The Guideless Traveller: España: Days 125-129 (Marbella, Cadiz & Ronda)

Day 125:
In the states, the 8th of November is a very important day.....it is election day. I will start off by saying I did not vote but even if I wanted to, I do not think I would have gotten my absentee ballot to mail in. Scott spent a lot of time and energy to get his ballot all squared away but it never came. His parents were supposed to receive the ballot at their residence and then send it off to Scott in España but all of their efforts did not pay off. Think about how many people this type of thing happened to....

For us, we were on our way from Seville to Marbella but with a stop for lunch in Cadiz. Upon arrival in Cadiz, it felt very cold (this is an ongoing theme) and it was too early for lunch so first we went to a cafe to have espresso and then we walked around. This town is known for being an ancient port town but to me, it just looked rundown. I am sure there is beauty somewhere here but I personally was not impressed. We did have great gambas al ajillo here though! For lunch we went to a tapas bar I read about (and saw in photos they have 2 outdoor bar tables). Casa Lazo gave us the gambas we have been dreaming about....sizzling in a dish of garlic, olive oil, and no shrimp gear!

La Caleta, Cadiz

Cadiz Playa

We got to Marbella just in time to watch the sunset! We stayed at another Airbnb, the Luxury Duplex Seafront Golden Mile, and loved the location and all the space this place had to offer. Sure, it is only the 2 (and half) of us, but with the small place we have in El Campello, it is nice to have space sometimes. As you can see from photos below, I was really amazed by the Rock of Gibraltar! We did not get to go there because we could not bring Coco (or we were not sure if we could bring her) because they are a British territory and have different requirements when transporting animals.

Road to Marbella (Gibraltar straight ahead)

Rock of Gibraltar

Living room at our Airbnb

Kitchen at our Airbnb

Sunset from our Airbnb in Marbella

View of the Rock of Gibraltar from our balcony in Marbella

We tried to go to the #1 restaurant in Marbella for dinner but when we got there, it was completely dark with a sign saying on vacation for the rest of the year. Go figure....this becomes a trend in España during November and December. We ended up at an Italian place with outdoor seating (and heaters) called La Piada. The food and wine was great here as well as the service! Scott enjoyed his lasagna but my photo of it was blurry (and the others have terrible lighting below).

Feudo Arancio vino tinto at La Piada

Piada (Flatbread) at La Piada

Spaghetti at La Piada

Tiramisu at La Piada

Day 126:
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and then I found out Trump won the election so I went back to sleep. I guess I was hoping it was all just a crazy dream, but no, it is reality. Reality really kicked in when my shower went cold about 2 minutes in....I had only soaped half of my body and had shampoo in my hair. This shock to my system causes me to scream and cry and shiver in my towel as I wait and wait and wait for more hot water, which never arrived. On our way to lunch, I tripped. At lunch, for the first hour, I did not get to eat and as I try to just drink my sorrows away, two little fruit flies took a dive and swam freestyle in my wine. The kicker is when Scott got up to get me a new glass, a third one lands on the rim and cannonballs into my wine to join it's friends. Today is not my day and I am sure many others had an off-putting day as well.

Anyways, we had lunch at a pintxos bar called La Taberna del Pintxo and it ended up being very delicious but we did not get off to an easy start....for the first 45 minutes, all we were able to order was a bottle of wine (which flies tried to takeover). The concept of this pintxos bar is you take whatever is brought around on a plate from the staff. Unfortunately they only brought around 3 items, all of which I could not eat (or did not want to eat). Once that staff left and the new team came in, we got much better service. Not only did more items come out more frequently but the waiter actually let us order some items as well.

Torres' Celeste Robles 2015 at La Taberna del Pintxo

Trying to keep the flies out!

Chicken skewers at La Taberna del Pintxo

Chicken cigar at La Taberna del Pintxo

On the way back, we stopped in for a drink at this place with the dog pillows....this one is perfection!

Long day for Coco

Day 127:
Today was a beautiful day with sun and clear skies...still cold in the shade but we try to keep in the sunshine. For lunch we drove to a town close by called Puerto Banús, a marina known for it's luxury yachts docked along the street lined with expensive restaurants, high end shops and fancy cars. We ate at a restaurant on the other side of the marina called Piucaro. They have outdoor seating that faces the ocean!

Puerto Banús, Marbella

Sangria de cava at Piucaro

Restaurant Piucaro in Puerto Banús

Gambas al pilpil at Piucaro

A friend of the restaurants

Coco enjoying her sun time at Piucaro

Beef chili entrée at Piucaro

Penne Arrabbiata at Piucaro

Love the cork display at Piucaro!

Fun and friendly staff at Piucaro

Limoncello chupitos at Piucaro

We took a stroll around the marina and stopped into some shops. I bought a pair of boots at Betty Blue. The store is full of cute shoes and it is an italian based company.
We then stopped at Restaurante A1 Aretusa for a drink. This place looks like it would be busy and happening at night because of it's location overlooking the yachts along with it's posh interior style and ambiance.

Marqués de Cáceres Roja 2012 Crianza at A1 Aretusa

Yachts of Puerto Banús

Puerto Banús Marina

Back in Marbella, we walked to a few different places for dinner. The first was closed (no idea why) and they second they wouldn't serve us because the kitchen was closing. It was only 10:30! We are used to places being open until midnight since everyone eats extremely late. I guess that changes in the fall. Luckily a restaurant called El Salón welcomed us and the food here was delicious!

Sangria at El Salón Marbella

Coco friendly at El Salón

Tapas at El Salón

Hummus tapa at El Salón

Penne tapa at El Salón

Gambas al pilpil at El Salón

Pollo Kiev with puree potatoes at El Salón

Day 128:
There is a cute small town close by that Scott wants to drive to today. The road to Ronda is one of the scariest roads I have experienced. It is tiny and windy and super high up the mountains. If you get car sick or are afraid of heights, this might not be the best trip for you. I was scared shitless, let's be honest. Luckily there were plenty of large trucks slowing the flow, but then the large trucks freak me out. Once we got there (and finally found parking), I was happy with the scenery. It was quite cold (especially in the shade) but the place I wanted to go to has outdoor seating, which we needed for Coco. The owner and chef of De Locos Tapas was fantastic! Guillermo is his name and he made great food suggestions, obviously his creations, and talked to us most of the time we were there. He aslo told us about some great restaurants in Valencia since we go there all the time. The food here was really good and when the owner saw we were cold, he brought out some scarves for us.

Veggies at De Locos Tapas in Ronda

Stuffed pepper at De Locos Tapas in Ronda (I ordered this again!)

Ronda, España

Coco on top of the world in Ronda!

Streets of Ronda

Plaza de Toros de Ronda

Since we were gone most of the day, we relaxed back at our Airbnb for the night and made some pasta.

Sunset from our Airbnb in Marbella

Day 129:
It is Saturday 12 of November 2016 and a beautiful day in Marbella! We went to a restaurant along the boardwalk called Restaurante Garum. There is plenty of outdoor seating here and nice servers. The food was pretty good but I was sick the next morning. And then sick for several days. I don't know if it was something I ate there or not and honestly it could happen anywhere. Bad fish maybe? Or did I have dairy? Again, I don't know what it was from so I cannot hold it against them.

This cat was hunting birds along the water

Sangria at Garum

Sweet potato fries at Garum

Salmon and risotto at Garum

Chicken wrap at Garum

Coco rested on her papa's foot at Garum

On our way back to the Airbnb, we saw other dogs running on the Beach so we took Coco and let her enjoy the sand as we make our way back. This dog got on her nerves a little though...