Week 4 . Competa continued with a visit from Philippa

Sat 17th Feb.

We spent the morning doing the usual Canillas walk and later in the afternoon Graham went off to Malaga airport to pick up Philippa. Carol stayed behind to prepare/clean for her arrival.

The reception Millie gave Philippa as she arrived was to be seen to be believed - we caught the ecstatic performance on video but sadly we can only show it in the blog from Youtube and we don’t have an account (and don’t really want one). Suffice to say the squirming went on for a full four minutes - we feel definitely like second fiddles!

Sun 18th Feb.

The usual late morning routine walk and then on to the central square for lunch. It was heaving but we managed to find a sunny table and enjoyed a tapas lunch. 

Feeling like being naughty and having a dessert - Carol decided to order the assortment of desserts at €10 which we could share. Expecting a selection of mini puds like an assiette of desserts we know from France, the waiter staggered to the table with an enormous platter on which were 6 full size portions of, Creme Caramel, Strawberry Cheesecake, Carrot Cake, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Brownie and Apple cake surrounded by cream and fruit and chocolate sauce. We managed to finish off the Cheesecake and Creme Caramel and thankfully they packaged up the rest for us to take home to enjoy over the next few days. All for €10 euros !! 

We slowly walked back up the hill to the villa and collapsed on the terrace until our tummies recovered.

 We can see the appeal of folk spending the winter months out here and enjoying treating themselves whilst saving the heating bills at home.

Mon 19th Feb.

Today is a day  dedicated to Millie’s pleasure. We are seeking out the Doggie beach at Torre del Mar which we're informed even has a doggie 

agility course and doggie showers.

Torre del Mar is a what you would describe as a typical tourist resort you would expect Brits on a budget to come to. We drove by rows and rows of tall towers of apartments in search of said beach. It didn't give off the  most sophisticated of vibes but as we parked up and walked along the beaches passing bars and restaurants we could see the appeal.

Finally finding the beach of doggie pleasure - much time was spent throwing a ball to Millie as she tore around the beach, splashing through the sea to do her favourite thing in the world - chasing balls and pebbles.

Come on Dad don’t walk away!

We tried to entice her into the agility area and she did manage a scramble over some of the apparatus on the promise of a treat or 2 -  even managing to do the doggie see saw but she wasn't overly impressed with the beach and sea winking at her over the fence.

The doggie agility course.

We took a video of her noble attempts but sadly we cant work out how to transfer to the blog ..

Finally she was tired out…

 and we retired to a rather lovely beach bar with a sea view and sunny outlook for another lunch.

After a quick shop en route home we headed back with a satisfied Millie peering longingly back in the direction of the beach of delights….

Tues 20th Feb.

Philippa is getting bored with our chilled routines …today she and Graham took off for a more challenging hike in the surrounding hills.

Carol stayed at the villa and after a little light cleaning, spent time doing research into home decoration by reading the expert tomes of House Beautiful and Ideal Homes.

Luckily using an iphone app we found a walk we could do right from our villa. Just a small vertical scramble to a recognised hike - senda de Malaga gave us lovely views over the mountains to the coast. Hike No GR 249 if you are ever around these parts.

It was a really nice walk: hard scramble to test legs and lungs, gentle stroll with amazing views, cooling descent through pine trees and finally a picturesque walk along levadas - irrigation channels to bring what precious water has fallen in the mountains down to fertile soil at habitation levels. (Spain, and this area particularly is already under drought restrictions - in February! Hard to imagine after the winter we’ve had)

Back to the villa for a late lunch, a little sunbathing, reading, crossword, dinner.

Wed 21st Feb

Today we decide on a mixed day: show Philippa village shopping in Frigiliana, nice lunch in Nerja, and finally shopping top up. All these place are within a 10km radius.

Another beautiful village house in Frigiliana . 

After an hour or so of boutique browsing and village/ hill view admiring we headed for lunch in Nerja - taking Philippa to the beachside restaurant we enjoyed last week.

Another view of one of the beaches in Nerja

Then Philippa was feeling sorry for Millie having to be on a lead all the time, and having had to sit and look at a tempting non dog beach over lunch - persuaded us to stop off at the dog beach at Torrox Costa.

Again Millie was in doggie heaven chasing pebbles and the ball, cooling off frolicking in the sea.

 Graham appeared to be overcome with deep thoughts…

A quick top up shop and back for a cup of tea and later a sundowner overlooking anther glorious sunset.

Thurs 23rd Feb.

Awoke to a other sunny day ….as we look on to the garden from the terrace we have noticed fruit bearing trees …

  

 

Avocados! We thought they came from somewhere like South America, but apparently this area in the hills of the Axarquía from Malaga to Granada is a major producer of avocados.

After a leisurely start ( again!) Graham and Philippa set out for a walk with Millie to explore further the levadas they saw a couple of days ago, and interestingly although they were full of gushing water earlier this time they were bone dry.. Carol attempted to accompany them but turned back after a couple of mins as her knees were protesting and she didn't want to risk it. - Oh dear will have to lie in the sun idly passing the time of day til they return ….

This evening we braved leaving Millie in the villa whilst we walked down to a rather nice local restaurant. It had Greek vibes with blue furniture and white walls - the food was excellent more a la carte than we've been used to  .. a lovely evening with good food and welcoming service.  Would recommend!

  

A clean plate says it all!

Fri 23rd Nov

Another hiking day for Philippa and Graham - a longer one this time whilst Carol chose to walk down to the village for supplies and then cooking a lovely veggie moussaka for their return.

We started with the same near vertical scramble up rocks to get to the mirador (viewpoint) show in the previous walk, but instead of leveling out we kept climbing, up and up, round the next corner and then up again until we were 1,049m elevation. We than leveled out following an official trail with each view better than the last.

 

We started our descent with Millie leading the way.

We were basically going in a circle over the top and round the mountain to our East. On the other side we had great views of the mountains above Frigiliana called Cerro Tres Cruces (I think).

We could just make out Nerja in the distance with Frigiliana partly hidden by mountains

We passed a viewpoint with cars parked (Mirador Puerto del Collado) and followed the gravel road down to Competa, knees aching from the downward stretches. A challenging but rewarding hike. Graham’s watch showed 98 flights of stairs climbed. 76 in one hour - that’s like climbing the Post Office (now BT) Tower in London and down again twice in your lunch break!

Sat 24th Feb.

Today it is Carnival Day in Competa - the one the rather vague young lady in the tourist office failed to explain

Before we descended into the village we walked the usual dog walk to Canillas and then headed off for a late lunch in the square. As we ate a stage was being erected and after a short post lunch walk a band appeared dressed like the Flintstones as the  warm up act for the start of the event. Again recorded a short video but not able to put it on here - look forward to showing anyone who’s interested when we get home!

We settled down with a drink and watched the proceedings develop. There were no announcements but random groups of individuals and groups in fancy dress collected and danced around the square,  joined with enthusiastic bystanders in a conga ,eventually parading away … very random but entertaining!

A family of Minnie Mouses.

A random dinosaur.

A collection of beer bottles ..This brand Victoria is popular here made in Andalucia.

Apparently there are carnivals like this throughout this area of Spain, usually the weekend before or after Shrove Tuesday - an excuse to eat, drink, dance, dress up and have fun before the restrictions of Lent. After which there will be further excuse for more partying at Easter.

Here’s a little video to put you in the mood. 

Carnival at Competa

Then the hike back to the villa to watch on catch up Scotland convincingly beat England in the Rugby 6 nations.

Sun 25 th Feb.

Will include an extra day into this weeks musings as Philippa leaves us to return to Liverpool today.

Enroute to the Malage Airport we took the opportunity to revisit Torre del Mar , starting with a revisit to the Doggie Beach to tire Millie out  

before heading into the centre of the resort. Again our earlier impressions on our previous visit proved wrong as the place was enormous, with many shops, restaurants, bars etc and a massive promenade. The promenade was landscaped with planting, there were children’s play areas, 

and as we approached a rather grand bandstand there was a clapping crowd being entertained by a group of rather regal looking singers. Waiting behind were another group in different costumes … the last day of Carnival !

 

We wandered on choosing a seaview bar to take lunch ….yes again!

A good choice the food was delicious. Before we ate a cheeky parakeet decided to visit the table - perching on Philippa’s  hand.  Carol rushed to take a photo when it spotted the remains of the complimentary langoustines  - and swooped in to take a snack before being helped on its way by a sweep of a menu card.

Parakeet takes snack opportunity ruining the photo opportunity.

Both Philippa and Carol were so impressed with the size of Philippa’s salad bowl they had to take a snap.

This was the delicious goats cheese, apple and walnut salad bowl.

And so all good things come  to an end and we travelled on to the airport to bid farewell to Philippa.

Next week we leave the villa on Thurs and will travel back through Spain and on to France to catch the ferry in Brittany and  home.