Costa del Sol – The Spanish Riviera

We spent two weeks in Spain a couple of years ago and we chose the town of Estepona as our “home base” while we were there. We had rented a car, so it was the perfect location to launch from to get to all of the surrounding cities and towns. In addition to being able to get out to the surrounding area, it was a gorgeous destination in and of itself. Estapona is a short drive from Marbella, which is the playground for the rich and has vacation homes for many celebrities in the area.

Resort in Estepona
Beach by the Resort
Streets of Estepona
Delicious Squid in Estepona

The beaches are wonderful and there are resorts all along the coast from Malaga to Estepona, but we were there during the off-season, as usual, so it wasn’t too crowded.  There are plenty of opportunities for shopping in the area as well with shops that offer everything from clothing to souvenirs.  We could have spent hours just wandering through the various shops and talking to the owners who were extremely friendly and welcoming.

Shops in Marbella
Outdoor Dining
Window Gardens
Restaurants on the Street

It isn’t all just sunbathing and shopping, though, the food in the area is absolutely fantastic.  We’re huge lovers of seafood and it is truly a food-lovers paradise.  We were told by everyone that we had to visit the mountain town of Benahavís, which is located a short drive from Estepona as you drive toward Marbella.  It is renowned for its restaurants and is considered the gastronomical center of Costa del Sol.  We were not disappointed, we only wish we’d have had time to go there more than once as there were several restaurants that we wanted to try, but ended enjoying dinner at a lovely little family owned restaurant.

Restaurants of Benahavís
Benahavís in the Mountains
Beautiful Building in Benahavís
Menu from Marbella

Eating and drinking our way through Estepona, Marbella, Benahavís, and Malaga was truly a wonderful experience.  Although we spent a lot of time driving and going to cities like Granada and Seville, when we were at the resort area, it was more of a true vacation than actual travel.  We were able to truly relax and decompress, which made our trip to Spain an incredibly rewarding experience.  Clearly we hope to visit there once again and, when we do, we will make it one those vacations where you simply sit on the beach, get tanned, eat and drink too much, and watch the sun set over the Mediterranean Sea.

Carving Fish next to the Beach
Sunset over the Mediterranean Sea
Menu in Estepona
Flower Boxes
View of the Church

 

Wine Tasting in Ronda

Ronda

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.

Wine Tasting
Vineyards

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.

Wine Tour
Joaquin Fernandez Vineyard

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.

Olive Presses
Dona at Olive Vineyard

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.

Bridge at Ronda
Bullfighting Ring in Ronda

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.

Lake Near Ronda
View from Vineyard
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