I've really been horrible about traveling through Spain since I made the move. It's funny, but all the same excuses still apply. I was too busy, work is too stressful, at the end of the day, all I want to do is go to sleep, i don't have enough money, blah blah blah.
So one of my New Years Resolutions of 2012 was to get out more. To see more villages and to be a better tourist. And what better time to start than when my parents were in town.
Estepona, Málaga, España
Estepona is a town on the Costa del Sol in southern Andalucia south of Málaga. There's not a whole lot there, it's mostly known as a touristy beach town with a large ex-pat community. If the Costa del Sol is where all of Europe comes to vacation, Estepona is where they come to live when they retire. As such there's a great local and diverse culture full of small kitchy shops, diners and pubs. It really retains it's small town charm while still catering to the bigger crowds of tourists.
In addition to all that small town fun, there are skads of resorts and luxury homes here, so there is no shortness of the typical resort activities, golf, tennis and yachting. Most of my time in this lovely town was spent lounging by the beach at our beautiful Marriott resort (which comes highly HIGHLY recommended).
I would also highly recommend dinner at El Carnicero in the town. We ate at a couple of mediocre restaurants while we were here but were blown away with El Carnicero. Although it's crammed full of ex-pats, the food was actually pretty great and a good entry level Spanish restaurant for those who are new to the whole Spanish food thing.
Another must do/see if you have the ability to cook while you're in the area is to head down to the port and check out the daily fish markets. They're completely unpredictabe and can be horribly under-stocked, but it's a fun sight to see, especially on a big catch day or near the end of one of the tuna seasons when the big buyers have left town and the fushermans bring their tuna scraps for local sale.
For more info, check out the following links boiiii! - Estepona official tourism site - Spanish