Andalucia, Spain - February 2010

Got this package deal from lastminute.com. 6 days, flight, car hire and hotel without food for a very reasonable price.
I am not a fan of package holidays, but was desperate to escape the winter in Germany, which has been rather long and cold.
So booked it. And I am glad I did. Turns out that I am starting new job on 15th March, so could not have gone on holidays straight after.
Arrived in Seville where I picked up my hire car, once I found it… which was a challenge in itself. When I say car, I mean a weird looking vehicle with 4 wheels… It is one of these KIA thingies, not very fast, but when you press the gas pedal really hard, you can just about get to 120 km/h!! Anyway, it gets me around (eventually).

So drove near to Chiclana de la Frontera and tried to find my hotel. I did not know the exact address, and even after phoning the hotel, Mr TomTom was not able to find the place. I got lost several times. It is really in the middle of nowhere, in a very touristy area with loads of hotels. At 9.30 pm I finally arrived.
The Apartment is nice, has a kitchen, bathroom, living room with TV and balcony and a bedroom with ensuite bathroom. More than enough space for my little self!

The weather forecast has not been promising but luckily so far they have been wrong most of time. It was hardly raining so far. Always cloudy and some strong winds, but about 17-20 degrees, which is still more pleasant than 8 or even -2, which they forecasted once again for Germany.

First day I went to Cadiz and met a friend of an acquaintance from Cologne, who lives in Cadiz. She showed me around town and we had a coffee etc. One thing that I need to get off my chest was the following:
We had some traditional fried catfish in a little bar and I went to the toilet. While I was doing business there were some loud bangs on the door of the one and only women’s toilet. So I said in perfect Spanish “esta occupado”!! Another knock and several more, becoming more and more persistent. I mean, which part of “occupado” and a locked door do you not get?? I finished what I had to do, which took only about 3 minutes in total, but these people were insistent and kept knocking! So I finally opened the door and in front of me stood not 1, not 2, no, 4 WOMEN (!), looking at me in disbelief…. ?? Ehm, what exactly were they surprised about? That a WOMAN came out of the “senoras” toilet or the fact that I did not immediately open the door when they demanded?? I tried to explain what I was doing in there, and they replied, “yeah but we knocked…” ? did I miss something here? I found it extremely rude and was a little taken aback to be honest… not sure what I could have done to please these women!!? Open the door in mid-flow?? Anyone,can you explain?

Moving on… Second day I explored the area around my hotel and found a rather nice beach. It was very cloudy at first but the sun came through several times. Me, being a bit naïve did not use any sun block, so I got burnt in my face and neck area. The sun is surprisingly strong here, even in February!

But was so happy to see this yellow, warm, round thing in the sky.. ! Walked for about 2 hours along the beach with a very rough sea. Too cold to go in the water. Although I was temped... I would have looked like one of these mad tourists though, so I didn’t…!

Next I decided to visit Gibraltar, since it was a bank holiday in Andalucia and everything was still closed. Well, as I soon found out about half a million Spanish people had exactly the same idea as me!! And the weather was just gorgeous! Shame there is only ONE road going in and out of Gibraltar!! So a stretch of about 3.5 km took me 1.5 hours to reach! And everyone knows how I just LOVE queuing! Then there was the problem of finding a parking space in rather narrow and crowded Gibraltar. After driving around for quite some time, I found one of the few car parks, which were not “full”.
Luckily it was central and I walked along the main street up to the cable car station. From there I took the cable car up to the famous Rock of Gibraltar. Nice views up there and some cute monkeys living wild, who try to snatch your plastic bags if you carry any.

After walking around up there and seeing the northern tip of Africa, taking lots of photos and enjoying the gorgeous weather, I headed back to the main square of the town.

There, I was suddenly really craving a Guinness. So I had a lovely Special Little Rock burger and a pint of Guinness!! I really enjoyed that while watching the sun going down. And as soon as it was gone, it was getting rather cold. So at around 7.30pm I headed back home, but…. Yes, you guessed right, all the half a million Spanish wanted to return to Spain too!! So another hour queuing to get out of the place, the British policemen in their traditional Bobby outfit redirecting traffic to keep it moving.
All in all, quite an experience, but not sure if I really like Gibraltar or not… it certainly is unique! Worth a visit for a day, not much more to do for a longer stay.


Gorgeous weather followed by whole day of rain… not much more to do than.. shopping and lounging around.

Tomorrow I am checking out a day earlier than planned in order to see some sights in Seville! Hopefully the big city will provide more entertainment!
Hasta pronto!