We had a very hard time leaving Calahonda and could have easily spent an entire month or more in this very interesting and service rich area. After two busy weeks here we leave with still things to do on our agenda, like spend a day relaxing on the spectacular beach a short walk away. As we drove into this deceptive area our first impressions were not that great because it seemed so excessively commercialized but the longer we stayed the more we began to realize and appreciate why this is such a popular destination. Everything we needed was a short walk or journey away and from groceries stores to restaurant choices the food selection is exceptional. For short daytime excursions to places like Gibraltar, Ronda, Tangier, Granada, or Cordoba all we needed to do is walk to the front of our campground complex and hop on the appropriate pre-arranged tour bus. On halloween day we took the tour bus to Gibraltar and explored this impressive British rock from top to bottom. Great views all the way to Africa and despite a little “monkey business” up top, we managed to get a quick look at the famous WWII tunnels and still have time for some main street shopping.
The following day we took another bus trip to the beautifully situated city of Ronda where you’ll find the oldest, and one of the most famous, bull fighting rings in the world. Notice the great and very risky picture I got of “Margot-Olay” demonstrating one of her own outstanding defensive techniques in the ring. The deep defensive gorge that separates the old Moorish part of Ronda from the new(ish) side is quite spectacular and since the mid 1700’s the impressive “Puente Nuevo” bridge has connected the two sides. For much of this day we were thinking of Joanna and Lloyd as we nervously watched a major climbing competition progress using the bridge and surrounding cliffs as their playground. I think all the competitors made it home safely, but I’m still having nightmares. All in all we had two great bus tour days exploring this beautiful region of Spain and now totally understand why it’s such a great location and destination for so many northerners to weather away the winter.
After a rather lengthy good-by to all our campground friends we pressed on up the coast line to the city of Cadiz where Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492. From Cadiz we drove cross-country to pleasantly surprising Sevilla and settled at a campground just outside of town. Sevilla’s beautiful city centre makes for a great place to wander about and explore. This is an inland port city with a long rich history and some very interesting buildings of which many are covered by marvellously colourful ceramic tiles. We drove across the border into Portugal on Thursday and have set up camp at the great little beach resort town of Albufeira. We think this is a sleeper area that will become much, much more popular within the next 10-15 years. From here we plan on driving West to “lands end” at Sabres and then pointing our bow towards Lisbon. It’s hard, and sad, to think that our trip is quickly coming to an end and our sights are focussing on Germany again as we head into our final European stretch.

Road Ramble: People do make a difference

Tomorrow marks the beginning of our eleventh month on the road and we thought we’d done a pretty good job of learning to function in our tightly confined living space, but then, in Calahonda we met our campground neighbours from Finland. Wow, a family of six living together in a similar sized unit for more than half a year. They certainly put us in our place and made us appreciate all that expansive and luxurious real-estate accommodation that we’re living in. Such a warm and welcoming family they are and despite our extreme language gap, we managed to fumble through a number of spirited games of Uno and Dominos together. The two little girls tried desperately in vain to school us in Finnish from a kindergarten picture book but finally gave up on us and resorted to the good old “Pictionary/Charades” approach to foreign communication (Finnish is hard!). What a great family adventure they seemed to be having. Part of the real enjoyment a trip like this is getting to meet all these amazing and interesting people along the way. We’ve had countless conversation with friendly people from all around the world in stores, restaurants, campgrounds or just in passing and the best part of these conversations is realizing that despite the obvious differences, our family priorities are very much in common. Hopefully over the next couple of months we will continue to meet many more diverse and welcoming people as we start working our way back home to our own loving family.