30 Days' Countdown to my Spanish Adventure

Day 30 - Today, I started filling my backpack and making my travel list.  As my friend, Karen McCann, promises...If I can pack light just maybe I'll spend more time enjoying my Spanish Walkabout and less time struggling with luggage...

My airline ticket to Malaga is confirmed.  My rental house in Calahonda, near Mijas, is an hour west of Malaga... paid for and waiting for me.

Road Scholar Tour packet is socked away for a week in Estepona along with the daily meanderings that will take me to Ronda, an ancient Spanish town.  I'll see the oldest bullring in Spain and ancient Moorish houses.  I'll head to a local winery near the old Roman city of Acinipo, which has produced renowned wines since the days of antiquity.  

Oh!  And I'll be led on a visit of the vineyards and cellars, followed by wine tasting and tapas.  

AND I'll visit the Rock of Gibraltar, a small peninsula on the Spanish coast under British jurisdiction and a major area of dispute over the centuries.  Of course, seeing "Gibraltar" as one of the tour stops peaked my curiosity because my ancestors stood on the pier and boarded a ship called the ORTERIC on February 24, 1911.  The tour will take me to the top on a drive to Punta de Europa to enjoy a helicopter view of the British-style streets of Gibraltar and in clear weather, maybe I'll be able to see across the water to the Morocco's coastline?  While I'm up there, I hope to see the famous Barbary apes (macaca sylvanus) that I pulled into THE GIRL IMMIGRANT immigration story about my grandmother...I'm told they freely roam around the peninsula and the pillars of Hercules, the legendary promontories that flank the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar.  

And food of course.  I will join a local chef to learn about traditional Andalusian cuisine using locally sourced produce and learn the importance of the Mediterranean diet. (Road Scholar item).