Week 3. The Trees and the dog in the hills of Andalucia.

Sat 10 th Feb

A cloudy day promising rain greeted us. We did the usual dog walk almost to Canillas de Albaida and then walked into town. A meander round the shops - Graham popping into a wine shop to peruse the wares. Crikey - there are wines in here for €350. These Dutch people must have deep pockets! Anyway Graham came away with a couple of bottles and remarked that the shop owner was smiling as he was leaving.

We took a few photos of the village - added to the previous post as on our first visit we forgot to take some.

A wander to the soon-to-finish market , a bit of shopping then back to the villa for a late lunch, a rainy afternoon spent reading (Carol) ,website designing (Graham) and sleeping (Millie). Followed by the usual log fire making, supper and Netflix watching - Graham has bought a VPN to trick the TV channels to think we are still in the UK so we can watch the Six Nations Rugby, Scotland playing a silly kick and wait game against France which cost them dear in the end. England victorious over Wales.

Sun 11th Feb

A rainy nothing day ….but we did get to watch The Antiques Roadshow - Live!

Mon 12th Feb.

Graham had a great idea - we will walk into the centre of Canillas de Albaida and have lunch in one of the restaurants. Well, if we thought Competa’s streets were steep - Canillas is on another level literally - Carol swears they were a 1:2 gradient - the steepest had uneven cobbles and snake mosaics almost goading us as we puffed and panted up and down (well only Carol to be fair). 

Carol thought about taking photos of the quaint colourful narrow streets but lack of oxygen prevented her ability to get her iphone out!

We hunted high and low for an open restaurant after being assured by Trip adviser several were open. We struggled on up to the Municipal Pool (empty) to the restaurant  Oscar - completely deserted … an uphill climb and back through the village - a  walk back to Competa and on to the villa …. And a late lunch at Casa Reprisa at 3. 30 pm…

Another evening chez nous with Carol nursing her sore knees …for what!

Tues 13th Feb.

Today we decided to give Nerja another try. We read there is a central underground car park near to the Balcón de Europa hotel.

The destination was programmed into Google Maps and we arrived safely although the spaces were a tad narrow for our liking so we praised ourselves for deciding to drive the Mini.

We emerged from the car park into an large square and a few minutes later arrived at the Balcón de Europa - an impressive promenade leading to a round viewing balcony with extensive views of the Med and mountains. It was originally a 9th C fort/castle. You know what? It’s lovely. Basically people were milling about killing time until they were hungry enough to lunch at one of the many restaurants.

A view from further along the beach promenade.

Leaning against the railings is a statue of King Alfonso X11 - commemorating his visit to the town in Jan 1885 to see the damage caused by an earthquake on Christmas Day 1884. It is a popular place for a photo opportunity …if you can’t beat em join em.. 

We walked through the town until we reached a beach promenade. This linked several beaches stretching for several kms.

Another fine statue overlooking a beach.

We continued until we reached the river estuary - which was dry as a bone ….this area seriously needs some rain draining from the mountains ..but not until we leave please..

Here you can join a pathway continuing the Senda Litoral - The Great Malaga Coastal Path - which stretches over 200 kms from the Balcón de Europa Nerja to the Duchess of Manilva beyond Estepona!

View along the coast - you can just see the lighthouse of Torrox Costa.

Back along the promenade to a lovely restaurant with views of the beach and the sea for a quality lunch. Monkfish ravioli in a lobster sauce. The food here was definitely a step up from Torrox and we think we may have done Nerja an injustice earlier in the blog! It certainly was a lively place ,with many hotels and apartments doing good business from Brits and Northern Europeans  by the sounds of the accents heard. Not a bad way of escaping some of the winter months. 

Weds 14th Feb.

Happy Valentines Day !

Another stay at home day with the usual dog walk almost to Canillas de Albaida and back . A late lunch, afternoon reading in the sun on the terrace etc etc …..

Thurs 15 th Feb.

Market day today in Frigiliana which was once voted one of the prettiest villages in Spain, so we decided to go.

The market itself was a tad disappointing - mainly cheap fake designer jeans , clothing, shoes and bedding. No artisan crafts here.

However the old part of the village was very pretty and there were artisan craft shops, boutiques and tourist shops galore. In one of which Graham found what he has been looking for since arriving - a giant mug for his morning tea ! ( the ones at the villa are teeny weeny )

The streets were wider than Canillas and a darn sight less steep. 

We enjoyed meandering through them 

And on to the customary lunch stop … We were surprised that what we thought to be a tapas restaurant turned out to be a Polish restaurant!

Graham tried Polish tapas - stuffed cabbage leaves, Polish sausage and fried onions and dumplings. Carol played safe with a salad.

The restaurant was in a plaza just behind the market place.

View from the plaza

The place was heaving with …mainly Brits and Northern Europeans, but it was THE slowest restaurant in Frigiliana and no wonder - the kitchen was tiny, much smaller than our lodge and they were trying to produce meals for about 20 tables. It was so slow it started to rain as we got the bill which coincided with a couple coming in and asking what the price of a glass of wine was -  3€ a glass or 12€ for a bottle. We’ll have a bottle they said and sat down out of the rain. Geordies I think.

Friday 16th Feb

A cooler day today, as forecast. There is a carnival happening in Competa in a weeks time so we decide to visit the Tourist Information and explore Competa a bit more. It really is a pretty place - very clean , lots of little streets winding up and down.

Just before the tourist office was an interesting mural depicting the area just beside it….

The cheerful young lady behind the desk at the tourist office confidently stated she spoke English. “ Can you tell us about the Carnival? “ “Not really it’s  the first time” …. Directing us to a flyer in Spanish we asked her to translate it ….peering at it and following the words with her finger she still failed to find the right words for us …. It seemed to indicate some sort of competition for individuals or groups suggested Carol - could it be traditional or fancy dress ….”Mmm Yes, No, maybe “ was the shrugged response. Ah well guess we’ll just have to go and see on the day!

Another week has drifted along pleasantly …. Tomorrow Millie has a lovely surprise to come …the human she loves the most, our daughter Philippa is arriving for a week …