We had a couple weeks to spend in our (Marriott) timeshare in Estepona Spain, and treated this mostly as a “get in shape for the rest of our trip” stop. the goal was to use the gym, swim laps, and generally try to get into “swimsuit shape” before heading on. Well…you know how that went. A few Happy Hours’ later, and some great food in the area…oh well, at least it was a good plan.
We’ve been here before, back in 2019, so we really didn’t need to do any tours, and as we did not have a car, we just took a taxi (or Uber) occasionally to the town of Estepona or to nearby Porto Banus. Each town had a local outdoor market to visit, and each had a unique character in the downtown port area. Porto Banus had a strip of very high-end stores (the ones where armed guards let you in), and Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s and Bentley’s parading down the one way street. Estepona was more our speed - a little more relaxed, with a nice outdoor market, and several good small restaurants. Our favorite was Taberna Mar de Alboran - just a small place open noon till 4:00 PM with a few outdoor (sidewalk) tables, and the best Tapa’s we have had so far. The “Pil Pil” are truly the best in the world! Pil Pil uses olive oil, garlic slices and red pepper as the base and is boiling hot when it comes to the table with prawns. Fabulous! Time to head back to the timeshare and a few extra laps in the pool!
We had a relaxing time here, with a few walks to the grocery store (Aldi), and a couple small restaurants in the area - maybe a 5-10 minute walk from our complex. The dollar has been strong during this trip, and $20 goes a very long way at the store. And the resort prices are nothing like in the US where they charge you $15-$20 per drink - here maybe $3-$6 depending on what you have and 2 for 1 at Happy Hour (we are on budget after all).
We signed up for the Paella and Flamenco night for one of our last nights at the resort - it was very good. Our host for the evening was Santy (aka - Spanish Steve Carrell) - he also works the Kid’s Club during the day, hosts the BINGO by the pool, etc. - these people work hard and they really enjoy what they do - they are all fantastic! The chef’s showed us how to make wonderful paella, which I can now do myself - for 40 people! The pans had to be 36” across! And the flamenco show was extremely good - two couples - one was the singer and his wife and the other the guitarist and his wife. There are a few videos (3) showing nearly the entire Paella making and a few of the Flamenco as well. Go to the videos to see these if you like.
On to Sevillle. A little more than a two hour drive from Estepona up through the coastal mountains and into the very hot valleys above. It was around 106-110F each day here and heading out for dinner at 8:00PM (or later) it was still at least 105F. Our first night here we met up with Eileen’s “grand-niece” and her husband (Chelsey and Nick) who were on their belated honeymoon trip around Spain and Portugal. They were going counterclockwise from San Sebastián, while we are headed clockwise from Barcelona, and this was the spot we crossed paths for a day or two. We grabbed a cab together and went for a Tapa’s and Pub Crawl, getting a chance to enjoy local food and drink. Walking through local districts you see some great street art, and get see things you wouldn’t if you just took a cab to a restaurant. Back to our hotel where we enjoyed the incredible view of the Sevilla Cathedral from our rooftop.
We tried (as always) to visit the local markets in Sevilla but as it was nearing the end of July, many vendors had already gone on holiday, so the markets were bare. Luckily we visited the Triana district where they were having their annual festival. Plenty of places to enjoy a cold beverage and a few tapa’s and some good entertainment. The main event was the walking of the plank. A boat on the river with maybe a 20 foot long pole - covered in grease. The first person to make it to the end and grab the flag is the winner - maybe an ice cream? And bragging rights for the next 12 months! It was fun to watch.
A tour of the Seville Cathedral - The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See - on our final day here. It was incredible, to say the least. Originally built as a Mosque in the early 800’s, and then again around 1180, it was converted to a church around 1240. In 1401 the city leaders decided to build a grand cathedral to flaunt the city’s wealth and status as a major trading area. Completed in 1528, it is the burial place of Christopher Columbus among many others. A beautiful place for sure and full of riches. The continual debate in my mind of course is - the church is so rich, yet the people it serves are so poor - something is not right. Anyway an incredible building with much history.
Seville was a great city to visit, but maybe next time we'll come here in December or April - it was just too hot at this time of year. From here we will rent a car and head on to Lagos Portugal (about a 2.5 hour drive). More on that in our next post. Hope you enjoy this post and the photo albums and videos as well. Also, I found that you can view all of this on your iPhone (probably Android as well?). I actually thought it was a better way to see it all - but up to each person. Just open it up from there and use the menu on the top left to go to various items.
All the best,
Tim & Eileen