OK – so after Marcus had made playing Padel look so easy, I (foolishly) asked Kevin if Dave & I could have a try – and (luckily ?) his normal Thursday match had been cancelled so he said “Of Course !!!”
So Dave & I rocked up 15 minutes early to watch peeps playing & try to gauge the rules & then when Helen & Kevin turned up at 11am, we had a go… Let’s just say that (bar ONE game when magically I paired with Kevin) – generally you could set your bets on the losing team being the one that I was on !!!
BUT – having said that that – it was really good fun – a short bat (bigger than a tennis table bat and with holes in) but with tennis rules (pretty much bar the bouncing off the walls !!!) and I reckon I’d get better if I practiced…
Afterwards Helen & Kevin took us to a cafe-bar literally ON the beach in Torrox – which is the next town along – fab food (I had a salmon & cream cheese salad & it was AMAZING – see 1st piccie), gorgeously warm on the beach (like a proper summer holiday 😎) and it was just lovely… (as ever – took a few photies…)
Then Kevin was due at “Rocky’s” (where we’d had Sunday lunch with Marcus then played pool) to play his usual pool match but they were short so Paul (his bro) also had to play…
Apparently “WE” weren’t odds-on to win BUT It was SO CLOSE – it got to a tie-break and WE WAS ROBBED !!!
And we had a LOT of wine while we were cheering them on & at least I got a piccie of the 3 brothers then one of the 3 sister-in-laws but then I can’t remember going to bed… 😐
Nothing much to report for Tuesday – Dave & I wandered into Nerja & had a coffee in the main square, walked down to the beach & then The Balcon & listened to an excellent guitarist (see only piccie for Tuesday) then I had a little re-visit to the church & a meander around the shops followed by an early-evening swift one at La Cueva followed by dinner at Paul & Sue’s.
Wednesday – Nerja is famous for it’s caves which were discovered on the 12th of January 1959 by a group of young locals who were on a late-night walk searching for bats so – after being in Nerja TWICE before & not visiting – we decided to give it a go…
We were very impressed with the setup – excellent free car park with toilets, nice courtyard with ticket office & restaurant plus scan the QR code on the wall for a free audio guide…
€15 entrance fee was SO worth it – and once inside – it was awesome…
I was convinced it was going to be damp & cold underground so wore a cami, a top, a jumper AND my €7 bargain teal winter coat that I’d picked up at the Almunecar market a week last Friday – and I was BOILING 🥵
It was dry as a bone down there – and warm – I’m SURE they had the central heating on !!!
Anyway they claim that the largest stalactite in the world is down there – but when I tried to qualify it on Google – there were some discrepancies… I think maybe because it’s not freestanding – it’s a huge column about 32-33 metres high but it feels pretty massive when you’re standing by the side of it !!!
Experts believe that the cave was inhabited 25,000 years ago, although ongoing studies suggest there may have been humans there as early as 40,000 years ago. And they have discovered 589 “rock paintings” down there which (due to conservation issues) they cannot exhibit to the public but which they describe as “the first artistic representation known to humanity”…. And they were (apparently) mainly of goats and horses – see the representation on the second piccie below…
We took a few photos going round but we also (due to me) bought the “official” photo on the way out – which shows my bargain €7 coat !!!
We then had lunch in the restaurant and there were little birdies flying around which Dave (naughtily as was spotted by the waitress) kept trying to feed them. They were very tame & I managed to catch a couple of photies – first one with birdie approaching and the second actually taking the bread out of Dave’s fingers !!!
In the evening we “do as the Romans (well British ex-pats ) do – which is – as it is a Wednesday – go to “Hostal Allegre – The Barrel Bar”…
Caught with a couple of peeps we’ve met before – plus made some new friends – and then ended up chatting with the Swedish & Finish owners Yarn & Cecilia. They have a VERY successful bar/tapas establishment plus 6 rooms so we found ourselves talking shop !!!
What was hilarious was that Cecilia’s uncle (Anders Burman) is the found of the Metronome record label and when she was 12, she was asked to be “coat girl” at a party that ABBA attended 😳 – and (even though they were at the height of their fame) when ASKED BY ABBA if she wanted their autograph – she replied “No, it’s fine” 😳 😂 😂 😂 !!!
(See piccies of Dave & I with Kevin & Helen, then Yarn & Cecilia then ME with Yarn & Cecilia !!!)
Kevin & Helen are hooked on a game called “Padel” (which seems to be really big in Spain) and which is defined by Mr Google as:-
“Padel (Spanish: pádel) is a Mexican racket sport typically played in doubles on an enclosed court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court. Scoring is the same as normal tennis, and the balls used are similar but with a little less pressure.”
They play a couple of times a week & were playing Monday morning so I asked if Marcus could have a try…
And he took to it like a duck to water 🐣 !!! See piccie below…
Then Kevin needed to let Helen’s horse “Quieto” out so we went to the stables and had a little stroke of all the horses there… 🐴
Luckily Kevin’s car converts to a 7-seater so we all piled in and he drove us to a lovely little restaurant in Velez-Malaga – which was filled with Spaniards on their (late) lunch break. There was a “Menu Del Dia” which had a choice of each of the 3 courses AND included a drink of your choice 🍷- all for the bargain price of €11 !!!
I had this interesting little starter of stewed peas with a fried egg 🍳on the top, followed by chicken fillet & chips, polished off with profiteroles and washed down with a glass of vino blanco 😋
Marcus (bless him) pushed himself out of his comfort zone and ended up with some dishwater soup with bits of chicken in followed by garlic 🧄 goat 🐐!!! I had a try and it was nice – but there wasn’t too much meat and it was all on the bone…
We didn’t leave the restaurant until nearly 5pm then it was time for Marcus to get packed up, bid the family farewell and we trundled off in The Van to Malaga Airport ✈️ to drop him for his flight…
Bit of slow start after the busy day and late one the night before… 😴
Helen had booked us (last minute) into “Rocky’s Bar” for a traditional English Sunday Lunch at 1:30pm for us all – which is a 15 minute (fairly flat) walk from Capistrano Village so Paul, Sue, Dave, myself & Marcus all trundled off…
It felt really warm in the sunshine but upon arrival at the bar (because it was a favour to Helen that they’d squeezed us in) the majority of the customers were sitting outside in the sunshine 😎 but our “Reservado” table was inside which – with all the bi-fold doors open – was a bit on the chilly side 🥶
Kevin & Helen arrived and they are really good friends with the owners (which are an English family from The North) and the next minute Kevin got stuck in and was starting a fire & popping logs on – to make it a bit warmer inside… 🔥
The food was excellent & beautifully presented (see piccies of Marcus’s “Chicken Parfait” (chicken liver pate) and Dave’s mushrooms – both of which I had a taste of… 😋)
ALL offerings of meat seemed to be available and between the 7 of us, I think we had them all – I had turkey, Marcus had beef, Dave had pork belly and I saw lamb on the bone go down the other end of the table….
I was full so didn’t have a pud and all the ladies opted for a tipsy coffee (my first bit of alcohol as Dave & I were on lime and sodas to rest our livers !!!) and THEN Marcus & I went to try out one of the pool tables in the back…🎱
I think we had 4 or 5 games – and one of them was “Helen & I take Marcus” – and we gave him a run for his money – but ultimately still lost 😐. The very last game was just Marcus & I and the only reason why I won was because when he potted the black – the white went down too !!! 🍀
And the whole time we were there, there was a lady entertaining us with 🎵 “crowd pleasers” 🎵and a couple of peeps even got up to dance 🕺💃🏻
As ever – a good time was had by all – followed by a bit of a quieter evening as Paul wasn’t feeling 100%…
We thought we’d walk Marcus into Nerja to show him the Europe de Balcon, the catholic church, the shops, etc. which is normally a 30 minute meander downhill but Paul & Sue collected us and took us “the scenic route” via Burriana Beach.
We stopped at a high (unguarded) viewpoint & peeps went FAR too near the edge for my liking 😳 so I took a couple of snaps of THEM soaking in the view as I didn’t fancy getting that close !!!
After a bit of a lairy, gravelly path downhill 😳, we eventually got back on the flat & lunch was in full swing at all the beachfront cafes and bars on Burriana Beachfront (see the HUGE paella dish from one such establishment) and we settled on a place that was a real sun-trap 😎 & ordered various omelettes, toasties, wraps, etc. washed down with tea & coffee (to give our livers a bit of a rest !!!)
We carried on into Nerja (see photie of Marcus & Myself with King Alfonso 12th whose statue is at the end of the Balcon) & also listened to the Spanish guitar singers who were performing on the Balcon and Dave bought their CD 🎵. Then had a little wander, said a prayer & lit a candle in Parroquia El Salvador 💒.
Went into one or two shops & I tried on a few leather jackets and STILL haven’t bought one yet (I’m struggling with the collars…)
We’d done a LOT of steps by then, it was hot and the return uphill journey – via the supermarket – was a trudge 😓 so we had a little rest on the (still sunny) balcony of P&S’s place with a cup of tea and a sherry… I’d used the APP on Dave’s phone (!!!) to translate the back of the bottles when in the supermarket but I still managed to buy one that was too sweet, had a syrup-ey texture & that I won’t be having any more of (Dave and Paul still managed a second helping though !!!)
Then we put on our glad-rags (check out my new red torerita !!!), went to La Cueva, met Helen & Kevin and all had a little drinkie & chat then ended up at Paul & Sue’s for spaghetti bolognaise (made by P&S) plus garlic bread made by Marcus – and it was a good job that we weren’t in contact with anybody else too soon afterwards as there was a PLENTY of garlic 🧄 in those dishes to keep away the vampires 🧛♂️ !!!
And more chat, more alcohol and a music quiz from 1970’s (which managed to clear Marcus off back to The Van) ended the evening… (check out Dave’s party trick of his Mick Jagger impersonation 😂 plus the very last photo is of the OTHER Helen Miller (!!!) & Dave dancing / singing – which I don’t actually remember taking…)
Friday morning back in Nerja dawned sunny 😎 and definitely a few degrees warmer than our in-land ventures of late… (see first piccie of frost on the ceiling window from our last morning in Ronda !!! 🥶)
About half an our west along the coast is a town called Almunecar which has a market on a Friday so the plan (as we had missed the 10:15am bus) was for Dave to take Paul, Sue, Marcus & myself in The Van…
It was a lovely drive, high up in the hills along the coast road but parking proved tricky so Dave dropped us all off so we could have a wander around the market as it was due to close at 2pm. Sue tried a green padded winter coat on but in the end I finished up with it – for the bargain price of €7 !!! (… and later when the sun had gone behind the building in the square where we were having lunch I was very grateful for it !!!)
Other bargains included 5 pairs of boxers for Marcus for €5, plus a couple of pairs of trousers for him – some khaki baggy linen/cargos which he liked & wore out in the evening plus a pair of grey tracky-things which he put on in the square (after we lost the sun) and – in true Spanish-market fashion – he moaned that one leg was different to the other 😂 !!!
We were booked into “La Cueva” (The Cave Bar) to meet Helen, Kevin & friends for fish & chips in the evening so we said we’d eat less & just have a few tapas at lunchtime…
However we ended up in a square, sitting in the sunshine at an establishment with NO tapas so I ordered a ham & cheese bagel but when it arrived it was HUGE – like a bundt !!! (cake with a hole in the middle – see “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” scene !!!). There was also chips & salad & Dave had pork steak & chips so at least we were taking it steady to leave room for the fish & chips later 😐
There was also a little old lady sitting at the table next to us who was initially very disgruntled as I think she was obviously local, had probably lived there all of her life & ALWAYS had the table that we were sitting at…. Anyway all of a sudden, she took a shine to Marcus & started smiling & chattering away in Spanish so I grabbed my phone & got her to speak into Google Translate (an APP on my phone 😂) and she said that Marcus was handsome & looked just like her grandson who had 2 children of his own), etc. Ah the wonders of the modern world… So they had a little photo 😊
We had another beer / vino and whilst Dave went to fetch The Van, we wandered down to the sea front past all the shops. It’s a lovely little town (I’d go back there) but wrong time of day for the shops as it was then siesta time so they were all closed…
We came back, had tea & cake on Paul & Sue’s balcony in the beautifully warm sunshine, then I watched a Coro in The Van then we got ready & went down to La Cueva (where Dave & I shared a fish & chips !!!) and a good time was had by all 😊🍷🥘
So we had a slow-ish start to the day after getting ready & having brekky. I had a few guest admin tasks to care of PLUS we were on the phone to the UK re the re-insuring of Pink Beach 🏝️ after the flood… (‘nuff said 😐)
To try & shake Dave’s (not brilliant) mood, we headed out about 2pm heading firstly for (yet another) locked 🔒 church 💒 – how your man up there expects us to worship when the doors are always closed is beyond me 😐
Then we trundled off to Puerta de Almocabar & Arab Walls – Ronda’s defensive walls and City Gates… (few piccies below)
We followed this with a visit to the Arab Baths – which was almost RIGHT at the bottom of the valley…
It was an interesting half hour including a 10 minute English information film.
So the baths were built – on purpose – next to the city entrance so that the peeps could be clean after travelling from afar & before entering the city (& also cleanliness for religious purposes)…
At the bottom of the ravine is water & they built the baths along with a water wheel driven by donkey which continuously collected the water in canisters and dragged them up & tipped them into a gulley which then ran into the baths.
In the baths there was a fire 🔥 fuelled by wood 🪵 which warmed the water & in the first room next to the fire all the water evaporated so it was like a steam room.
The next room was the “warm room” where peeps sat & chatted & sometimes had massages & then there was a cold room.
And they had sessions for ladies too…
There are pretty carved shapes in the roof which let in sunlight thus illuminating the place… (see piccies)
Oh and on the way back we took piccies of the bull & matador outside the bullring as we forgot yesterday !!!
We then had a fairly lairy journey 😳 through the mountains (see piccie of the chicaines on the SatNav below !!!) on the way to Malaga Airport ✈️ to collect Marcus. Even though (I thought) I’d Googled where to park, It was all a bit stressful taking the motorhome & it was too high for all the parking spaces; Marcus rang in the middle of it all and (thankfully) spotted the motorhome and came to us 😅
Marcus was STARVING & Dave was tired so dropped us off near town and Marcus & I went to the Indian (it was OPEN !!!) and he ate & I had a vino blanco 🍷 and then we hiked the half hour back to The Van parked in front of Paul & Sue’s place again at Capistrano Village & 😴…
When we came out of the bullring, we headed for the Puente Nuevo (“The New Bridge”) – which was completed after 40 years in 1793 and is the main landmark of Ronda.
It is the largest of the three bridges that span the 120 metre-deep ravine that splits the city of Ronda.
And the views from the bridge and surrounding lookout points are stunning… (see piccies below).
We then had a little look around the tat shops & decided to buy (& make !!!) one of those little signs made up of tiles (again see piccies !!!)
As it was due to be -1° overnight, we came back to The Van to enjoy a veritable feast of fresh pasta & sauce, salad, homemade potato salad & fresh bread – washed down with a vino or two 🍷
Then we cuddled up in bed and watched The Lincoln Lawyer – which is a cracking film (if you haven’t seen it – we highly recommend it !!!)
So as we need to be at Malaga airport to pick up Marcus by 8:40pm on Thursday evening, we had to be making our way back down to the coast so Dave suggested a place that I thought only existed in Wales 🏴 – a place called Ronda.
Dave sorted The Van (emptied dirty water & refilled with clean, etc) first thing at the Seville AutoCaravan place, we had brekky then set off for Ronda. It wasn’t that far but Dave spotted a Van-Wash place on the way (& stopped to give it a go as he said he was embarrassed because everybody else’s van was cleaner than his !!!) so it took a couple of hours or so in total.
The Ronda AutoCaravan site was pretty central & only about 2km from all the places we wanted to visit so we had a cup of tea, planned a cycle route and then set off on the bikes.
It was pretty chilly 🥶 but still fairly sunny 😎 and we’re used to it now – layers are the only way forward !!!
First stop was Plaza de Toros de Ronda – an 18th century bullfighting ring 🐂. It seats almost 5,000 people and the bullring itself is 66 metres in diameter & is the largest in Spain 🇪🇸 !!!
It was an €8 entry fee each and we had the English audio guide & map which were excellent. It talked us through the history & architecture of the building (see the Royal Box up in the stands below) as well as the evolution & art of bullfighting. We saw where the bull pens were (which weren’t very big – I’m standing outside in the corridor on the way to the ring – and then in the one of the actual pens) & the journey the bulls made into the ring…
{ I hadn’t realised that the bull always met it’s death in the ring – and actually now feel quite sorry for the poor animals… 😞 }
And there has only ever been ONE matador death in the Ronda Bullring…
There are big boards strategically placed around the ring that the matador could hide behind (see me below in a “Chad” piccie – “Wot. No Bull ?” 😂)
There was also a museum displaying bullfighting regalia & important outfits, etc. (check out the SIZE of the hip flasks in the final piccie 😂).
It was a really interesting couple of hours that we both thoroughly enjoyed 😊
OK – so Dave wanted to visit La Plaza de España and I wanted to visit Plaza de América (as when we’d been on the bus the audio-lady had said the square was full of doves 🕊️) so that’s where we went next…
We could see a couple of peeps selling bird food at €1.50 a bag so I went along and bought some…
The area was already filled with doves (& pigeons) and as I approached more suddenly appeared. By the time I had the bag of bird food in my hand, it was like a scene from Hitchcock’s “The Birds” 😂 !!!
Dave was on his bleedin’ phone (he was cross with the accountant – see below) and as I was being attacked, I kept shouting “Dave !!! DAVE !!! Please tell me you’re getting photos of this !!!”
Clearly (see below) – he did – and even though HE didn’t have any food – they settled on him too !!!
When all the food was gone (literally less than a minute later) it was all a bit calmer & the last “bird” piccie below is posed – and I was about to burst into song with 🎵 “Feed the birds, €1.50 a bag…” 🎵 but managed to contain myself 😂 !!!
With all the excitement we forgot to take any piccies of the lovely buildings in the square & got back on the bikes as we’d spotted a little bar over in the corner – where we had MORE sherry (sadly the dry stuff 😐) & tapas !!! Pork steak in sauce, meatballs, potato salad, bread and fries – and it was bloody lovely 😋
The sherries arrived and as we waited for the food, Dave was constructing a curt reply to the accountant (suffice to say that 31st January is approaching…) and I sat there being bathed in (unexpectedly) warm sunshine (I’d taken off my fur poncho AND my fleece !!!) and took a piccie (last one below) which is simply of the 2 glasses of sherry (which were also being bathed in warm sunshine) and I took in my surroundings and – as mindfulness dictates – “live in the present” & “appreciate the small things” – I thought, “It’s not a bad life, is it ?”… 🍷 😎 ❤️
