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Another weekend in Estepona
With the daytime temperatures hovering above 30C, this week we’ve spent quite a few of our day-time hours on the lovely long expanse of La Rada beach. With barely a breeze, the sun umbrellas are calm, the Mediterranean is reasonably warm, the daytime sand is hot underfoot and, without the summer crowds, there’s plenty of space for everyone to have a “front line” seat.
Not wanting to neglect our “steps,” we’ve offset the time spent lazing on our beach chairs with long walks along the seafront and around town.....from the marina to the end of the curved beach it’s about 3km - and we’re getting to know and love every inch of the fabulous promenade. A drink at our favourite chiringuito, The Blue Dolphin, is also a good Incentive to entice us to walk a little further - to the “rocky end” of the beach!
We kicked of this weekend off with a “free” walking tour of Estepona - tips optional!
Pre-booked through the website “GuruWalks,” we met our tour guide on Friday morning for the tour. With no one else joining us, Pedro - whose English put our Spanish to shame - took us on a great two hour walk around the old town, with lots of time to answer our many questions. Along the way he was greeted by, and stopped to exchange a few words with lots of local people - a friend of his aunt, the husband of a cousin....you get the picture! Pedro was born, and has lived in Estepona all his life - and it’s obvious that he loves and respects his home town.
We learned of the mountains around us - and the local stone from there that’s used for paving the streets....he pointed out that some of the paving stones have fossils embedded in them. He also told us stories of errors that were made in town during the 70’s and 80’s - e.g. an apartment building which was built in the space where part of the castle wall was thoughtlessly torn down!
During the last few years Estepona has renovated, repaired and restored many of the streets and buildings in the old town. Along with new guidelines and rules, this town is realizing and celebrating its history and traditions. Residents of each individual street in the old town pick a colour for the flowerpots that hang on the walls of their houses - the cafés, restaurants, shops and bars comply - and the pots are filled with flowers.
One of the town’s main squares, aptly named Plaza de las Flores, is a showcase for flowering trees and, of course, flowers! Filled with benches, fountains and cafés, two adjacent sides of the square have boutique hotels under construction, which are also following new rules.... not only for their height, but for their style, which has to be adapted to look similar to buildings that previously occupied those spaces.
A couple of streets away, across from what is left of the old castle wall, an old market building has been sympathetically renovated into a lovely restaurant. The Mercado San Louis has tiles along its outside walls depicting scenes of the market’s history.
Above the castle wall stands Our Lady of Los Remedios Church, built in the 18th century originally as a convent. During the daytime, the plaza in front is used as a playground for the school next door....all adding to the thoughtful process of Estepona’s present and future image.
Close by is The Town Hall which houses a small museum outlining the town’s history, while outside - almost opposite the Mercado San Louis - is an area of Roman ruins dating back to the 4th century. The former crypt was found and preserved when road work was being done along the street. Surrounding walls have also been excavated and some of the contents, including 2nd century fish tanks used for salting and “more recent” Islamic pottery used during the 12th-13th century, are on display in the museum.
Time flew by and we left Pedro with our thanks - and a well deserved tip - for the educational, informative and fun walk around his town.
One night this weekend we enjoyed a sunset dinner at the “Chiringuito Paco.” True to the definition of a chiringuito, it’s right on the beach - and like most others in this town can be accessed from the sand or the seafront promenade. Chiringuitos were originally beach stands, quickly constructed of cane and leaves, popular in 19th century Cuba. A place where plantation workers stopped to have a coffee and break from the blazing Caribbean sun, it’s where the juice of the coffee grinds got the nickname of “chiringo.” After arriving in Spain in 1913, the churinguito has been continuously evolving in order to serve their clientele. Seafood and meat, cooked over wood, was added to serving coffee. Beer, wine and alcohol also began to be offered and Cuba’s influence became prominent again when the mojito made the “journey” over to Spain....it’s now a featured cocktail at every establishment!
No mojito for us, but as the sun went down and with our feet on the sand, we sampled sardines and calamari grilled over the hot wooden embers....delicious!
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