Taking it easy in Estepona

Hello to everyone from Estepona - a lovely pueblo on the southern Costa del Sol.  We're an hour south of Malaga, 45 minutes from Gibraltar and an hour from Tarifa, Spain's southernmost town.  We've been resting up here during January as it is our best shot at some late winter warmth and sunshine.  As you'd imagine from the region's name the sun shines most days and the regular temperature is 17-19 degrees but it has rained and is often quite breezy - occasionally really windy - good news for those of you who are sick of the sun-filled posts from us!

Estepona was established and named in the 15thC but it is much older.  Indeed, the Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs have all left their mark on the town.  It is still a working Spanish town, historically involved in agriculture, fishing and stock-breeding.  Fishing is still a big deal here but, more recently, it has lent part of itself to tourism and expats but still retains a strong Spanish identity.  It is probably about the size of Whitstable but with a much nicer beach!  Naturally, we're out much of our time in the old town centre, el casco viejo, which is full of little cobbled streets lined with colour-co-ordinated plant pots - each street has its own colour scheme - really pretty.

A typical street - check the yellow polka dot pots!

Here's a shot from a street lined with blue pots looking up to the former Franciscan Convent, now Church of our Lady of Redemption.

Iglesia de los Remedios

And, of course, there's the town square - La Plaza de los Flores - which as its name suggests is surrounded by flora and fauna and a lovely fountain.  Everyday we have a really good coffee as only the Spanish do, occasionally with una tarta (pastry/cake) or that most typical of Spanish breakfasts, pan con tomate - a toasted baguette served with a salsa of chopped, almost pureed, tomatoes and olive oil - served with a pinch of salt - buenissima!  I've also started cooking a regional favourite - Sopa de Ajo (garlic soup) - delicious!

There are lots of restaurants and tapas bars but not too many are open out of season.  Our favourites are La Escollera - a great fish restaurant mainly for locals so that was a magnet for me!  We've also found a nice restaurant in part of our development which is always busy - De le Mar - which serves fab, international cuisine and has a daily happy hour with free tapas between 5-7pm - dangerous!

Estepona has a thriving arts scene, the most unusual of which is a penchant for murals on the outside of buildings.  Here's our favourite of 2013's entries as featured in the national Press - fantastic eh?  It stretches over six apartment blocks in the middle of town:

Dia de Pesca (Fishing  Day) by Jose Fernandez Rios

We've also visited nearby towns of Marbella, which was different from our expectations - essentially a busy and somewhat built-up town - less upmarket than we thought to include the marina.  Typical of Andalucia there's a botanical garden to provide shade from the piercing summer sun. 

The waterfall, centrepiece of Marbella's botanical garden

An unusual addition to the town is a series of Dali sculptures on the Avenida del Mar.

One of several Dali sculptures

The old town was lovely - typical Andalucian: white houses, lots of lovely flowers, cobbled streets and the hub of the town - the Plaza de las Naranjas (Orange Square).  We enjoyed lovely tapas near the marina at Casa Lola.

The quaint and very Spanish Casa Lola

The real money is at Puerto Banus - the flashiest and biggest marina down this coast with some rather large gin palaces, prestige cars and all the designer stores you can imagine.  Where better to enjoy a lunch than at the marina and watch the world go by?

Mine's a large one - g&t that is!

We've become familiar with the medical establishment too.  Mick needed to consult with an eye specialist and has a minor injury on his eyeball as well as a long-term allergy, both of which are being treated.  He also needed a crown for one of his teeth that broke while munching on something!  So my Spanish has expanded to include medical terminology and, as ever, the Spanish have been professional, helpful and altogether charming.  I think speaking the language helps - they are surprised that an English person speaks Spanish at all, let alone at a technical level.  I'm still not fluent but getting there! We're really impressed with the medical system here - very accessible and reasonably priced too.

As mentioned before we've rented a lovely apartment in Puerto Paraiso, a small development overlooking the marina.  Nice, too, that many Spanish families live in the apartments so they aren't exclusively for tourists.  We would recommend the agents we've used for this booking - Martin and David at Time in Spain - here's their link if you're interested in a holiday or property on the Costa del Sol. http://www.timeinspain.com/index.asp

View from apartment overlooking marina

Estepona Marina Village

We've really enjoyed Estepona - its easy to be here.  Some books say that tourists arrived in the '70s and never left - we can understand why.  For us it is the best town on the Costa del Sol (Malaga, of course, being a city).  We'd recommend a winter break here as it has it all: sun, beach, good location to explore the surrounds, including trips to Morocco and Gibraltar.  But, as ever for Pinxto & Tapa, its time to move and Jerez de la Frontera - home to sherry, brandy and flamenco - beckons.  The Flamenco Feria starts there soon - Andalucia's biggest celebration of all things flamenco so we're really looking forward to that.  Tune in soon folks for more despatches!