Excitement mixed with anticipation rises as I turn left off the dirt track and up the dusty driveway. I’m about to do something I’ve never done before; I’m spending Christmas at an Escape Christmas Yoga Retreat in Spain. At the end of the track I park and take a moment to look around me at the patchwork background that makes up the Sierra de Cádiz. After a relentless summer and long dry autumn, it’s finally starting to turn green. A…
The smell of jasmine and orange blossom fills the air. I think how lovely it must be when the flamenco bar and restaurant are open, although secretly I’m glad they aren’t and that I’ve arrived in time to wander round the village in pleasant solitude. Castellar de la Frontera has changed since I last visited it 20 years ago. I have a vague memory of a cold and cloudy February weekend afternoon and stalls selling tie-dyed baggy trousers inside the…
It’s 7.30am and Seville is already starting to feel busy. Pedestrians, buses, bikes, scooters, cars and trams are all on the move. Lights appear dotted over apartment blocks as people prepare to start the day. San Bernardo train station is full of early morning commuters and today I am one of them. I step out of the station into the cool air of the December morning and ask a lady for directions. She points me vaguely in the direction of…
La Fabrica de Hojalata Yesterday, December 6th was bank holiday and it couldn’t have rained harder. Today, we are en route to visit La Fábrica de Hojalata, a winery in the Valle del Genal near Ronda. The sky is grey and the rain comes and goes. We turn off the main road from Ronda and start to wind our way around the mountain. We pass Júzcar, a town famous for its Smurfs, and see the sign to the Fábrica Real…
The small sign flashed at me as I manoeuvred the bend; Wine shop 3/4 mile. Rain had given way to a clear sky and a glimpse of the sea over the fields. Intrigued and wondering how a wine shop ended up in a narrow Devon lane, I drove on towards Stoke Fleming, making a mental note to find out more. Halfway down the hill from Stoke Fleming to Blackpool Sands, where the road joins the pavement, I stopped to admire…
There’s an avenue I like to walk along in Chipiona. It has a large white villa, a semi-modern apartment block and restaurants; a mini boulevard lined with eucalyptus trees that leads you straight to the sea. In January it is quiet. I walk across the empty square at the top of the avenue passing Manolo’s ice cream kiosk, boarded up for winter. A handful of cars are randomly parked. The only bar open serves afternoon coffee to an elderly couple. …
It’s hard not to eat out well in the province of Cádiz and Prado del Rey is no exception. This small town has an amazing range of gastronomic delights, local wines, an ecological farm and its own salt mine dating from Roman times. The busy high street is packed with bars and excellent restaurants and there’s a wonderful ambiente (atmosphere), especially on Friday evenings and weekends. In this post, I am going to tell you about Venta Rosario, a roadside…
So, for me a healthy approach is an important part of good writing and good, home-cooked food forms a part of that approach. When we take our retreat guests out for dinner, we look for places that use local products, cater for dietary requirements and provide good service. Benaocaz is home to two of my favourite restaurants. Nestled in the mountains on the road from Ubrique to Grazalema, Benaocaz has a long tradition of producing cheese, cured meats and leather…
A working holiday is a great way to get to know a place, have fun, earn money and travel at the same time. Unlike a whistle stop tour of a place or a couple of days overnight in a destination, a working holiday gives you a different perspective of the place you are staying in. As well as getting to live like a local and experiencing the area in an authentic way, rather than rushing around trying to cram in…
A weekend at an eco-camping retreat This summer I went to Tiverton for a weekend of eco-camping in Devon at Coombe Farm. Never having visited an eco-camping retreat in the UK before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Narrow country lanes led us to the entrance of Combe Farm and a spectacular view across the countryside. From there, a steep hill took us down to a parking area where we were able to park and forget about the car for…