Casares

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We just had a wonderful week in the white town of Casares. We rented an apartment in the middle of the town and spent our week climbing up and down our 4 story home. It is a beautiful, small authentic town situated 10 km up a mountain next to the Mediterranean ocean. We had a terrace on the top floor where we could overlook Gibraltar and the mountains of Africa. Upon our arrival we met a woman named Beth, a Brit turned hippie Spaniard, who showed us to our place. She spent an hour and a half sharing must-do's of the town in a wonderful British/horrible Spanish accent. She wore neon green earrings and green converse. Quite a character. The town had a very slow feel to it; Men sitting in the main square, woman standing around their doorsteps gossiping. It felt like everyone was on island time. It was very traditional old world style with the men in the square drinking and at the bars, and the woman in the houses cooking meals and sweeping the front porch. True to form, our neighbor Josephina would meet us on her porch every time we walked in and out of our apartment. She was an extremely friendly woman who had lived in the town her entire life. She feed us lots of good food from her kitchen including a wild boar that her husband hunted and she roasted all day. One of the best things about the town was the fresh food we could buy at the markets. We had fresh eggs and bread every morning (laid that day.) We had a wheel of fresh goat cheese from a shop owner that owned a goat herd that grazed on a hill outside the village. Yum! Delicious! We ate in most of the time but had one amazing dinner out at a very creative and modern restaurant called Villa Garcia, run by a gay friend of Brit hippie Beth. It was beautiful with full length windows in the dining area and amazing service. It is amazing to find such an isolated place so close to the sea and much more modern beach towns. There were no tourists in Casares, only some that come to see the place. There were rolling hills and mountains throughout the region, dotted by these beautiful small white towns. It was just so unique. It really similar to the hills of Tuscany but had a more cozy feeling to it, maybe because Michael could speak to the locals. It was a great home base for our adventures in our rented car driving to the Atlantic, Mediterranean and through beautiful mountains.

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Photos

View from castle above our apartment
This castle was a Moorish castel from 1100 AD used by the Romans and then the Spainiards.

View from our terrace
View of the Mediterranean and Africa

View out of our living room window
Here is the town, the main square is below us.