As mentioned earlier and elsewhere, our friend Craig (aka zoomer on h2g2) has been visiting this past week – and we’ve been having a wonderful time. And we almost went to Gibraltar too! (see M&S especially the original post and comment 24).
Anyhoodle, once we ended up with Plan E , I decided to make it a bit special and so, although Craig knew we’d be spending the night in Bolonia, we simply gave him directions as he drove along so he seldom knew what our actual destinations were going to be . . . a magical mystery tour! 
It was basically a tour of Los Pueblos Blancos and La Costa de la Luz
We started off in Arcos de la Frontera and then ended up in my favourite beach village Conil and had lunch in a chiringuito on the beach. Later we followed a small coastal road to Trafalgar and Los Caños de Meca and then spent the night in Bolonia
I’ve lived in Spain for 14 years now and have never had better chiperones a la plancha like the ones at my favourite restaurant in Bolonia.
Next morning after seeing the Roman ruins we went off to Tarifa for a bit of shopping, then zipped right past the-place-that-shall-not-be-mentioned though we did stop in a very pretty village called San Roque for a much needed beer break, which boasted a wonderful view of you-know-what.
Then we headed north to Ronda , had a fabulous lunch there, saw the amazing gorge, visited Spain’s oldest bullring and then after a short stop-off in Grazalema we passed through a few more white villages before finally getting home around 10pm . . . very tired but very very happy.
And so here are some photos I took of the magical mystery tour
Should be more added as soon as Craig gets his pics organized.
Isn’t it fabulous when friends visit and you get to be ‘on holiday’ with them? 🙂
casa azahar 
It sounds like a fantastic visit all around. I’ve never had friends visit and “holiday” with me (though I was lucky enough to have dinner with Woodpigeon last time he was in Chicago). I’m really looking forward to seeing some of those photos!
What are chiperones de la plancha? I’ve had *something* prepared “de la plancha” before, but can’t remember what it was.
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Chiperones are small squid, usually grilled whole with garlic and parsley … mmmmmmmm.
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Garlic and parsley…. yum.
The Pueblos Blancos look fabulous.
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Soon to get very sad because zoomer is leaving in the morning. Spent this evening at the Irish pub and then out for a late pizza…for a change.
But we have one more Spanish treat lined up for Craig tomorrow – Nog is going out at 7am to buy hot crispy churros while I make coffee… then at 8.30 we’ll walk Craig over to the airport bus stop and I’ll burst into tears I’m sure.
Guess that means it was a wonderful visit. 🙂
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You must have had a great visit, then! The MMT sounds like it was a blast. I love to go on “holiday” with guests, mainly as I probably wouldn’t do it otherwise — I have a horrible tendancy to feel guilty about play and relaxation.
I really liked the shot in the previous entry from the graphics piece that zoomer bought. Nice work.
Diane
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Wonderful photos. The countryside is breathtaking. No wonder you love Spain.
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The pictures are so beautiful! Perhaps you can give Lorelei and I some tips on where we can take a day trip or two. Conil and Bolonia sound great…we can’t wait to come out!
By the way, Lorelei and I LOVE to play scrabble…game on?
xoxo
ss
p.s. due to an Iberia pilots trike, we are going to be coming in later on Friday…I am going to try and cancel the Madrid-Seville flight and we can just take the AVE.
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I just got your email about the flight changes – grrr! I think just taking the AVE in the morning sounds much better than flying later. At least you won’t miss the whole day waiting around in Madrid. You’d probably get here by mid-day, or at least in time for lunch.
:shock:!!! A four-man (so to speak) scrabble match? You’re on.
Day trips without a car probably wouldn’t include Conil or Bolonia, but you could certainly do Cádiz (coast) and Ronda (mountains) on two separate days if you have time.
Wow – just four more sleeps!
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By the way, prepare for serious HEAT. Craig was so lucky during his stay. The week before his visit it had been getting up to about 40º every day. Then it was suddenly changed to a very pleasant 30-35º while he was here – and the day after he left it shot up to 45º.
I foolishly went out yesterday afternoon to do some errands and it was like walking around in a blast furnace.
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Really nice pictures. Looks like a very good time to me. Thanks for sharing.
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It’s SO much better in person! 🙂
btw, don’t drink so much that you’re late for churros, they go very well with a morning cup of coffee. …and don’t walk off with MY keys! 😀
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Ha! Still waiting for your keys to show up – eek! You *did* put them in a bubble envelope, didn’t you?
Anyhoodle, no churros for me for awhile – have you not seen THIS
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