Steak on the Stone at El Coto

Part of the fun for being in Spain for Easter was that both my parents and his parents were here

My parents because they lived here - I'm sure you're tired of hearing about how I grew up in Spain and I'm not really British but I'm Spanish and I'm a mixture and a little bit Welsh...

Blah blah blah

His parents, because his dad was addicted to golf - his mum loved it too! But she also liked the sun!

So we spent most of our weekend flitting between his parents, my parents and even bringing them all together for a big family dinner - scary, I know!

But they all got on - maybe a little too well!

On Saturday night his parents took us to El Coto - which also just so happened to be my first gambas pil pil of 2015

Cloudy Casares

On one of my last few days in Spain I decided to go on an adventure.

We jumped in the car and drove and drove and drove with no fixed destination or route. 

The uncertainty was all part of the fun. 

We drove along the coastal road towards Estepona, taking whichever road took our fancy, high up in to the mountains...

...until we reached Casares. 

We're not in Marbella anymore...

Casares is a little pueblo with cliff-hugging buildings looking over the entire coast, Africa and Gibraltar.

Too bad the weather was so poor.

It was a few degrees colder up here in the mountains, the wind was harsh and cold and we were blinded by a sea of low clouds.

We were in summer dresses. Trying to prolong the Summer as much as we possibly could.

Did I mention it was windy?

Mamma B and I had more than a couple of Marylin Monroe moments in our long floaty skirts.

I was mesmerised by the stunningly green trees that grew here. They looked almost fake, as if a painter had freshly created the green branches with a few swoops of his paintbrush this very morning. 

When our skin was positively covered in goose pimples and the cold breeze got to much we took shelter at a Venta to warm ourselves aaand eat. 

Venta Maricruz was a huuge restaurant with stunning views over the mountains. We were also about the only people in there eating.

A sweet little old man who could hardly hear served us our drinks and a sweet little lady, who must have been his wife, cooked us some grub. 

We shared a Sopa de Picadillo, a mixed salad, croquetas and solomillo de lomo (pork) between us.

And home-made Natillas de Oreo for dessert. Yum!

The place was rustic, old and typically Spanish. 

It's so easy to get caught up in the life on the Costa del Sol. It's face-paced, glamourous, expensive and so full of tourists that you forget what real Spain is like: slow, rustic, empty and full of traditions, like the ferias!

Over dinner my parents retold stories of when they first met and did exactly this. Jump in a car and drive into the country-side with no idea of where they would end up, only stopping when their tummies started grumbling or Mum needed a wee. 

Sounds like a pretty perfect day to me. 

That evening we went for dinner at El Olivo in La Cala. 

I can't say the photos were in tip top condition, because they weren't... But here are the ones that survived. 

We were too busy eating/chatting/drinking to take exquisite photos of the food. 

Oh well. I will just have to come back to El Olivo again for a truly scrumptious dinner. What a tire! It might not be for some time though, as I have moved to England now. 

I also had another milestones this week:

On the 29th September, I had my final presentation for my masters' dissertation, which I was super nervous about, but don't you always find that things are never as bad as you think they are going to be? I ended up with a 95% score (out of 100%) on my diss which I am very proud of!

Then on the 30th September, I moved back to England. On this very day 5 years ago I was starting my chapter at Durham. Flash-forward 5 years and I'm a postgraduate with a masters about to start my career in Marketing back in the UK. 

I'm very excited for what's to come!

Anything new or exciting to look forward to in your life?

La Feria de Marbella

Let's go to the feria!

Vamos a la feria!

But first, let me show you my new dress

Pero primero, te enseñaré mi vestido nuevo

You like?

Te gusta?

I´ll give you a twirl
Te haré unas piruetas

Okay enough of that, let's go!

Basta ya con eso, vamonos!

The ferias have a long-standing tradition in Spain. They are big week-long fairs/carnivals/festivals all rolled in to one. You might have come across one if you have ever seen a huge party in the streets, fun-fair rides, the women wearing the traditional Spanish flamenco dress, the men in "traje corto" (short jacket, tight trousers and boots) and riding their horses. 

La feria en España es una costumbre de toda la vida; es una semana entera de fiesta, fiesta, fiesta. Quizás alguna vez te has encontrado a una fiesta callejera, cacharritos, mujeres con vestidos de flamenco, los hombres en traje corto y montados a caballo, entonces habrás encontrado una feria.

It's a party of all things Spanish. A culmination of Spanish tradition. 

Es una fiesta típica española. Una culminación de la tradición española. 

The province of Málaga has 23 different ferias a year, one of the highest numbers of ferias per province in Spain. The biggest by far is the Feria de Agosto in Málaga city in August.

Málaga cuenta con 23 ferias distintas al año, una de las provincias con más actividad ferial en la península. La más grande entre todas es la Feria de Agosto en la ciudad de Málaga.

They are also really good fun. 

Además son súper divertidas.

La Feria de Marbella is on every June. 

La Feria de Marbella es en junio cada año.

The casetas are big (concrete) tents where the adults can play. The white and yellow buildings in the picture. All types of Spanish and latin music mixed with sevillanas is played, drinks galore and mucha fiesta!

Los adultos juegan en las casetas (los blancos y amarillos en la foto de arriba) con todo tipo de música española, latina y claro muchas sevillanas, todas las copas que quieras y mucha marcha!

Lucy and I left Eloise behind and arrived at the feria around 6pm ish to meet my friends Maria and Macarena. I know, you can't get any more Spanishy names than that!

Lucy y yo nos despedimos de Eloise y quedamos con María y Macarena en la feria sobre las 6. No existen más nombres españoles, lo sé. 

Inside it´s just a big party

Es una gran fiesta en el interior

Mojitos

Typical Cartojal, a local wine to Málaga. It´s sweet in tasting and always makes an appearance at any Málaga feria
Cartojal, el típico vino malagueño. Un vino dulce que siempre tiene una gran presencia en las ferias malagueñas.

When you get tired of the music and dancing I like to step outside. The party is still going on out here, but I get to admire all the beautiful sevillana dresses.

Cuando te cansas de bailar y de la música me gusta salir afuera. La fiesta sigue aquí en la calle, pero desde aquí puedo admirar los vestidos de sevillana

Lucy and I got peckish so took a gander to find food, when I cam across this
Nos entró el hambre a Lucy y a mí y fuimos a buscar comida cuando me encontré con esto

Barbecue Octopus. Kerching!

Pulpo asado. Sí sí sí!

After delighting my taste buds with the juicy salty-barbecued tentacles we rejoined the party

Mis receptores gustativos gozaron del delicioso sabor salado y asado del pulpo. Y volvimos a la fiesta

Vir and Ale showed up and they always make things a little crazier

Y llegaron estas dos locas, Ale y Vir

Oh excuse some of my photos. I stupidly forgot my memory card at home so had to make do with my iPhone when my camera memory got full.

Disculpame por la calidad de algunas fotos. Se me olvidó la tarjeta de memoria de la cámara en casa y tuve que usar mi iPhone cuando se me lleno la memoria interna. ¡Que tonta soy!

The sun was setting when we left the caseta and the twinkle lights of the feria soon brightened the night´s sky
Cuando salimos por fin de la caseta el sol se estaba poniendo. La noche brillaban con las luces de la feria

We thought we couldn't leave the feria without going on any of the rides. 

No podíamos marcharnos sin haber subido a ningún cacharrito.

So we went on the shortest whirlwind tour of the feria anyone has ever done. It was like we were racing against the clock to finish as many challenges as possible!

Entonces hizimos la gira más corta de la feria que jamás se ha hecho. Habíamos iniciado una competición contrareloj para completar el mayor número de tareas!

There were 3 of us on the the Viking boat. Lucy, myself and a 13 year old boy. I was quite petrified at the lack of other people.
El barco Vikingo, dónde eramos nada más que 3. Lucy, yo y un niño de 13 años. Me estaba muriendo, ¿por qué no había más gente subida?

The Grasshopper. Lots and lots of bruises.
El Saltamontes. Muchos, muchos moratones.

Can shooting. We lost.

Disparo a la lata. Perdimos.

Last but not least, the ducks. There was no way we could leave without playing the ducks. A game I have always loved since I was a little girl (I think mainly cause you always won a price) and would nag my Daddy to do it every time we went to a feria.
Por último pero no menos importante, los patitos. Yo no me iba de aquí sin juegar a los patos. Me ha encantado este juego desde pequeñita (alomejor porque siempre ganas un premio) y siempre le pedía a mi papi jugar en cualquier feria.

Winner!
Campeona!

The feria really is an experience and one you MUST go to if you are travelling Spain. You can check out the 2014 dates for the Andalusian ferias here. The next big one is in Málaga from the 15th - 23rd August and you can read more about it here, but the biggest in Andalucía is the Feria de Abril in Seville in April. So see you in August?
La feria es toda una experencia y una a la que TIENES que ir si viajas por España. Aquí puedes ver las fechas de las ferias andaluces para el 2014. La próxima feria grande es la de Málaga entre el 15-23 de Agosto, pero la más grande en Andalucía es la Feria de Abril en Sevilla. Nos vemos en Agosto ¿no?