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| Wearing H&M shorts, top, Zara heels, jacket, Céline sunglasses, Uterqüe bag, scarf and random shop bracelets. Photos by my husband Marc and myself ♥ |
Friends of ours came from Madrid yesterday so we planned a dinner in Casco Antiguo (Marbella Old Town). My husband and I decided to go a bit earlier for a stroll around town. I have to admit the heat was pretty much unbearable until about 10pm!
I always seem to forget how beautiful Marbella is. I mean I live here, I look but I don't actually see. I realize sometimes as I drive around running errands that all I do is think about my destination and kind of blur out what's around me or what I'm driving by. Just until about last week, I was stuck in traffic on the way to Puerto Banus, when I started to look around, actually seeing. I started to realize and pay attention to the beauty around me. The beautiful mountains, specially la Concha which you can see from pretty much anywhere in Marbella, the peaceful Mediterranean sea just opposite, the gorgeous green scenery and the stunningly well kept golf courses.
So kind of the same thing happened yesterday in Casco Antiguo. I was walking around feeling like a tourist, discovering places for the very first time and "wowing" to pretty much everything. Casco Antiguo to me is like a labyrinth but in a "ooh! where-is-this -little -cobbled -street -going -to -take -me -now?" kind of way. I don't get tired of walking around the beautiful and extraordinary narrow streets twisting and winding their sinuous routes. All this in the most charming Arab/Andalusian style that also saves us from the burning sun at the peak hours of the day thanks to the so very narrow streets.
All these streets are filled with shops, cafés and restaurants, the kind you just want to spend your whole day in. Plaza de Los Naranjos, cafés and restaurants and delicious churrerías surrounded by orange trees. There are so many absolutely adorable shops, from bags and shoes (not necesserally designer but cute and unique) to clothes and accessories and typical spanish "tiendas". We passed by a super cute and delicious frozen yoghurt place called Yogurt & Frutta which i definitely recommend.
People who live in Casco Antiguo are mostly locals, having lived there for years with everything they need just at their doorstep.
As we were walking around and taking pictures yesterday I couldn't help but notice the resemblance of Andalucia with Algeria where I'm originally from, well North Africa in general, clearly leaving well defined traces hundreds of years ago after their more than 500 year stay. The narrow streets, tiny doors, small but beautifully kept balconies, the white and bluish colour of the walls, the cobbled streets and most importantly the actual locals. The elder ones who sit by their front door in the evenings (with the door open) on a little wooden chair and just people watch and enjoy the summer scent, the wonderful jasmine and orange tree smell, one you would just want to steal and keep in a jar forever.
PS. This post is entirely dedicated to the most amazingly talented and beautiful Tania from www.tlikebubbletea.net, the hottest blog around! She's the one who convinced me to get back to posting and keep my blog going. She gives me all the inspiration and motivation I have been lacking for quite a while. A true best friend, the type who lives on the other side of the world but feels like she is by your side at all times, for good and bad. ♥
