Marbella, Spain
My new base was 30 minutes South of Malaga. A town which to be was famous because of a guy I was following on YouTube. Marbella seems like a rich place with a lot of crazy villas. The location is really nice, with great temperatures in December (around 25°). So I totally understand why people want to move here for winter time.
My apartment in Marbella was very cute and well-decorated. The hosts were super friendly. It was out of town behind some golf fields. So I was happy that I came by car.
The week was filled with “me time”. Productive work, preparing food for myself (mostly pasta), and in the evening heading out with the car to explore some closeby places.
Ronda especially is a place around one hour up the hill from Marbella. The place was recommended by my mother. It definitely is worth a visit. The city is located at the top of a mountain and their bridge is huge and fascinating. A bit further there’s another interesting town called “Olvera”, which is also built on top of a hill and with a stunning church.
Gibraltar
On this trip, I always booked apartments for a full week to get focused work done and then move and explore on the weekend. So this is exactly what happened now again. After one week in Marbella, I packed my things again and drove to Gibraltar which was around an hour by car. I spent two nights there before finding a new place for the next week.
Gibraltar is another tiny country/territory I haven’t had the chance to visit so far. It was a place for the British to control the Mediterranean Sea and still is a British Overseas Territories. It’s not hard to tell. Traffic is driving on the right-hand side, the currency is the British pound and people speak English. It’s such a crazy difference in the middle of the South of Spain.
Since Gibraltar is very small and the prices are quite high, I found a cute houseboat just at the port in front of the peninsula. So the border was within walking distance or bicycle distance because I got a bike with the accommodation. So my first time crossing a border by bike. Just after the border, there’s the airport. All cars or pedestrians have to cross the runways to reach the country. How strange is that? But there are only a few aircraft departing to mostly the UK.
One of the most famous and most noticeable places in the city is its mountain peak which was used to defend and control the strait. Huge bunkers and cannons are placed on top and around it and can be visited nowadays. Also right there, there’s a cave hidden (St. Michael’s Cave)
Cadiz, Spain
Next up is the city of Cadiz, where I’m spending another couple of days. Nothing spectacular there. Well, I also wasn’t that much interested in exploring. I checked out the downtown and the coast in the evening to refresh my mind.
Granada, Spain
The last destination of my trip in the South of Spain will be Granda. I’ve checked out all the bigger cities in the South now and Granda can’t be missed. I actually liked the vibes up there. It’s very close to the mountains (Sierra Nevada — which can be used for skiing) and has a very different climate. Other than that it has a very strong Arabic culture. Architecture and Arabic districts. Alhambra is for example one of the most famous monuments in Islamic architecture which is located right in the heart of Granada.
On of my favorite locations in Granda is up the hill. I don’t know who recommended that, to me because it’s actually one of the poorest areas but located with a great sunset view.
After 5 days in Granada that short and beautiful detour is also over. Time to go to Malaga and grab an airplane back to Switzerland. Flying over the beautiful mountains into the airport of Basel-Mullhousen
