Dress Whites - Rota Command Change 2008

Spain 2009 - A Beach, A Bullfight and A Bar

Since I love to swim in the ocean but am total wuss when it comes to swimming in cold water I took advantage of the fact that the Atlantic ocean temperature in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain was much warmer than the Pacific ocean temperature in Santa Monica, California.
So yes...it's true....I actually donned "the dreaded bikini" and spent pretty much every day on this beach.

Unlike the chic resorts, Marbella and Palma, teaming with elegant villas full of wealthy Europeans and Saudi royals, Puerto was a beach resort for the Spanish middle class. It was a very laid back place where typical Spanish families would rent a small villa or ocean view apartment for two weeks to a month for their annual vacation.
Obviously, my brother, aka Skipper, was enjoying the beach too.
The book in his hands is just a cover of course. Behind the sunglasses he was really scanning the beach for topless girls.

Oh and just for the record, for every nubile young topless girl with breasts like ripe melons, there was 60 something year old abuela letting is all hang out...and trust me....it wasn't pretty.

So while Skipper was checking out the chicas I was taking a break from the sun in this bar on the beach that served the best mojitos I've ever tasted.

A day of sun, sand and surf and then it was back home to get gorgeous for a night on the town.

Keeping with my "when in Spain..." attitude the night included travel by scooter, a bullfight, some pasear and tapas.

Bullfighting is a big deal in Spain...we all know that.

It's a challenge of hot pink socked, skin tight pastel suited man versus beast.

After sitting in the box seats with all the local big shots, and being introduced to the president of the local bullfighting federation, a rather elegant woman btw, I was glad that I experienced the corrida.

But, let's face it, once was enough.

And even though I was rooting for the bull, I did though kind of like the way that the matadors would turn their back on the bull and walk away with a swagger of machismo.

So very Latin.

Finally, we scooter-ed over to the old town Puerto where pasear was in full force. I love the Spanish summer tradition of families taking to the streets late at night after the weather cools off for a walk, dinner and sitting outside in a cafe and watching the passersby.

Eleven o'clock, midnight and later you will see small children and even infants out with their parents. But what's the rush to go home when it's summer vacation and you can sleep till noon the next day.

We ended up at this tapas bar, one of my brother's favorites, aptly named "little ham bar" because it was little and served jamon iberico. The tapas dishes were delicious, the best I had in Spain, particularly the calamari and the ham and cheese on toast.

and I discovered my new favorite summer drink....get ready for this...a wine cooler or tinto de verano which is cheap red wine on ice with fanta lemon.

Yeah, you know that sounds good!

Spain 2009 - The View of Blue

I'd love to have jet lag and loll about at home...but as usual, I've had no time for jet lag since I returned two days ago. It was back to work at the office yesterday with the baubles of Beladora.com
just like I had never left.


It's crazy hot in LA today, 100 degrees or so, just like the day that I arrived in Spain.


Here I am in my brother's back yard with my hair blowing in the hot wind up that comes up from North Africa every afternoon.

And here's my brother's house in a not very attractive photo....it's actually much bigger and better than it looks in this picture. (obviously, no one will be hiring me as a photographer for Architectural Digest any time soon)

And the huge lawn on the bluffs above the Atlantic Ocean.

The view south is of the ancient port of Cadiz, the oldest city in Europe.

And water, water everywhere

But the shore just below is unavailable for use due to security reasons....so no private beach.

Luckily, there was a lovely public beach adjacent to the compound where my brother lives, easily accessible by bike, so that's where I spent my days.

More photos to come.

Living Large on the Costa de la Luz

If only we all could have this backyard view of the Costa de la Luz for our 4th of July parties....

Congratulations Captain Mosk! After Alaska, Greenland, the USS Kennedy and god knows where else you've been stationed, you deserve this view.

Rota Photos

View from the Castle

View from the Church

Muy Bueno

Costa de la Luz - Rota

Rota Marina

Rota Costline with Cadiz in the distance

Next it was off to the town of Rota on the Costa de la Luz.

The Costa de la Luz (Coast of light) is the western part of the Andalucía coastline that faces out to the Atlantic. The sand is finer and a more golden colour than the neighbouring Costa del Sol.

The typical beaches here are more expansive and probably backed by sand dunes and pine trees. This part of the coast has not seen the high-rise hotel development of other areas. The temperatures are slightly milder and the often strong Atlantic winds and waves are favoured by wind surfers and surfboarders alike.

Across the bay from Cadiz, the oldest inhabited city in Western Europe, Rota is a small but important town. It is the home of the Spanish Navy and the US Naval Base Rota.

There is plenty of wind on the Atlantic and sailing and windsurfing are big. Plus the weather is lovely almost all year around so there are plenty of hotels on the beach.

This area of Andalusia is known for fishing, agriculture, sherry and chardonnay, and not only were the tapas great, the seafood dinners were incredible....and unbelievably inexpensive. I was expecting ridiculous prices with the dollar so low, but it was cheaper to have a great meal in Rota, than in Los Angeles. (But shhhhh, let's keep this our little secret...we don't want tourism to ruin the local ambiance)