Days 1 & 2 - Journey to Conil

On Sunday 10th September we set off on our long, long drive, or should I say Jaime's long, long drive to Conil de la Frontera in the province of Cadiz. After 8 long hours we finally arrived at the campsite I had chosen, Fuente de Gallo. We were very happy with the campsite, it was reasonably priced, the plots were very big, the bathrooms were for the most part clean and there was a lot of security. It was quiet on a night, except for the random Cock which crowed at the most bizarre times, I had always believed they only crowed when the sun rose on a morning. It was 5 minutes walk to the beach too. My only complaint would be that the supermarket was shite. And there are millions of stray cats which come around looking for food and jump in and out of the bins on a night.

It was really quite heartbreaking watching them but at times they were a bloody nuisance, like when they were eating off our neighbours' table. Some of them were little kittens and I wanted to bring them home with me. When Jaime wasn't looking I put out some dairy lea triangles and left over tuna for them to eat. It was probably a mistake because at one point there were 6 cats fighting over cheese in front of our tent.

This year we decided to do some proper camping and so we bought a stove and grill to do our own cooking on, or should I say for me to do the cooking on. It was great fun and it made the holiday a lot cheaper than last year in Portugal.

Days 3 & 4- Vejer de la Frontera and Cadiz

Vejer de la Frontera is a beautiful hill top town with white buildings and winding streets. The magic and wonder here was really found by just wandering around the cobbled streets and looking in at the spectacular Andalucian patios. The Jewish quarter was impressive and the views were amazing. I once remember entering a competition for some channel 5 programme, like 'House in the Sun' or something like that and it was to win a house in this town. It's a shame I didn't win, it seems like a lovely place to live.

Cadiz was also a pretty place to visit, we walked around the entire city from one side to the other, which was a fair trek, taking in the cathedral, the little churches, the park, the beach and the port.

Day 5 - Gibraltar

Of course we couldn't go all the way to the Costa de la Luz and not go and visit the little piece of Britain that is on the south coast of Spain, the famous Gibraltar Rock. It is really rather a peculiar place, to get there you have to walk across the runway to the airport and when we were leaving we had to wait for a plane to land. Then the whole showing your passport and speaking English thing was strange too, we were only 5 minutes walk from Spain. Passing through the tunnel, which was once the only way on and off the rock, was like walking into England. Everything was so British, Marks & Spencers, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the pubs which spelt of pies and peas. There were Union Jacks all over the place and even the policemen were the same. The only big difference between the rock and the UK was the price of cigarettes, a mere 1€ 50 for a pack of Marlboro lights!

Unfortunately the chairlifts to the top of the rock were closed due to the wind and so we didn't climb up to the top and I didn't see any monkeys. On the whole I didn't think much of Gibraltar, it's good for novelty value and cheap tax free booze and fags and perfume, but not much else.

On the way back to the campsite we stopped off in Tarifa where you can appreciate, just how close parts of Andalucia are to North Africa. In this picture you can see the Atlas Mountains of Morocco as Jaime contemplates the view.

Tarifa is unbelievably windy, apparently it has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. It's understandable that this seaside town is a haven for windsurfers and kitesurfers, in fact it is the kitesurfing capital of the world. There are so many people doing it on the beach that from a distance it looks like pretty tropical birds and swooping across the bay. I'd never seen anything quite like it.

Days 6-9, Sun, Sea and Sand

We had seen everything that we really wanted to see in and around Cadiz and Conil so we decided that we would dedicate our last 4 days to doing nothing but relaxing on the beach. So with our Factor 30, our parasol and our beach towels we sampled many of the beaches that the Costa de la Luz has to offer. We went to Zahara de los Atunes ( I didn't like it here but Jaime thought it was good), El Palmar (which we both decided was great), the beach that was just outside the campsite in Conil and then Los Caños de Meca which I thought was too shingly and the waves weren't very good but it did have a fab bar in a thatched cottage.

With all this sunbathing I managed to get a nice little tan going, well for me anyhow, and Jaime of course is very brown. Sunbathing was always followed by a trip to the Eroski supermarket in Conil and some cold beers and some ice-cream on a terrace in the town centre. Lovely! We also sampled the nightlife on the Saturday which meant drinking cocktails and sitting on beanbags in one cool bar. I couldn't believe how small the bars were, I didn't seem to matter though since most people took their drinks outside and stood in the street.

Day 10 - Return to Madrid via Carmona

We were going to stay an extra day but when we woke up on Tuesday morning it was overcast and it looked like rain so we decided to head back to Madrid. We broke up the 7 hour journey by stopping off in Carmona, a town between Seville and Cordoba. I had been reading about it in my guide book and I was very interested to see the Roman Necropolis. It was really quite fascinating, you could climb down ladders into underground tombs and tunnels, and some of the funeral urns and frescoes were still intact.

After visiting the Necropolis we ate our sandwiches in a pretty little park and then we went to have a drink in the beautiful Parador which has been built in a 14th century Arab fortress. Apparently it is one of the most spectacular paradors in Spain, I would say this is more because of the architecture than the views that it offers.

After our flying visit to Carmona we were homeward bound again, feeling a little bit sad that our holiday had to come to an end. For as much as I say that I am not a beach person, I think I have realised these past 10 days that I love the sun, the beach and the sea and I would quite like to move to somewhere that can offer me these things in the future.

The Browns come to Madrid

My Aunty Carol and Uncle Andrew came to Madrid from the 2nd to the 6th of September. They decided to stay in a hotel which was very swish and modern (Le Petit Palace) and just off the Gran Via.

We had a great time, we went to the museums, to El Escorial and had lots of lovely food and drink. In fact on the last night I think I had just a little too much to drink! We all went to Segun Emma for tapas on the first night and the food was absolutely scrumptious as always. After that we went to the sexy ice cream place and I had my all time fave and Jaime decided to eat the floral display. On the last night we went to the Champagneria Gala for paella and Andrew and Carol attempted to drink from the special sweet wine jug, and then I showed him how it is really done! ;-)

I had a really great time and I really hope the Browns come back one day soon.