Category: France Spain 2023

We woke up early and Dave decided (in his wisdom) to MOVE The Van (even though I said that we were OK until 6pm for our €23) – but he was insistent… He emptied the waste for free and then we roamed the streets and luckily found a place next to The Zoo on the Park4Night APP.

We drove in and were charged €5 by a parking “guerilla” (as everybody calls them on Park4Night) but it was flat land and Dave was happy…

It’s been RUBBISH in Europe on a Sunday for the last four weeks (as there’s never much going on and most things are closed…) so we were delighted to see that the “Hop-On Hop-Off” Sightseeing Bus Tour was operational & we bought our tickets (with 10% off as we’d used the same company in Seville and still had our tickets !!!).

It was a little mini-bus with no roof or sides and it went up all these tiny, narrow side-streets & was complete with audio-guide so we learnt some history re Cordoba… (see first piccie of us with our red plastic earphones plugged into the bus…)

We then had tapas in a little square and it was just SO “Spanish” 🇪🇸 (outside, warm, in the sunshine, some guy playing his guitar, families, etc.) – see (half-eaten) Russian Salad and Chorizo In Red Wine below…

Then we bibbed off on the bikes and took a few “classic photos” of Cordoba on & around the Roman Bridge with the city in the background and where – according to the lady on the bus tour audio guide – “East meets West”. There’s also one of me sitting in front of the “Monument to the Beauty of Cordoban Women” created by José Manuel Belmonte in 2003… and then we went down by the river (again) and had cocktails… 🍹

Dave ALWAYS has a Pina Colada but as there was no “Pornstar Martini” (my standard go-to), I skimmed the ingredients of the remaining offerings then ordered a Cava Sangria which SAID it was rum, cava, passion fruit soda; however when it arrived, it tasted of CINNAMON !!! (Check out the photos – you’ll see why…) I HATE cinnamon 😐…

Unimpressed, we went to ANOTHER bar for ANOTHER cocktail & ordered 2 x “Sex On The Beach” but it was sickly sweet due to the added ingredient of blueberry puree…

Thus we have decided that Cordoba can’t serve a decent cocktail to save it’s @rse !!!

Let’s hope Pink Beach can do better this season with our new cocktail & tapas chef !!! 🤞

• Location: 37° 52′ 51.42″ N 4° 46′ 49.01″ W

• Location: 37° 52′ 33.98″ N 4° 46′ 37.77″ W

So we said farewell to the family (& Nerja) and made the 211KM journey to Cordoba stopping to make some lunch in The Van on the way (as we were a little hungover…)

We WERE aiming for this “Autocaravanas De Cordoba” place – which is basically like a French aire (i.e. has water & electricity but usually you’re pretty rammed in); however on the way I read some reviews & it was €23 for 24 hours PLUS €2 for 100 litres of water PLUS €2 per hour for electricity – WHICH IS SIMPLY ABYSMAL – most proper camp sites don’t charge anything like that much INCLUDING water & electricity – so we decided to go elsewhere… (Except NOT a proper camp site as there weren’t any close enough to the city…)

Dave has this APP (!!!) on his phone called Park4Night & we found this street outside a park which was pretty close to the sights then we got the bikes out & headed off to town – a couple of kms away…

Cordoba is famous for it’s CATHOLIC cathedral which is inside what was originally a MOSQUE… We’d decided NOT to do the tour that day as it was late in the day but got a snap of me sat outside on the wall with the Arabic door behind me – an unusual backdrop for a Catholic place of worship…

We then went to the “Roman Bridge” (which was the only way to cross Cordoba for centuries) and where there were 3 different buskers – a (very loud) accordion player and 2 guitarists playing Spanish music… Also – in the middle of the bridge – one of the many statues of Archangel San Rafael who is the “Guardian of Cordoba”…

We took a photie of the “Bridge Gate” at the end of the bridge and then ended up at a bar – & had a couple of drinks – adjacent to the river because it is the equivalent of their “esplanade” and the evening sun lasts the longest there…

BUT when we got back, Dave decided that we WOULD go to the €23 for 24 hours place as we would feel safer (and I have to be honest – when we “wild-camp” I always expect some thugs to bang on the door in the middle of night and rob us 😱 not that they ever do !!!)

And that was fine but do you know what ? We watched half of a film then settled down to go to sleep and there was 🎵 MUSIC 🎵 !!! It was like a free concert in the park – and if we weren’t so hungover from 12 nights in Nerja with no rest from alcohol – I’m SURE that we would have gone along & joined in – it was really good music !!!

So we wandered down to the beach and took a few snaps & (interesting ?) fact of this post is – there seems to be VERY LITTLE TIDES as there’s actually a house built into the rock on this little bay (see photo 4 below) and I kept saying to Dave that nobody could possibly live in the house as it was 6 feet from the sea but apparently there is (piccie 3 is taken from outside the house) !!!

Then we caught up with Sue, Paul & some new friends (Dave & Jane who’ve been coming to Nerja for 42 YEARS !!!) & had some lunch overlooking the sea and then we had a wander around the shops & Dave got a couple of T-shirts but I still didn’t find a leather jacket 😔

In the evening we went to “La Cueva” – the “on-site” pub – The Cave Bar @ El Capistrano – but (for once) I concentrated on ALL the family & friends that we’d met and didn’t take any photos…. (and it was a bloody lovely evening)…

• Location: 36° 44′ 40.39″ N 3° 52′ 31.79″ W

• Location: 36° 44′ 42.57″ N 3° 52′ 29.85″ W

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… 😐

• Location: 36° 43′ 52.24″ N 3° 56′ 43.44″ W

• Location: 36° 45′ 55.69″ N 3° 52′ 4.85″ W

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 !!!)

• Location: 36° 44′ 40.27″ N 3° 52′ 31.67″ W

• Location: 36° 45′ 43.27″ N 3° 50′ 42.58″ W

• Location: 36° 45′ 16.95″ N 3° 52′ 26.24″ W

• Location: 36° 45′ 55.62″ N 3° 52′ 4.71″ W

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…

• Location: 36° 45′ 30.65″ N 3° 52′ 11.31″ W

• Location: 36° 45′ 55.4″ N 3° 54′ 4.79″ W

• Location: 36° 46′ 19.27″ N 4° 5′ 59.09″ W

• Location: 36° 45′ 30.65″ N 3° 52′ 11.31″ W

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…

• Location: 36° 45′ 55.37″ N 3° 52′ 4.77″ W

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…)

• Location: 36° 45′ 6.44″ N 3° 51′ 49.83″ W

• Location: 36° 45′ 4.7″ N 3° 51′ 56.43″ W

• Location: 36° 45′ 45.18″ N 3° 52′ 1.4″ W

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 😊🍷🥘

• Location: 36° 44′ 1.33″ N 3° 41′ 27.93″ W

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 & 😴…

• Location: 36° 44′ 20.67″ N 5° 9′ 46.36″ W

• Location: 36° 44′ 33.96″ N 5° 10′ 0.67″ W