of Ronda

A view of the house's perched on the edge of the 100mt deep Tajo gorge as seen from one of the archways below the new bridge. Although this is classed as the new bridge it was started in 1751 and completed in 1793.

This is the outstanding sight of the El Tajo Gorge which brings thousands of visitors to Ronda year after year.

The second photo in this selection of Ronda shows the Tajo gorge looking up towards the 'new bridge'
To get a real sense of how sheer this drop is, take a look at the two people looking over the edge in the top left of the photo !!

Next is the view looking towards snow capped Sierras.

Its said that the architect who worked on the bridge after its completion was looking over to admire what he had accomplished, when a gust of wind came and blew his hat off. When he tried to catch it he lost his balance and fell to his death in the gorge!

Costa's Price War !

Owing to the poor exchange rate for the Pound v Euro it looks like a price war is starting on the Costa's to try entice people to still come to Spain for their holiday this year.
This is a price list as seen outside one of the usually expensive bars on the award winning marina in Benalmadena. Other bars along the same stretch were also starting to lower their prices. Its along time since we have seen coffee sold for 50cents, even when the Spanish currency changed from peseta to euro the price of a coffee was priced between 80cents-1€. They do seem to have a mix up with their prices for a beer though, I suspect that a half is only a very small glass and not a half pint!
One thing I wouldn't do is to queue for a table just to get a cheap drink, which is just what was happening in these bars!

Dia de Andalucia.

Andalucia Day was celebrated on Saturday 28th Feb meaning that most of the official businesses such as banks and post offices were closed.

Doing a roaring trade though were the beach side restaurants as many of the out of town Andalucians came into the coastal resorts for a family day out by the sea!

Last Sunday another celebration of this great day was the Flamenco Dancing competion held in Tivoli Park in Benalmadena for the different regions of Andalucia. Those taking part put on a fantastic show which lasted for almost 2hrs. Each team had their very own style of dancing and costume from the region which they represented.

Malaga

Overlooking the port in Malaga is the centurys old Alcazaba, some of which dates back as far the 8th century. The larger part though dates from the 11th century. As you enter the gateway to the Alcazaba you first come across the Roman amphitheatre ruins which are now under restoration.
From here the pathway winds its way up and round the landscaped gardens to the various levels decorated with water features and also bringing you to the Archaeological Museum which used to be one of the grand palaces within the fortress.

Frigiliana

A few kilometres from the large city of Malaga is one of the best kept villages you are ever likely to see. This is one of the typical white villages seen in this part of Spain. Frigiliana is usually the first stop on the daily excursions to the world famous Nerja Caves. If you decide to book an excursion here, the tour bus will drop you off here for a while to explore the village before taking you on to visit the caves, after which the next stop will be on the coast at Nerja where you can see fantastic views of the coast and mountains.
This trip is a must if your visiting the Costa del Sol!

A Day in Ronda

One of the most visited areas in Andalucia is the ancient city of Ronda. Many excursion company's run day trips to Ronda at a cost of €30-€40 depending on your pick-up point.
To save a few euro's while the exchange rate is very low for us Brits it is very easy to do the trip by ordinary service bus from the resorts along the coast. From Benalmadena the present cost for the journey is just €8.56 (one way) The bus leaves here at 10.30am and take 2hrs & 15 mins.
The bus first travels down to Marbella then turns inland to start its climb up through the mountains from where you have breathtaking views all around you for the duration of your journey. On clear days you can see Gibralter and North Africa!

A good tip as you arrive at Ronda bus station is to book your seat for the return journey as places are limited. A good time to return would be 16.30.
Leaving the bus station look to the right of the roundabout in front of you and you will see a small cafe/bar on the corner of Calle San Jose, walking down this street will bring you to the historic town centre near the bull ring and the tourist information office where you can get free maps and advice on the best route to take around Ronda.

Snow Covered Sierras

After recent bad weather on the Costa del Sol, today was much better with some warm sunshine. Although as you can see from the photo, the sunbeds are out on the beach in Benalmadena but still remain empty. Maybe the snow on the Sierras had something to do with it, as when the wind blows down from the snow covered mountains it still feels quite cold.

(click on the photo to enlarge it for a better view of the snow)

Puerto Banus

Some of the most exclusive yachts in the world can be seen in the stunning marina at Puerto Banus. The one featured here is 'Shaf' which was owned by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia until his death in 2005. I should think now it has been passed down to one of his sons. This is the most impressive yacht here in the marina and is a very popular tourist attraction. To read more about the impact the wealth of the Kings family has had in Marbella and Puerto Banus - CLICK HERE

Benalmadena Restaurants

The El Mero Restaurant in the marina at Benalmadena has one of the best view points to be found in this area. Here you can sit out on the long terrace which overlooks the expensive yachts and classy apartments in the marina. The restaurants speciality is seafood, but they are also highly recommended for their steaks and rice dishes.