Life beyond Fuengirola Blog Entry 3

Andalucía, España

Hola a todos!! 😊

Linda and I are still enjoying a rented car.  Last week-end, we ventured up the coast to Nerja, about an hour and a half north of here.  All painted in white, this town has become the coastal destination for the discerning traveler. 

In fact, Rick Steves, the travel guru, recently picked Nerja, with its historical charm and beauty, as his favourite coastal Andalusian town. Our Ottawa friends, Lorraine and Bill, have been spending large parts of their winters here for the past decade.  Pretty, charming and tranquil, Nerja continues to captivate them to a point where purchasing a hillside property overlooking the Mediterranean was, for a time, a serious consideration.  And why not!

But, I do digress.  Our stay with Lorraine and Bill in Nerja was one full of little adventures and discoveries. 

From the cold glass of cerveza on a hidden terrace, hanging out over the Mediterranean...

....to a walk down the town’s “piece de resistance”, the “Balcón de Europa”, we loved it all.

The “Balcón” is a high outcrop, stretching out into the sea.   

Sauntering down it gives you a sense of how royalty might have felt, meandering over its marble balcony,...

.....glancing appreciatively from left to right and....

.....admiring the vantage point for vistas and pictures.

And of course, if you’re lucky,....

....you’ll also catch a glimpse of one or two of the guards of the promontory,.....

....Nerja’s famous cats.

Back in the car, Bill, our very competent and friendly navigator, was soon guiding us up a narrow road way to....

.....Frigiliana, their favourite white mountain village. 

Its maze of cobbled streets, all lined with meticulously maintained whitewashed houses were certainly a contrast that day...

.

...to the blue skies, the red slate roofs, the colourful plant pots and of course,

....the bright contrasting-coloured front doors.  

And the vistas of the surrounding countryside and.....

.......the coast below all made you understand why ...

....Lorraine and Bill consider Frigiliana to be one of the most beautiful villages in Andalusia and...

....for which it, indeed, has won awards.

The following morning, after a hearty breakfast, we drove up Andalucía’s historic coast to explore one of a chain of “Torres” or towers. 

Out of the car, we bounded up the trail (as fast as old farts do that) on our path to “La Torre del Maro” where.....

.... we first discovered wild plants and shrubs whose names ring familiar in any kitchen back home.  Lorraine and Bill, so knowledgeable about all things Spanish, put names to the faces. 

But for one, I had never seen lavender, thyme, and rosemary in real life.  All I had to do was crush the flowers between my fingers to release a scent that brought me back to our kitchen in Canada.  It was heavenly.

As for the “Torre”, the history of the watchtowers on the coast of Southern Spain tells of both an eventful and troubled past. 

Bill and Lorraine explained that for centuries, these Roman and Moorish posts had been used along the Southern Mediterranean, to warn against pirates and then (much later),...

..... any lurking enemy French or British warships.

Signals were passed between these watchtowers, using smoke by day and fires at night….

..... and as demonstrated by their longevity, they proved to be a very effective defensive tool. 

A day well begun!

Many beautiful and interesting sites were at our beck and call and we did a great job taking in as many of those hide-away spots that only long-time enthusiasts like Loraine and Bill could know.....

For example: Where does one go to find wild mountain goats? A winding narrow road and a look....300 feet below.

But all that work made for four hungry men and women.

For lunch, Lorraine had made a reservation earlier that morning, all in Spanish, at a beautiful beach-side restaurant in the small town of “La Herradura” or "The Horse Shoe". 

It was Sunday, so, of course, our sea-side meal was going to be Paella.  What a lovely way to spend part of the afternoon. 

Time went by so quickly and soon it was back to Nerja and then Fuengirola.  We will see Lorraine and Bill soon and are looking forward to hosting them here.

As for our car, well, sadly, days slipped by and in the end, it was time to give it up.

But hey, we could slip in one last quick trip!!!  Our landlords had spoken to us about a hillside town called Mijas,...

....surprisingly just 8 kilometres up the mountain behind our place here in Fuengirola and curiously, on the way to the airport to return the car. 

When we arrived, a Sarah Palen-esque thought came to mind when, just few steps from our parked car,...

....I looked out over the beautiful Mediterranean, only to see, not Russia, but the beautiful outline of both Gibraltar and Africa. 

What a discovery!  I can see "Africa" from here!

This thoroughly enchanting village, nestled in the mountainside 428 meters above sea level, with its population of just 7,500 has, somehow through the centuries, managed to retain much of its "white village" charm, ....

......with cobbled, narrow streets and staircases, dazzling whitewashed walls,...

......secret nooks and crannies, and, of course,....

....as we can see here to our right,....

.....breathtakingly beautiful vistas,... 😊

I was in love. 

So charming, .....

.....so full of possibilities, and so close, this...

.......little hillside town will certainly be a standard go-to place for us, over the months to come. 

And now on to Malaga, to return our rental and a light-rail trip (23 minutes) home. 

And oh yes...

.....as we admire one of Fuengirola's many green parrots, may I say that in the interim, we have learned of a small glitch in our plans. 

Our projected stay of 92 days in Europe is slightly illegal.  In fact, we're overextended by two days (90 being the limit) so, our next adventure is to scoot off to London for a few days, (England is not in the Schengen Zone).  Thanks to the incredibly cheap fares available from airlines such as Easy Jet and Monarch, it’s no burden at all and we'll get to see Jeremy and Jo.  Ready or not, here we come!

More to come! 

Hasta la vista!  😊