Monday 26 February 2024

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.

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.

Sunday 18 February 2024

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 … 


Tuesday 6 February 2024

Week 2. Competa

Sat 3rd Feb.

Awoke to hazy sunshine with views to die for from the villa terrace.


And our terrace with someone slobbing out after breakfast.




After a leisurely breakfast we decided to walk down to the village via the short cut described by Edzard the villa owner.
Well the 50m steep short cut was practically vertical through an olive grove of sorts, strewn with rocks and the odd piece of concrete - Carol struggled with her arthritic hip and knees even with a walking pole. 

Once on the edge of the village we failed miserably to find the rest of the shortcut but eventually managed to find the main square and the Saturday market .The place was buzzing with lots of familiar English voices and also many Dutch ones mixing with German, French and Spanish.


(This photo was actually taken on a different day when the square was practically empty)

After perusing the market we returned to the main square where there were several restaurants offering Menus del Dia - we plumped for the more expensive one.

3 courses for €10 . Both ordering an ensalada mixte - we expected a rather small offering but no this was a whopping dinner plate sized salad with lots of different types of salads…and tuna! Mains were a pork stew in an almond sauce and frites and we had to opt for a coffee as we no room for a dessert. How do they make it for that price …. And a glass of wine was less than €3. And the one next door was offering a €9 3 courser - will definitely have to try and compare …. Would be rude not to.

The restaurants were busy with locals, many of whom appeared expats who it seems use Market Day to meet up with local friends and do lunch, much like we used to do in France.
We had a walk around Competa which is bigger than we thought and after getting lost again up and down the steep streets we finally found the vertical path back to the villa.

The church


Whilst the younger folk lunch the older men of Competa sit outside the church for a chin wag.



A charming statue beside the church

A lazy late afternoon followed with an early night . Its bally freezing though in the evenings and after huddling by the log burner we took hot water bottles to bed and extra throws to keep us toasty.

Sun 4th Feb.

A nothing day - Graham took Millie for a walk and explore … Carol didn't - enjoying pottering around the house and garden.
Lunch al fresco and a lazy afternoon reading in the sun . Whats not to like…”


Mon 5th Feb.
Torrox Costa
Today we ventured back along the wibbly wobbly road to Torrox Costa about 20 kms away. A promised dog friendly beach was the target, Millie suffering from withdrawal symptoms from her Dorset beach. 
Torrox Costa was a typical seaside tourist town with wide streets and lots of apartments. It seemed quite vibrant and once again many English voices were heard, it even had an English supermarket and a Chinese Bazar.

We walked to the large sandy beach which looked well maintained and swept although not the golden sand we expected but rather a grey / taupe colour. Big signs stated no dogs!
We followed a short promenade around a headland and came upon a rather scruffy pebble strewn affair …. Yes the dog friendly beach! Not up to Dorset standards but Millie didn’t mind.




It also appeared to be the wild camping place to be for motorhomes and campers giving it a rather bohemian air.

Millie thought it was great chasing her ball and pebbles …. .. what’s not to like! Apart from dodging the few bedraggled local dogs sniffing around … 

Back to the main prom we promenaded until deciding to do lunch in a tapas bar. Another relatively cheap and tasty meal. Carol particularly liked the Oyster mushrooms grilled a la plancha with a garlic sauce.  Another lazy lunch .. this is the life …




Then a massive shop at Lidl the supermarket of choice it seems … back on the wibbly wobbly road back to the villa. 
Tea on the terrace, a nice chill out on the terrace and then stoke up the logburner before a light supper. Think we’ll be eating in a lot in the evenings here as it gets dark early and we can’t face the trek back.

Tues 6th Feb

Sunny today - feeling warm.
After the usual lazy start and breakfast on the terrace - a walk with Millie along the easy track to Camillas de Albaida.

Just right for Carol no steep hills to challenge her arthritic knees but still lovely hillside views all the way. The track meandered through olive groves and there were lots of trees which we assumed were fig trees harvested by the local farmers.




View of Canillas de Albaida



Back for lunch on the terrace, and for Carol a lovely lounge in the sun with her kindle whilst Graham headed back into the village for a explore and a British plug adaptor to replace the ones we left in the hotels en route..

Even though it was really warm today by evening once the sun goes down it is chilly - the log burner is getting a serious workout!



Another lovely sunset .

Weds 7th Feb

Another day spent locally. The soon to be usual dog walk - back along the path to Canillas de Albaida - this time making it into the village.



Ermita de Santa Ana - a sweet looking church with fantastic hill views.


A view of Competa from the road down.

Lunch then off to find logs at the local hardware store. Thankfully the shop owner spoke English as we overheard the customer before us “Reet then. I wanna swap these for a bigger pair and I need some more concrete” in a Northern accent. Our turn. We saw logs in buckets outside but didn’t know what sizes they come in - you don’t get many logs in a Mini Convertible boot - however, they will deliver so good. Because the  villas are so scattered and don’t have numbers, the preferred method is to send a message via Whatsapp with a Google Maps pin attached. Do we know how to do that? Yes, but it wouldn’t work. Eventually they circumvented the Whatsapp and accepted a dropped pin on their mobile. Expecting to wait a few days we were surprised when they said delivery would be 45mins and more surprised when the logs were delivered 40 mins later - well impressed. We then had to move them into the lobby under cover as heavy rain is forecast tomorrow.  

Further stoking of the fire , a cosy dinner a la Casa and so to bed.

Thurs 8th Feb.

Woke to the sound of  of heavy rain ….which continued non stop until the evening.



Not such a lovely view today…

The empty buckets outside were overflowing as we peered out on waking.. 




No walk for Millie today … a day of reading and Netflix watching today …

Fri 9th Feb

Today we set off for a visit to Nerja.

Before heading there we did a circular walk to the Torre de Maro - a watchtower just outside of Nerja with lovely coastal views. The guide book said it was an easy walk for all abilities with a short uphill climb to the tower… The climb equated to 19 stair climbs - Carol emerging puffing, sweating and clutching her knees!!

The Torre





The view 

The walk downhill was much more to Carol’s taste.





On to Nerja for lunch. Carol remembered it as having a lovely old town centre with lots of tapas bars ( last here probably nearer to 20 years ago) - we passed development after development of urbanisations, hit the town centre which was very busy, cruised round trying to find a parking slot or a beach … after a frustrating time up and down streets we gave up and headed back out to Torrox Costa! 

Lunch in the same tapas bar - chatting to a couple who live here most of the year  - she was from Finland and he was from Australia. Apparently it was -15 degrees in Helsinki today … we can see why they choose to stay here!

They recommended a lovely supermarket Mercadona  in which Carol delightedly filled her shopping bags with foodstuffs ….and just a little wine.. 

Back to the villa, log fire building, dinner etc etc. We’re getting into the swing of the Spanish life - tea in bed watching the sunrise, breakfast around 10 am, lunch around 2pm and a late dinner .. but failing miserably emulating the Spanish dining at 10 pm because that’s when we’re heading for bed ! As my Gran said an hour before midnight is worth two after!