Some very dear friends offered us their apartment on the rock of Gibraltar for the weekend! It’s been ages since we have left the Sierra de Aracena, mainly because of regional lockdowns, but now things have opened up again, and we have our shots, so we jumped at the opportunity to have a few days away and some sea air.
On our way down we stopped for lunch in El Palmar, on the terrace of the Casa Francisco where we looked out over the ocean, struck up conversation with our neighbours and ate fish which had jumped from the sea onto our plates.
It was a hazy day, with the sun punching through gently, and there was some small surf on the long sandy beach, so we ran down for a swim immediately after lunch (completely against the rules imposed during childhood summer holiday, probably because our parents wanted a post prandial rest and could not keep an eye out for us.)
In Vejer we checked into the idiosyncratic maze which is the Casa del Califa, the brainchild of James Stuart who originally arrived here as a young surfer many moons ago.
It’s a gradually garnered collection of adjacent old houses built over the centuries (10th - 17th), and now linked by a maze of hidden stairways and private alleys. Our room, the Torre suite, looked out on one side to one of the towers of the fortifications, and at our bedhead was another window which looked out over the fields and hills, the marshes of the estuary, and beyond, to the sea and Africa.
Breakfast was taken on the shady terrace under the palm tree; a feast of fruit, arabic raïf bread with honey and butter, then eggs sprinkled with cumin.
We dined our first night at the family run Casa Varo which specialises in fresh tuna dishes, but where where we were also particularly impressed by the tiniest broad beans served with foie gras.
It’s a great place to sit out and people watch as you linger over dinner. Darkness falls and above you the Divino Salvador church is floodlit. On the evening we were there, families were dressed up to the nines for children’s first communions.
On our last night we dined at Corredera 55 Do go; it’s exceptional. It’s a beautifully decorated small and cosy tapas bar/restaurant with unbelievable food. Everything we ate was delicious, different and imaginative, using great local ingredients. Stuffed fried olives, multicoloured gazpachos, skewers of goat’s cheese stuffed prawns in crunchy panko. Lighter than light meringue cheesecake.
It’s situated on the lengthy Corredera promenade on the edge of Vejer, with a view over rolling hills and plains. Ellie who runs it has a wonderful, fun young team, and if you go there on the right night she is behind the bar, dispensing laughs and champagne, and overseeing everything as she drifts gracefully from table to table, checking the smallest detail. It’s one of those places where the owner puts love and care into every detail. To book call +34 956 451 848 or WhatsApp +34 621 262 869
Gibraltar
When we approached Gibraltar next morning she was wearing her usual British Weather hat, which comes if the wind is blowing from the east.
A quiff of mist tumbles down the rock face and the high trees to dissolve over the town. From our eyrie on the 17th floor we could see every detail as we chilled on the roof terrace sipping white wine, and watched as the sun came through and emerged victoriously into the afternoon.
Walking up Main Street it was heartening to see that no one wore facemarks, except to go into the shops. Gibraltar has managed to vaccinate all of its population and more; Spanish workers on the rock have also been vaccinated.
There’s an old-fashioned feeling about things, so it seemed perfectly reasonable to don my Panamá hat and linen jacket. I did get some stares, and a discreet salutation from one of the city’s Bobbies.
