Costa del Sol in January
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| Good Morning from our terrace in Calahonda |
It was a late departure from Poole this time. Our Ryanair flight to Malaga was not due to take-off until 20:40. When we booked it we hadn’t fully grasped that, as a consequence, our arrival wouldn’t be until 00:30. Planning the transfer from the Airport to our accommodation in Calahonda gave us a bit of a dilemma. it was too late to take a train so we tried to hire a car on-line from Thrifty. Sadly our order was rejected. Presumably our late arrival meant that their office would be closed. Luckily, when we did arrive in Malaga, we found it open and were able to pick up a car. The cost was far more than it would’ve been had we booked in advance so we just booked for 4 days and didn't pay for a second driver. The high cost was mainly due to walk ups having to take out their very expensive insurance.
TW took the wheel and we headed off to Calahonda. It is a very good road but a toll has to be paid when you exit. We selected a toll booth where we could pay with a credit card but the bay was terribly narrow and had no lifting barrier, just a Red or Green light. We ended up paying the 3.50Euro toll 3 times and still the light didn't change. Fortunately we did not scrape the car on its first outing. After that we used one of the other toll gates
The problems continued when we arrived at our Resort. We needed to enter the complex using a keypad, but the keypad was only for a doorway not for the main gate. So, we needed to find the apartment and a key box containing the magic key to open the entry gate. It was now about 2:30 in the morning and very dark so we we struggled to find the key-hole. It took us ages but eventually we found it. It was a long way from the gate! With our car inside we made our way to our very cold apartment. Note to self - don’t book a late departure again!
The trials and tribulations were forgotten next morning when we awoke to a lovely Mediterranean sunrise through our bedroom window.
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| Our resort - Playa de Lucera |
Once we had warmed up our Airbnb we settled in very nicely. We did get the owner to find get us an oil filled radiator to supplement the air conditioners. Hot air blowers are not our favourite form of heating.
We had to go back to the airport after 4 days and swap our motor for a cheaper version this time with Wiber rent a car. The cost for 28 days was little more than the previous vehicle for 4 days including a second driver so well worth the effort.
Driving here is not too bad but it requires concentration. Our biggest challenge is getting onto the A-7 from our digs. Patience is required as we only have a short run on and the majority of vehicles bearing down on us are exceeding the 80kph limit.
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| Sunrise |
We really enjoyed walking on the Boardwalk, our favourite place at Cabopino was Alberts, just by the harbour.
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| Alberts at Cabopino |
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| Cabopino Harbour |
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| TW on the boardwalk |
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| Churro dipping in Cafeteria Canon |
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| Lunching at Hogar del Jubilado La Cala in Cala de Mijas |
Puerto Banus is just down the coast from Marbella. It is a bit posh for us. Lots of designer shops and smart cafes. Some some cars were in evidence, our little Audi was dwarfed by a lovely Bentley in the car park. Always interesting to view the smart motor yachts in the harbour though. There were quite a few available for hire on an hourly basis, that would be a nice treat. Our traditional coffee and cake was rather pricey!
Estapona - potty trained
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| Estapona - Orange pot street |
Estapona is a 40 minute drive down the coast. We opted to take the Toll road Ap-7. It costs about 7 Euros but it’s a much more comfortable experience than the neighbouring A-7. No potholes and no joiners en-route. Central Estapona is quite a smart area and we enjoyed our visits there. We managed to park in an undersea car park which was a first. The narrow streets are clean and well maintained.
Bizarrely they do have a thing about plants pots. The locals appear to have an agreement that all pots in a particular street must be the same colour. It’s good for navigation for simple souls like us. Turn left at yellow then right at blue.
Coffee and cake is a pre-requisite for any town visit and we found a great supplier, The Granier, on Calle Terraza. A good brew and a great people watching place. Terraza looked to be the Main Street for shopping and on either side there were streets with pretty white painted houses and pots. Our choice for lunch was fish at a traditional Spanish restaurant, La Palma, also on Calle Terraza. The seafront promenade area is smart and the beach looked good. We also spotted a bike shop, Costa Bikes, nearby due to open the following day. We had hoped to hire bikes to pedal along towards Marbella. We will just have to save it for next time.
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| Calle Terraza |
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| Blue Street |
The main attraction of the Costa del Sol is of course the coast and the sea. There are, however, some nice traditional hillside towns. Benalmadena is one those. It has some very pleasant residential lanes and squares. It features one particularly narrow road that is one-way and controlled by traffic lights. It is extremely easy to miss the red light and drive down said street. If one is daft enough to do this it means stopping and waiting for oncoming traffic to squeeze past whilst trying to avoid eye contact and praying nobody scrapes the hire car. Not something we would wish to do, erhmm!😓
Must say the Tourist Office was very helpful and set us a very arduous agenda, most of which we completed. We only missed out on a Butterfly Park. One of the recommended must-sees is the Castle Colomares just below the town. This monument aims to describe the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus. The three ships of the fleet are created in stone, the Pinto, the Nino and the Santa Maria. It’s difficult for the casual visitor to make sense of it all but the craftsmanship is impressive. Not sure making boats from stone is going to float somehow.
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| Castle Colomares |
Back in town we had a lovely lunch in a friendly restaurant, La Cepa, on Calle Real (Royal Street).
We also managed to top off our tour with a very decent Coffee and Apple Cake at Churros & You on the impressively named Avenue Juan Luis Peralta.
The Rock of Gibraltar
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| Trafalgar Cemetary |
It's an easy 75 minutes drive down to the Rock from Calahonda. The majority of the route is on our favourite toll AP-7 Motorway. The last stretch through the La Linea area is not too scenic but we were soon parked up on the Spanish Border at Aparcamiento Santa Barbara. It was just a short stroll to Border Control and into UK territory. Driving in Gibraltar is not recommended and also may not be allowed in a Hire Car. A red bus with a friendly driver whisked us into the centre of the City. We were surprised at how busy and bustling it was on this rainy, end of January, day. Lots of traffic on the narrow streets. We were soon sitting out at Costa Coffee in Casement Square doing some people watching. It was quite fun to use Pounds again, Euros are so boring. It was so much more exciting in former times when crossing a border meant a new currency, a Peseta or a Franc or a Schilling. Economists have a great deal to answer for. A couple of Cruise Ships were in Port and a great many passenger lanyards were evident in the Square.
Sadly the Cable Car up the Rock was closed for refurbishment so we didn't get to see the Apes. We could have gone by Taxi or on a Tour but it was outside of our budget! It costs about £30 to get into the Nature Reserve plus a Taxi for about £50. If it had been a fine day and the cable car was in service we'd have been up there of course. A walk down Main Street was our principal activity for the day. It looked quite familiar with its Marks and Sparks etc. For lunch we opted for a tradition meal back in Casement Square at Roy's Fish and Chips. We topped off our Rock day at Ocean Village, a fairly modern waterside development.
We nearly went on a cruise but our Vessel was permanently docked. It's a floating Hotel, the Sunborn Hotel. It pretty glitzy and we sampled a coffee out on deck. We also ordered a chocolate desert but it took ages to arrive. We'd have been eating it out in mid-Atlantic if the ship had been underway.
We managed to jump ship eventually and headed back on our red bus to the Eurozone Border and our wee Audi. An enjoyable outing despite the weather.
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| Tomillo Limon. |
The old town is up in the hills about 20 minutes from Lucera. We visited a couple of times and really enjoyed it. It is a bit touristy but has some nice old streets to wander around. Above the village there is a shrine to walk up to via a very rocky path. Where's our Donkey? You really can do donkey rides here which seems a bit odd, not for us. Stabling our steed in Pueblo is a little challenging but at least it wascheap. There is a multi-storey park but it is more of a horror story! Pillars, tight turns and narrow spaces make it a nightmare in a hire car. I am sure that thrill seekers and adventurous types would find it tremendous fun in an old banger. Much more exciting then a Theme Park ride! Luckily we, and the motor, survived unscathed.
We had Tapas for lunch at Tomillo Limon. Sampling Tapas is a must-do in Spain. It's a bit of game of chance for us, rather like a Dim Sum or a box of chocolates, you never know quite what you are going to get!
Marbella
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| Walking on the Prom |
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| On the Marbella Prom with TBIL |
The town of Marbella is a short hop down the coast. For us it is infamous as the home of International crime syndicates. However, today our aims are very simple. We are just in Marbella to have another Tapas meal and have a wander around the old town, honestly.
Flag Day - its good to share:
Our Tapas meal was at Lekune. Typically, Tapas meals are sharing plates eaten with drinks. At Lekune they had a variation on this format. The servers brought around a series of small items, rather like canapes, each with a little flag on a cocktail stick. You took and ate your chosen item and then put the flag into a pot. Some simple items like a sausage had only a stick. At the end of the meal they added up all the sticks and created a bill. Sounds simple but it does mean that every few moments a server appeared at my left should with yet another dish. So it was not very relaxing and it's difficult to track how much you've eaten.
It was a wet day but a walk on the prom beckoned. It was very smart and we tried to imagine what it would be like on a sunny day in high season. Today it was very quiet and the staff at the Restaurants looked very bored.
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| Nearest we got to a bike ride on the Prom |
Marbella has smart modern streets but also a very pleasant old town. We had a very pleasant wander along its typical narrow white painted streets. We had a coffee and apple cake in a very pleasant Oranges Square (Plaza de los Naranjos) at Cafe Bar Central. It is lovely to see the Orange Trees laden with fruit. Orange tree very pretty but impossible to eat as they are very bitter Seville Oranges. We could make marmalade but its not legal to pick them. Perhaps the reason why the crime syndicates thrive in Marbella is the Police are fully occupied chasing Orange scrumpers?
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| In the old town of Marbella |
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| Orange Tree Square |
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| Smart square in the old town Marbella |
Marbella is not the easiest place to navigate in a car and parking is a bit stressful but its worth visiting.
Casares - in the white place
Casares is perched up in the hills above Estapona. We used the sat. nav. to get up there and it took us along fly-tippers alley. When we came down we took a more indirect route that led us via Casares Costa. This was a much better road and there looked to be a couple of nice popular restaurants on en-route. Anyway, we had a splendid visit to the old town of Casares. We found a free multi-storey car park on the edge of town and walked into town. We had climbed up to 1,400ft and with a strong wind we found it a good deal colder than down by the coast. It's an interesting place, not too spoiled by tourism. Lots of white painted buildings on either side as we wandered up to the castle at the top. Great views from up there and it is pretty old dating from Moorish times. Quite a number of Birds of Prey were circling above us. We think they were Griffon Vultures. Apparently they sometimes eat cats, bit of a role reversal. Our lunch was in a very traditional cafe in the centre of town. The waitress was nice but our dish not so great. It was like a Spanish scampi and chips but the fish element was not well cooked. All told it was a pleasant excursion although we were pleased to get back to sea level and warmer temperatures.
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| Nice Juliet Balcony |
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| Bit of a draught - There is a hole in my castle! |
Just a few doors down from Playa de Lucera is another resort, Dona Lola. TBIL and TSIL stay here regularly and we were able to join them on a activities like Wine tasting, Flamenco dancing and Music nights. We were also able to eat in the restaurant which was convenient as we had some wicked storms while we were there.
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| Wine Tasting |
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| Dona Lola Sunset |
