recent blogs

punta paloma dunes : tarifa : andalucia

punta paloma dunes : tarifa : andalucia

The shifting dunes of the south western coast of Andalucia, really are a sight to behold, perhaps the most dramatic being those located at Punta Paloma, the headland just to the north of Tarifa, separating the expansive beaches of Tarifa from those of Bolonia. The...

our initial advice when buying abroad

our initial advice when buying abroad

Finally, work has started in the house. We visited last week and arrived to the sound of chiselling and hammering as years of plaster was starting to be removed from the walls of the rooms on the first floor. The downstairs rooms were filling up with scaffolding and...

the start of something new…

the start of something new…

Although it still feels as if we are on a very extended holiday here in Andalucia, and will be returning to Istria and our stone house, we're going to soon realise that this is not the case. We actually completed on the Spanish house in October, but have only visited...

christmas in andalucia

christmas in andalucia

Well, Christmas 2024 is certainly going to go down in our record books as a pretty memorable one. Although we couldn't spend it with family - our rented apartment, although lovely, isn't really big enough to accommodate guests and whilst I wait for my Spanish...

smartr malaga centro

smartr malaga centro

For a short stay in Malaga, we recently discovered a really good company, offering fully renovated apartments in the center of the city, located on Calle Santa Lucia, in one of the city's most vibrant areas. The accommodation, in a recently renovated townhouse,...

the hard rock hotel : puerto banus : marbella

the hard rock hotel : puerto banus : marbella

Well, this was definitely a new one for us. The Hard Rock Hotel. In Puerto Banus. Not really our usual less-is-more. More, more-is-more-and-the-brasher-the-better... So, it begs the question - why? Why on earth did we chose to stay somewhere, so at odds with what we...

a whole new renovation

a whole new renovation

When we decided to sell our house in Istria and move to Spain, we initially didn't look at future renovation projects. We thought that we wanted somewhere we would move in, and tinker around the edges, putting our stamp on the property. But, the more that we looked...

when the airbnb experience goes well…

when the airbnb experience goes well…

We've been on the road now, for over three months, having sold up in Istria and waiting to complete on our dream Andalucian townhouse. We've stayed in a variety of hotels and apartments along the way, and are onto our third Airbnb stay. The first was for the month of...

ronda : andalucia : 2024

ronda : andalucia : 2024

It's over ten years since we lasted visited Ronda, and that was a flying visit, as we were en route to Seville for Semana Santa. But it imprinted such a memory that we always said we'd return for a longer visit, and in August we did just that. The summer of 2024 has...