Andalucia IV: Pueblos Blancos 1

Returning from Madrid to Seville to start a driving tour of the white towns of Andalucia, uncharted territory which has been on my list for a long time. A recent driving debacle in South of France has me better prepared. The downloaded off-line map from Nokia's "Here" works very well. The smart phone is mounted securely on the dashboard and hooked up to the car battery that actually works. Before we know it, we are near Jerez, which is known for sherry and horses, neither of which we are really interested in, so we make a sharp turn East toward our first stop, Arcos de la Frontera.

Heeding the advice not to drive into the old town, we park in the lower new town in Arcos. These streets in the old town are so narrow many corners have streaks from the car side mirrors. Arcos is a bit rough around the edges and perhaps over-hyped by Rick Steves. Well, his name is nicely done in tile work on a wall right next to our hotel room, so he may be a bit biased. There are no great observation points to look back at the town perched on a hill. I finally find one on our way leaving the town the following morning.

Arcos de la Frontera: view of San Pedro Church from the Parador terrace. Just to the right of where I am standing, the ground slid off destroying part of the terrace - a danger of cliff-side living!

 

Arcos de la Frontera: a maze of narrow streets with scavenged  Roman columns used to protect the corners of houses

 

 

Arcos de la Frontera: we bought some fresh-made high-quality almond cookies here, but this is no ordinary bakery. It's a convent where nuns sell the cookies they make through a kind of a Lazy Susan they hide behind (seen through the church door here). You put the money, rotate the cupboard and out comes the cookies.

 

Arcos de la Frontera: finally find this excellent viewpoint

Instead of heading directly to Ronda, our major stop among los pueblos blancos, we make a detour to Marbella. Kinda rounda the Mediterranean coast. On the way, we do a quick drive through at Medina Sidonia. In Marbella I am not seeking a beach but gastronomy. The lunch at Dani Garcia is an unusual experience and great fun, indeed worth a detour. High quality food and service to fit what is considered the most glamorous town on Costa del Sol. We walk around Plaza de los Naranjos and hardly have a glimpse at the Mediterranean Sea.

Medina Sidonia: a brief stop at this typical Andalucian white town on the way to Marbella. We are at a restaurant terrace very busy and loud with guests who attended the wedding at the church on the same square.

Marbella: a brief detour to Costa del Sol. The menu items at Restaurant Dani Garcia are listed on a deck of cards.

Dani Garcia, Marbella: open the book and you will find the next course...

Dani Garcia: a nitro tomato dish, or was it non-nitro tomato? It's all a blur...

Dani Garcia, Marbella: one course offered right inside the kitchen

Dani Garcia, Marbella: a dessert in the "Up" theme



Dani Garcia, Marbella: petit fours come out of the whimsical box, an appropriate ending at the Alice-in-Wonderland theme restaurant

Marbella: surely one of the prettiest city halls you'll see anywhere

Marbella: In Plaza de los Naranjos, we find a church dedicated to an old friend, Santiago