Trafton’s European Tour 2024-2025

Greetings from beautiful Estepona, Spain

TGC and I wanted to revisit Gibraltar as it’s less than a one hour drive from Estepona. So, away we go in the trusty Citroen.

Before the tour, a couple things about Gibraltar-

One, it’s been a landmark to humans for centuries as it was thought to be the end of the world for thousands and thousands of years. Hence the name the Pillars of Hercules. Evidence has been found of Neanderthal people inhabiting the rock.

Two, Ancient Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greek and Romans all believed this was a spiritual place. The Phoenicians were the first to venture outside the Pillars in search of bigger fish literally!

So Gibraltar has a very, very long and violent history. Today, it’s part of the UK as a British territory in Spanish territory. The citizens of Gibraltar are UK citizens.

So, we parked at the ferry terminal (you can catch the ferry to Morocco here), then you pass through Immigration and have your passport checked leaving Spain and entering into the UK.

TGC was very excited, multiple stamps on her passport!

Yes, you have to walk across the airport runway to enter the Territory!

The best way to visit Gibraltar is with a Taxi service that stops at key points of the trip up and down the Rock! I don’t like heights, so TGC went and was on her own. Let’s join her tour!

TGC speaking. Greetings, the “taxi” we’re riding in is really an eight person van, mine is filled with a Romanian family😉

The top of the Rock is actually a Nature Preserve, don’t worry they charge to enter 😉

Climbing high on the Rock now, below you can see the city and the harbor. Lots of ships at anchor, waiting to be fueled. As Gibraltar is a British territory tax’s are very low here and fuel is 40% cheaper than in Spain, everyone buys fuel in Gibraltar 👍

This cave was discovered by the British in 1942 when they were creating more tunnels during WWII.

Carved out of the Rock, tunnels that allowed troops to defend the Pillars of Hercules! Quite elaborate, with large rooms and openings for cannons!

Lots of visual representation of life on the Rock back in the day!

Fantastic tour and sights, quite the experience!

Let’s head back to Estepona!

We’ve had to pivot again as our place outside Malaga has been closed for repairs. So we’re moving to a new place, Benalmadena, it’s only about one hour up the Costa del Sol.

Sunset from the balcony

Adios from Estepona!

Greetings from beautiful and partly sunny Estepona, highs 60 degrees!

We left beautiful Cordoba and made the easy three hour drive across Spain to the Mediterranean Sea and the Costa del Sol. We took the road less traveled as we weren’t in a hurry and saw some beautiful scenery.

If you remember, southern Spain had terrible flooding this fall and the signs of huge water run offs are evident.

Estepona is a beach/resort town known for an unbelievable promenade for walking and bike riding. Over 50 miles of trails mainly along the Mediterranean make for great walks, with not many hills.😎

This is another huge retirement area, mainly for the Brits. Thousands and thousands of condos along the Costa del Sol!

Can’t say I blame them, the weather here is spectacular!

Even with it being January, many of the restaurants are open and booming. It must be crazy here in the summer!

Estepona is the usual story, Romans, fishing village, Muslims, crusaders ect…

Unlike lots of city’s along the Costa del Sol, Estepona still has a fishing fleet that fish’s the Atlantic which is about one hour from here.

Fun time here, TGC only has me walking 18,000 steps a day. I’m getting off easy!

Fun place, you can see both sunrise and sunset from our balcony😎

Day trip to the Rock of Gibraltar tomorrow. Should be fun!

Greetings from partly cloudy and 61 degree Córdoba, Spain!

We drove the easy 5 hours from Lagos, Portugal to beautiful Córdoba, Spain with a quick stop at Costco in Seville. That’s the only Costco on this trip so we stocked up while we could. 😜

We visited Córdoba on our trip in 2019, but decided to visit again. It’s a fantastically beautiful city! Mostly flat with cobblestones, my favorite!

You know the story in this part of the world, Romans until 200 AD or so, then Muslim conquests. Around 1200 AD the crusaders and Christians retook the city.

Córdoba is a city with a long, long history of education, music and libraries. It’s a fantastic city to visit, clean and safe. You can see the city in a day easily. It’s also the hottest city in Europe, averaging 99 degrees in the summer, so the Spaniards are freezing!

Like most sights here in Córdoba, the cathedral was built on the sight of a Muslim mosque.

The mosque was built in the early 800’s and became a Cathedral in 1250 with the Crusade conquest of Córdoba.

The Cathedral is surrounded by walls, each a work of Art.

See the Muslim art work!

This is the Roman bridge into Córdoba, it’s a pedestrian bridge only now!

Built in the 1st century, the bridge has been completely renovated, fantastic!

Built in the 1300’s to be the home of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain.

Christopher Columbus met with the King and Queen here. Córdoba was a very, very important city in Spains history.

Ok, the steps are adding up now, TGC is on the move😬

Córdoba’s central Plaza, frankly not up to Spanish Plazas

More than a little disappointing, but we’re spoiled now aren’t we😬

22,000 steps with cobblestones later,

Ok, that’s it from Córdoba. We’re traveling to Estepona, Spain tomorrow.

Estepona is on the Mediterranean, in the Costa de Sol, the Sunshine Coast.

Adios Amigos

Greetings from beautiful, but a little cloudy and warm, 65 degrees Lagos, Portugal! We’ve been busy visiting the Algarve region and enjoying the miles and miles of boardwalks and trails. We’ve also been dodging rain showers 😎

Let’s take a tour, first city we visited, Luz.

Luz is a very small village that you can walk to from Lagos. It has a very hippie, surfer vibe and very chill.

We are driving in the trusty Citroen.

Sagres is a small town located close to Fortaleza de Sagres. It’s a major surf spot, (see all the surfers and paddle boards in the water). Serious surfer vibe.

This rendition of the Fortaleza was built in the 1700’s but there have been different versions of the Fortaleza here for centuries! This is the most westward location in Europe.

This is one of dozens of lighthouses on the Portuguese coast. This is the main lighthouse in the area.

The Portuguese people are closely attached to the Sea, they also have a deep respect for Nature.

In the Age of Discovery, 1400-1500 Portuguese seamen explored the world and established many, many unknown sea routes around the world, including the Spice route around the Horn of Africa into SE Asia!

Ok, up bright and early, that’s 8:00 AM in Portugal, for the one hour drive to Faro, the capital of the region!

Faro’s a fun city, with a good Mercado. Let’s visit!

No disrespect, but we’re not in France here😉

Portuguese love salted Cod. They rehydrate the fish with water, then cook. It’s actually delicious!

Moving along to Carvoeiro, a tourist town on the coast. Great boardwalk here with fabulous walking!

Ok, next day , back to beautiful and relaxing Lagos.

I have vertigo, so I don’t get too close!

Fantastic time here in The Algarve. If you like to hike this is the spot.

As we said earlier, this is a huge spot for Brits to retire. Just FYI, Portugal has gotten lots of press for retirement relocation. A 2,000 sq foot new construction condominium with a water view, 700-800k. A new construction villa, 3,000 sq feet with water view and pool 2-3 million.

This part of Portugal is no longer inexpensive, makes even Eagle, Idaho look inexpensive 😜

We’re moving to Córdoba, Spain tomorrow!

Until then, Adeus!

Goodbye from Portugal!

Greetings from beautiful, but windy and rainy Lagos, Portugal.

With the forecast of a very windy and rainy late afternoon, we decided to hike from our condo and see all the Ponte from the trails and boardwalks in the early morning, Here we go!

The Ponta is covered with trails and boardwalk walking trails, fairly easy hiking, even for me😜

15,000 steps later and hundreds of stairs. We enjoyed a wonderful Portuguese lunch. The fish here are very very delicious 😁

Adeus

Greetings from beautiful, but partly cloudy and 63 degrees Lagos, Portugal.

We are staying in Lagos, but the region here, Algarve region, has 14 different towns recommended to visit, so let’s visit a couple!

We already talked about what a huge retirement area for Europeans, especially British folks this is and the great adventure sports and beach’s that this area enjoys.

The capital of the area is Faro, just down the coast from us. It’s so busy here, over 10 million people fly into Faro airport every year! There are only 400,000 full time residents in the region.

It must be hopping here in the summer and it’s busy now in January!

Ok let’s take our first tour, Olhao, a small town about one hour drive down the coast. It’s Saturday so it’s market day!

Hundreds of small boats still fish out of the estuary into the sea and it’s quite busy with boats today!

Olhao has two permanent markets that are open daily, one for fish and other seafood and another one for produce, meats, cheese and specialty items.

Assorted meat items, lots of kabobs!

Ok, it’s not Cadiz, but it was fun and full of locals!

Ok, about a 1/2 hour down the road, Tavira.

When you talk history in Portugal, you have to remember the huge earthquakes that have basically destroyed Portugal many times.

All the Cathedrals and castles have been destroyed by war, invasion and earthquakes many, many times.

The Castelo has only a small section restored as its original purpose, a Garden, but it’s beautiful.

Ok, that’s it for today. Unfortunately, a rain system is supposed to move in and heavy rain is in the forecast.

Maybe I can take the day off😜

Adeus,

Greetings from beautiful, but cloudy and a bit windy Lagos, Portugal!

We have moved to Portugal from beautiful Cadiz! It’s a very easy drive, two hours to Seville (and a stop at Costco😁) then another three hours to Lagos.

Lagos is an interesting city. It’s really only grown in the last 30 years as it’s become quite a vacation spot for Europeans and a retirement Mecca for Brits!

Lagos was a small harbor for thousands of years, with Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans all in the area because of the tremendous fishing here for years. Now’s it’s famous with the hiking, adventure and caravanning crowds, along with the large ex Pat groups.

But for us, besides the hiking which is spectacular, is Ponta de Piedade, the beautiful sandstone rock formations in this part of the coast.

Because it’s a little windy and choppy we decided against the boats and walked the coast. Spectacular trails and wooden boardwalks, really excellent!

We’re here eight days in total. TGC has walking and driving tours planned every day!

Guess we wouldn’t be sitting around eating seafood and enjoying the beverages 😜

Adeus , goodbye in Portuguese!

Greetings from beautiful Cadiz, Spain! The weather here continues to be spectacular! Highs in the mid 60’s but a little windy occasionally. Yes, it’s winter coat time in Spain!

Team C&K decided to take one last trip together as Kate is going on to Lisbon, Portugal, then home.

So off to Seville, Spain they go.

I’ve been to Seville several times before so I stayed in Cadiz and the team took the train to Seville from Cadiz, it’s roughly a two hour trip.

Cindy’s talking now,

Greetings from Seville, Spain! Katie and I had an uneventful train ride here and dropped her luggage off at her hotel. Off we went for one last tour together. Let’s go!

Yes, Bull fighting is very much alive in Spain and a huge part of the Spanish lifestyle.

Ok, walking now.

Built as a military watchtower in the early 13th century and was also used as a prison during the Middle Ages.

Continuing our walk, we walked to the Plaza de Espana. This was built for the 1929 Worlds Fair and is a celebration of each region of Spain.

Walking towards the city center. We can feel a 30,000 step day in our future…

Barrio Santa Cruz was formerly the city’s famous Jewish Quarter of the medieval city. We enjoyed walking through the maze of narrow streets and admiring the beautiful architecture. The steps are piling up now!

Seville is famous for its flamenco dancing and has a long history here.

Okay, 33,000 steps later, that’s a rap. Now a walk back to the train station for Katie to see me off. We had to say our goodbyes as Katie will fly to Lisbon, and I’m headed back to Cadiz! Our time traveling with Katie has been so much fun and memorable!

Seville is a beautiful city, but wow, the crowds were massive. I’ve been here a few times, but this was even more crazy than before. Must be the holiday travelers. Now, back to Mike…

Wow, what a last trip by team C&K! 33,000 steps later, massive crowds, sorry I missed all of that😉

TGC and I are in Cadiz until Thursday when we move to Lagos, Portugal.

Strong chance I won’t blog again until then, so Adios and Happy New Year for now!

Greetings from beautiful and sunny Cadiz, Spain!

Team C&K made the long trip from outside London to Cadiz successfully, flying into Madrid and picking up the lease car.

Let’s take a tour of old town Cadiz, all decorated for Christmas. Before we start a few words about Cadiz so you can frame the pictures in your mind.

Cadiz is a very old city, founded by Phoenicians and has had many, many lives. The current city was built in the late 1800’s and has very narrow streets and buildings 3-5 stories high. The city is mainly residential and is very busy all the time.

Cadiz also has developed a busy tourism business with beaches, cruise ships and shopping. It’s quite the happening city😎

Cadiz goes all out for the holidays and believe me, it’s a show. Let’s take a tour!

Walking the streets, it’s packed!

Ha, didn’t think I would forget a food pic😜

That’s it from Cadiz, 28,500 on the steps yesterday 👊 Good thing I know where the hydration stations are!

Merry Christmas to you and your family and friends!

Greetings from sunny and warm ( mid 60s) Cadiz. Yes the Spaniards are still in the wool and down coats😎

Team C&K are on the move, let’s check in!

Cindy’s speaking

Greetings again from jolly old England! We’ve left Edinburgh, Scotland behind under sunny skies. Our drive took us through Jedburgh, where we stopped to take a look at the Jedburgh Abbey, which was founded in the 12th century. 

Crossing back into England

We made our way to Harrogate, which is close to York, our next stop on our tour. We are staying in the lovely, Harrogate Inn. 

We can see why the Brits and Scots love their inn and pubs. They’re very welcoming and lively! 

This morning we headed to York for a walking tour of this historic city. We utilized a Park and Ride outside of the city which worked great and glad we did because many of York’s streets were under construction. 

The city was founded by the Romans in 71AD. Portions of the city walls still remain

First up was The Shambles, which is a very famous street with preserved medieval buildings, some dating back to the 14th century. Shambles means “meat market” which is what this street served as at one point. Very fun and interesting place as this neighborhood was said to be the inspiration for parts of the Harry Potter movies.

Also famous is the Shambles Market. Numerous produce stands, butchers and seafood stands (but nothing like Michael is enjoying in Cadiz). York Minster, a cathedral in the center of York, originated in the 7th century. Just beautiful!After walking for several hours we decided to return to a Lebanese restaurant we had passed. We shared Shish Tawook, a chicken kabab with unique seasonings. Wow, was it delicious and very flavorful. Okay, we walked through the Christmas Market and by this time the crowds were getting bigger. Our fun meters were full and we headed back to catch the bus to take us to our car. Thoroughly enjoyed our time here in Harrogate and York. 

Well, that’s it for us. We are heading back to Stansted, will return our rental car and fly to Madrid on Sunday where we’ll pick up a leased car and drive to Cadiz to be with Michael. 

It’s been a whirlwind of 2 1/2 weeks and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. A few wrap up thoughts: everyone was so friendly and kind to us foreigners, driving on the wrong side of the car (and road) wasn’t nearly as terrifying as we thought it would be, and sheep are prevalent everywhere! With all the changes we had to make, the theme of the trip was…pivot! But, we loved every minute of it! 

That’s it from jolly old England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and C&K! Back to Michael in Cadiz, Spain. 🇪🇸 

Meanwhile, back in Spain we are full speed ahead with Christmas!

Keep team C&K in your thoughts, tomorrow they have a very crazy day, flying from outside London to Madrid. Picking up the lease car, than driving 7 hours to Cadiz.

We’ll give them a special treat

Merry Christmas from Spain!