Advertisement
Published: November 23rd 2008
Edit Blog Post
Welcome to Sotogrande, Spain!
An invitation from Jason and Marisa to go and see them in Sotogrande, Spain, was a difficult offer to refuse: you know you are going to have an awesome time; you are going to dine well; you know you will party and have a blast; and finally, you will have the opportunity to take in the sun on the Spanish beaches (which is much better than being trapped in the bleak weather of London!). It was also our last chance to catch up with them before Marisa had the baby (due in mid-late November).
4th October 2008
So it was another early start to catch the 9am Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Gibraltar. After the 2.5 hour flight we were landing in the British colony of Gibraltar. The airstrip here is small, and it is right on the water, so as you land, all you see is the ocean until you touch down - quite nerve racking!
Jason was there, in his singlet and thongs, waiting to collect us. We walked with our gear for about 5 minutes, crossing the border into Spain. It was there that Jason’s unwashed, uncleaned, mighty SEAT Altea
Where is Sotogrande?
Marked with tag called "A" was waiting to take us to Sotogrande. After Stacy gave Jason a little bit of grief for the feral state of his car, Jason mentioned that the car is rented - so why wash it? We later realized why it was so unclean…..he has been renting it for 2 years!
After a 45 minute drive, and a quick pitstop to the local supermarket to collect goodies for lunch, we were all sitting around eating at Jason and Marisa’s new place in Sotogrande. This place is great; it’s a 3 bed, 2 bath, top floor penthouse, with large outdoor areas, including a full rooftop entertaining area with plunge pool - awesome!
After having lunch and being shown around, we drove down to Puerto Santa Maria, which is on the south west coast. It is primarily an industrial port, but has grown into quite an eclectic café and dining area. The people here also have a reputation for being the most amusing and personable people in Spain. Whilst we were in Puerto Santa Maria, Jason and Marisa took us to one of their favourite seafood restaurants for a ‘light afternoon meal’. We decided to get adventurous and ordered some seafood
we have never tried before: North Atlantic King Crab, Canaillas (snail shell) and Percebes (sea weed on a rock type thing). They were all very good, though the crab was the definite winner!
That night we had a BBQ out on the patio. It was so nice to just stand around the BBQ in the warm weather, have a drink, and catch up with friends.
5th October 2008
We decided to take it easy and just wandered around Sotogrande, and the bay. The boys found a tennis ball on the way so we all threw the ball to each other as we wandered around and took in the great atmosphere of the place. We also checked out the local markets down by the marina.
That afternoon the boys decided that the wind was good enough to go kite surfing. So it was into the car for the one hour drive to Terifa. Erin and Marisa took in the sun (and the sand - thanks to the 20 knot winds), whilst Jason gave Stacy a kite lesson. After almost taking off someone’s head, thanks to Stacy loosing control of the kite and it hurtling down onto another
kiter (which is really dangerous by the way), Jason went out on his own for about half-an-hour of power with the kite.
When Jason came back in it was time to get to the beach bar for a drink and feed! It was also time for the girls to stop battling the whipping sand, and time for other kiters to rest easy as Stacy would not be performing any more shenanigans with the kite!
That night Jase and Marisa whipped up a beautiful BBQ seafood dinner, which was accompanied by some lovely white wine. We then retreated to watch a couple of DVD’s. The first was Marisa’s “reel” from when she was an anchor at “Real Madrid Television”. We have to say, she is a talent! She even got to hang-out and interview the likes of David Beckham, Robinho and Zidane! The second DVD was some boring film Stacy chose…..
6th October 2008
It was a beautiful sunny day - just what we ordered! Jason unfortunately had to work, so he missed out on the beautiful breakfast at ‘Ke’ at La Marina in the Port of Sotogrande. He also missed out on Shopping in La Linea
(which he was thankful for).
By lunchtime, Jason had managed to escape the clutches of work and met us for lunch by the water at La Marina in La Linea. After lunch, the girls did some more shopping at Algeciras, whilst Jason and Stacy went for a swim at the beach and then in the plunge pool back at the house.
When the girls returned to the house it was time for us to leave. It was a short trip, but one that was well worth it. We got to catch up with Jason and Marisa, and managed to see another little part of the world, that we otherwise, would never have seen…
So to our lovely friends and hosts, Jason and Marisa: Muchas Gracias! Hasta Pronto!
Until our next adventure……Adios!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.136s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 16; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0516s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
JK
non-member comment
Nice
Great trip guys! Always nice to get away from the UK weather, even if just for a few days. Great to see you both last month. Take care