Daytrip to Zahara and Grazalema

Zahara. When we arrived it was a little hazy. We climbed up
to the castillo you see on the very top.

Views were amazing. The water in the reservoir was a
teal color, like you'd see in the Caribbean.

Pretty church in Zahara. See the sky? That's typical. No clouds. Very blue.
 Lots of sun. It hasn't rained a drop since Easter.

Grazalema. Another picturesque pueblo blanco.
We bought a couple of rugs made here.

This was an unusual door knocker b/c it  looked like a
man's hand, and it was a right hand. The "limp hand" door knocker is typical of Spain but
usually it's a woman's left hand. Wonder why the difference here?

Fabulous drive to and from Grazalema.

More landscape. Most roads are in great shape in southern Spain. I love driving b/c there is so
little traffic (maybe b/c gas is so expensive at more than $7 a gallon!?) 

Last stop was the Cueva de la Pileta about 40 minutes from Grazalema.
This privately owned cave had literally  hundreds of prehistoric
 drawings, 20-30,000 years old.
We made our way with kerosene lanterns.
The owner takes no more than 25 people at a time. In our group, we had a French family,
Spanish folks, and Jim and I, the lone Americanos.

On our way home, we went through a little town and saw this curious sight:
An hombre obviously had ridden his horse into town,
 hitched him up, and sat down for a cerveza.  Gotta love rural Spain!

Evening walk in Puerto

9:12 pm

9:22 pm

9:28 pm

9:28 pm

9:33 pm

9:37 pm. Buenas noches.

Weekend Away in the Costa del Sol

Mijas. Check out the heart mowed in the grass. Aaaah.

From our hotel in Mijas, looking down to the Mediterranean Sea.

Mijas tourismo.

Casares.

Another view of Casares.

The Spanish know how to take care of their loved ones, forever.

Blue.

Back in Mijas. (how do you change the order of photos??!:)

Jim, after climbing up to the chapel in Mijas.

Chapel on the mountainside.

Typical street winding through Casares.

We love living on the ocean, but the Mediterranean Sea is only 2 hours away, so this past weekend we took a road trip to Costa del Sol. We purposely stayed clear of the beach crowds and high rise development. Instead, we ventured into the mountains, a little northeast of Marbella, and stayed in the white-washed village of Mijas.

Okay, it has its fair share of tourismo (see donkey picture above!), but it still has plenty of charm. Two highlights of our stay:

First, dinner on the terrace of La Alcabaza Restaurante, with stunning views of the valley and the Mediterranean Sea. Second, trekking up the side of a mountain to reach the 18th-century white chapel, Ermita del Calvario. It's only open on Fridays during Lent, but the scenic views are worth the climb. The Carmelite brothers who used this for meditation and relaxation knew what they were doing.

Sunday, we headed home, with a stop off in Casares, another pueblo blanco clinging to the side of a steep mountain. The drive there was spectacular and the town far less touristy than Mijas. We couldn't get over how different the landscape is here---so mountainous and a far cry from the flat plains surrounding Rota. What a treat! From now on, Casares is on our must-see daytrip list for folks who visit. 

Living Room=Screened Porch in the Summer

Our tiny living room has double doors to the outside patio on one wall, and a large double window that opens to our side yard. Out the side window are two 10-foot-tall dama de noche plants (a variety of jasmine that flowers at night with a heavenly perfume scent) and potted crown of thorns, geraniums, and veggies. With all the surrounding greenery (both in and out) and ocean breezes through the open windows, our living room feels like a cool screened porch. A good book, comfy couch, good music (and freshly baked bread, compliments of Jim). 

Life is good.

Biking and Levante

We went biking this morning to take photos of sunflowers. The 7.5 mile ride out was a "breeze" but coming back we headed straight into 25mph winds. This was the notorious "Levante"---dry and hot summer winds from the coast of Africa. Yowee! Let's just say we had plenty of exercise today! Poor girasoles (sunflowers) looked a little wind-whipped. On the other hand, the winds keep things cooler. We're consistently in the 80-90s now. No rain since Colleen was here at Easter. Blue skies and lots of sun. Daylight til 10pm. Love it.