Our little Andalusian white village home - Gaucin, Spain

As the song goes, the road to Gaucin was long and winding. We reached the general area at sunset so the mountain views and scenery along the way were at their best. However, the sun set and we still hadn't made it to our new home. We were getting deeper into the mountains, roads were getting narrower and more twisted, and we were climbing. As the realisation of our isolation started setting in there were a few concerns: where do we get food and supplies? We had some groceries from Sevilla but only enough for a day. We were staying here for 5 nights! The little pockets of civilisation that we passed reminded me of the provincial towns in the Philippines. Suddenly doubts started to fill my mind. I knew this place was rural and that's exactly what I wanted, but did I go too rural?

This place was my pick in the itinerary. It was to be my highlight of Spain, an oasis in our crazy busy itinerary. A place to just relax, recharge and experience the true meaning of Spanish living without feeling the need to rush out to see a church, castle, museum or eat tapas. This was going to be a place for us to just BE in Spain. I wanted to wander the narrow streets with cobblestone lanes and whitewashed walls (little did I know at the time that all the Spanish cities we visited had narrow streets, coblestone lanes and whitewashed walls!). So I guarded the 5 nights in our itinerary with defiance. Hubby wanted to cut it short to spend more time in Sevilla. Nope. More time in Valencia? Nope. Granada? Nope. So 5 nights  in an Andalusian white village is how it stayed in the itinerary.

As we made our way through the mountains to this Andalusian white village we all joked - what on earth are we going to do here for 5 nights??!! We are in the middle of nowhere! - seemed to be the sentiment in the car, myself included. "Is there TV? Is there Wi-Fi?", came the concerned questions from the back seat. "Who booked this place?!", came the more accusing question. "Your mother!", came the equally accusing reply from Hubby. Oh dear! Oh well... we live and learn, I thought. If this was going to be an itinerary fail, then so be it. If anything, at least we'll have the time to plan the rest of our travel through France and Italy! I'll have the time to update my writing and little Mig can rest his weary legs.

We finally found the place in the dark. We followed the instructions we were given, let ourselves into our new home and turned on the lights. The squeals of delight and excited kids racing around the house exploring each corner with exclamations of "This is the best place ever!" and "Wow! I want to live here!" told me I had been vindicated - and they hadn't even seen the view from the roof top terrace yet!