Wine Tasting in Ronda

On October 12, 2015April 9, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Spain2 Comments

There is nothing better than doing a wine tasting, especially when travelling to foreign countries. Two years ago, we spent two weeks in Estaponia, Spain in the Costa Del Sol. It was an amazing time travelling throughout the region and exploring the many sites that the area has to offer. We rented a car while we were there, but when we visited Ronda, we hired a guide to drive us and take us to an organic wine vineyard as well as one of the many olive vineyards that dominate the hillsides. It was probably a wise decision not to drive that day as the wine tasting was rather generous.

We traveled to Spain in November, so it was the off-season as far as tourists goes, so we ended up with a private tour and tasting at the Joaquin Fernandez Vineyard. The wine was amazing and the views from the vineyard were spectacular. The vineyard was completely organic and at the ends of each row of vines were a variety of plants that attracted bees and insects that were natural predators to insects that could harm the grapes. After the tour was the tasting. For each wine, we were poured a full glass and the owner explained which grapes were used and why. In addition to the wine, we had a meat and cheese tray as well as bread sticks to help cleanse our palate. The owner would not continue on to the next wine until we finished our glass, so we were feeling quite good by the time we finished several glasses of wine.

From there we were off to visit an olive vineyard where they still hand press the olive oil. It is a slow process where they continuously add pads to the press as they slowly crush all of the oil out of the olives. Tasting freshly pressed olive oil was amazing, there is truly nothing like it. It is truly a labor of love, but at the same time, it is definitely labor intensive. In addition to pressing their own olives, the surrounding vineyards would sell their olives to them to be pressed and sold by them. Everywhere you go in southern Spain, you are surrounded by olive trees and we were tempted several times to just pull our car over and grab some fresh from the branches. After being spoiled by having such fresh olives, we have found ourselves to be very picky about the olives that we eat here in the States.

Ronda, itself, is a beautiful town with an incredible bridge that connects the old and new parts of the city. It is home to the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain, although it is much smaller than ones that you can find in Seville or Madrid. Sitting high upon the cliffs, the views from Ronda of the surrounding area is unbeatable. It is certainly worth making Ronda a destination to visit if you’re in southern Spain. It has all of the charm one would expect of a village, but has the amenities of a small city. We sat and had coffee in one of the hotels and simply soaked in the atmosphere.

There were many things about our trip to Spain that were remarkable, but visiting Ronda and doing the wine tasting was definitely one of the best experiences of the trip. Living in Colorado with all our mountains, it was surprising to us how similar the terrain of Spain was to much of the southwest. The drive to Ronda, through the rugged mountains, was an adventure itself, but well worth the effort. We look forward to our next opportunity to sample wine and tour a vineyard in another exotic location, it is an experience that can’t be beaten.

Should You Buy a Timeshare?

On September 20, 2015September 21, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Travel TipsLeave a comment

First of all, we know that timeshares aren’t for everyone. The year that our youngest daughter went off to college, one of our parents gave us one of their timeshare weeks because they weren’t going to have time to use it that year. So two weeks after dropping our daughter off at her dorm, we were off to Cabo San Lucas. When we arrived at the resort, which was gorgeous, we were asked about scheduling a tour of the property and listening to their timeshare pitch. We decided to go ahead and schedule the tour, only because of the discounts, free drinks, and other offers. The morning of the tour, we both woke up repeating the mantra, “just say no”. We were determined that we weren’t going to be duped into buying a timeshare and we wouldn’t give them more than the sixty minutes that they said the tour would take us. We looked at the rooms, ate breakfast with the salesperson at a table overlooking the private beach, and eventually made our way to the sales office. Our room was spectacular, the beach was gorgeous, and we were feeling relaxed, perhaps too relaxed. Our resolve had wavered, we were no long able to “just say no”, but we were now firmly embedded into the “maybe” camp. We called our parents who had given us the timeshare week and asked their opinion, after all, they had several timeshare weeks with different companies and traveled constantly. Their response, “if you had to go there every year and you couldn’t trade it, would we go?”. We looked out at the resort, the ocean, the beautiful blue skies. Yes, we could do this every year, happily, so in the end, it was “just say yes” and we had purchased our first timeshare. There are a lot of questions that you need to ask yourself before you decide to purchase a timeshare, but we actually are big fans of timeshares after having had a couple of them for several years now.

The most obvious and important question is can you afford it? Timeshares aren’t cheap and you need to understand all of the expenses that are involved. First, unless you’re in the position to purchase outright, you will have a monthly installment payment as well as interest charges. If you decide to exchange your week (we’ll talk about that later) there is a cost for each week that you trade. If you’re not able to use your week, most timeshares allow you to “bank it” or “rescue it”, which allows you to move your week to the following year and gives you longer to use your week, but again there is a cost to do that. The biggest additional expense is for your maintenance fees, which is what they charge for cleaning and general maintenance of the property. It is a big investment, so you need to think about it carefully. One potential benefit, depending on the timeshare that you’ve bought is that it is buying property and you can write off the interest on your taxes and when you’ve paid it off, it is yours and you can will it to a child or relative.

View from Our Room at the Villa Del Arco

Resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic

The next question to ask yourself is how often can you travel? If you travel consistently, one week every year or at least every other year, then perhaps it might be a good choice for you. The way that we look at it is that we’re “pre-paying” for our hotel or resort in advance, which is usually the most expensive part of the trip anyway. For us, we know that we will travel at least a couple of weeks a year, with at least one of those trips being out of the country. We find that it reduces our stress when we start planning a trip, knowing that we don’t have to think about the cost of our room and our only expenses will be for food, activities, and airfare.

If you’re leaning towards purchasing a timeshare, the next question is probably which one is right for you. There are lots of them out there, Marriott, Hilton, Disney, and a variety of other hotel groups. We’re not going to make a recommendation, although we have two different timeshares at the moment and are happy with both. Find out if they are affiliated with a timeshare exchange company. One of our timeshares is associated with RCI and the other is associated with Interval International. These companies allow you to deposit your timeshare week with them and exchange it for any available timeshare property in their catalog, which provides properties all over the world, making your timeshare a passport to travelling the world. A couple of years ago, we spent two weeks in Estapona Spain simply by trading weeks that we had in our current timeshares. Also, check to see if you can convert your timeshare for points in a regular hotel rewards program, that way if you can’t travel, you can at least convert your timeshare into hotel rooms that can be used anywhere the hotel chain has a presence.

Flamenco Dancers at the Resort in Estapona Spain

In our opinion, the younger that you are when you decide to purchase a timeshare, the better it will work out for you because it is that much longer that you will own it after it has been paid off. If you do decide to go on a timeshare tour or accept an offer for a cheap hotel room if you’re willing to listen to their pitch, be prepared for a pushy sales experience. Unfortunately they are sales people and that is what they do. Only buy a timeshare if you feel that it is the right decision for you, which it may or may not be. If you do decide to buy a timeshare, hopefully our advise will help you find the one that is right for you.

Five Tips for Travelling Abroad

On September 3, 2015September 4, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Travel Tips4 Comments

When travelling to countries outside of your own, there are few simple things that can make your trip more enjoyable and the locals more likely to treat you with respect. There are plenty of tips for travelling, but these are focused on things that can apply to any country that you visit. These are the things that we’ve learned over the years and we keep them in mind whenever we travel outside of the country.

Learn at least a few phrases of the language. Whether the only thing you can say is good morning, good day, how are you, or thank you, by speaking (or attempting to) in the local language, the people you meet will appreciate your attempts. Many people from English speaking countries will assume that English is spoken everywhere and just expect everyone to speak in English. The people of every country are proud of their heritage, traditions, and language, so we believe it is a matter of respect to at least try and learn a little of their native language.
Fish Monger in Morocco
Our Favorite Poolside Waiter
Eat where the locals eat. Depending upon where you are travelling, there are often many restaurants that cater to tourists, but we’ve always found that by asking our hotel manager, local bartender, even the policeman on the street, that you can find more authentic meals by eating where the locals eat. They might not be as fancy and often won’t speak any English at all, but if you’re adventurous, you can end up eating something that you would have never expected just by pointing to something on the menu and taking a chance.
Grilled Octopus in Spain
Lunch at a Moroccan Restaurant
Act like you’re a local, not a tourist. This is more about a state of mind than anything else. If you walk confidently as if you belong in your environment, it is less likely for bad things to happen to you, such as being the target of a pick pocket. Figure out directions to where you’re going before you go so that you’re not walking around with a map in your face. This has the added benefit of allowing you to keep your eyes on your surroundings instead of reading pamphlets or maps. The more you’ve prepared in advance and know what to expect, the easyier it will be for you to relax, enjoy the people instead of fearing them, and see more of what the city or town that you’re in has to offer.
Jewish Quarter in Seville Spain
Temple Prayer Booth in Chennai India
Stay at or go to as many different cities and towns as possible. Sometimes when we’re in a country, we’ll have a base camp where we do our exploring from, but we usually still add a couple of nights in different cities as well as day trips to nearby towns and attractions. Other times, we’ll spend two days in one location and then we’re off to the next. Some of the most fascinating things we’ve seen or done have happened when we’ve left the larger cities and spent time in the smaller towns.
Estapona, Spain
Stratford-upon-Avon
Respect the local customs, traditions, and religions. The greatest thing about travelling is learning about all the different people that inhabit this world. Not all of our belief systems are the same and in our opinion, the world is a better place for that diversity. So, learn about the culture of the place where you are travelling. Learn simple things such as whether certain hand gestures are offensive, what body parts should be covered, and what types of public displays of affection are allowed. We always do our homework and read up on the do’s and don’ts when visiting a country, which was something that we learned from a friend of ours who is a cultural anthropologist. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to make sure that what you do while you’re in a foreign country doesn’t offend or upset anyone’s belief system.
Blessing Elephant
Flamenco Dancers

Going to foreign countries is truly a magnificent experience, but one that is made even better if you do a few simple things that will make it that much more enjoyable. Perhaps it really is as simple as following the golden rule to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but sometimes, when we get out of own environment, we tend to forget that it is the simple things that make everyone’s lives a little better. Hopefully, the next time you travel abroad, these simple tips will help make your trip a little better.