We had strategically used the last morning of our car rental to stock up on groceries at the big Mercadona supermarket on the outskirts of town. The bad news was that the outage was projected to last six to ten hours. But this was Spanish time, which meant eight to twelve hours. (It lasted […]

  I always thought it was just a little affectation of mine that when I’d be “making my sauce,” I’d do it with flair. I would don my “Roma” apron (the only time Carol doesn’t have to demand I wear an apron when cooking with oil or tomatoes). Then I queue up “Italian dinner music” […]

   This is a town that is most thankful Someone else has died for their sins. Holy Week in Spain is a week of solemn, almost morose processions marking the last days of Christ, observed  by a local citizenry hellbent on turning it all into Spring Break.    Beginning Palm Sunday, funereal processions wind through Rota’s narrow […]

There are approximately 264,000 bars and cafes in Spain. The country’s population is about 48 and a half million. That means there’s a bar or café for every 183 men, women and children. Not trying to show off my arithmetic skills, but with a population of about 29,000, that would work out to just under 160 bars and cafes here in […]

DL 1189 to Salt Lake City DL 0702 to Boston DL 0376 to Atlanta DL 721 to Atlanta DL 108 to Madrid     This trip had a lot of moving parts to it, being we broke our own rule about reserving accommodations before having our standby seats confirmed.    Sometime last fall, we locked in a six-week […]

  It is sadly more than coincidence that my last blog dealt enthusiastically with a town in Spain that has now become part of the recent devastation in that region as a result of apocalyptic rains and flash flooding.   Reports of inundating flooding with almost no warning and as much rainfall in eight hours […]

  As we drove farther up the slope from downtown Nerja to our apartment for the next stay of our Andalucian road trip, one thing was becoming disturbingly clearer: things like cafes, restaurants and especially grocery stores with a wine aisle were rapidly disappearing altogether. The little hideaway bungalow that would shield us from the […]

  After departing Estepona, we stopped for our first fill up with the Fiat Cuisinart that we’d rented. Mind you, if a couple of thieves just picked the entire little dude up and carried it away, it might set you back as much as a two-stage snow blower, yet the car came with a key locked gas cap whose […]

  We were not able to reserve our little hacienda away from home for four consecutive weeks here in Rota. So, after much discussion (Carol: “We’re renting a car and taking a road trip!” she explained) we mutually agreed to rent a car and take a road trip.   Carol found a cheap car rental […]

 The other day I checked my daily diary on this trip and there are a lot of missing entries. I’m so happy. You see, this whole return to Rota was all about living the local life here. If my notes were filled with the events of every day, then this would only be just another […]