We didn't wake till 10.30 this morning and I have spent till lunch time
reviewing the last few days of my diary till I am happy with the results. It's time to give my man
some attention now. We have a cuddle and a picnic style lunch. Andrew then
surprised me with an afternoon and evening trip out, he has planned it all
whilst I have been typing. Bless him, he is so good to me, and so
endlessly patient, what ever I am up to.
The Intrepid Explorers tour begins at Velez Malaga where we find a lovely old
fort, up in the hills. From below it looks set between two pretty churches which
are actually a bit farther down. Parts of it are ruins, the tower is not accessible,
and seems to be home to some turtle doves. We enter it through some steeply
sloping steps with a ravine alongside it. A long path leads out to the cliff
edge and a considerable drop, I think it must have been part of the original
fortress wall. We stayed a while here wandering and taking photo's, it's a
tranquil place to spend some time. The town was built in Victorian times some
very pretty houses, but the roads are all very steep and incredibly narrow,
thankfully we didn't meet another car on them, as reversing would have been a
nightmare.
Andrew drove on through Trapiche, following the old road, the new one runs
alongside it for a while. We drove through the mountains with spectacular
scenery all around us till we reach a large turquoise coloured lake at Vinuela.
It is nestled at the foot of the mountains and is quite lovely, there is a tower
and a pier type bridge reaching out about quarter of the way across the lake.
Apparently this is the latest place to build houses, so it won't stay remote and
beautiful for much longer unfortunately. Am I too cynical in my old age? We
drove most of the way around it without finding a track down to the waterside,
so contented ourselves with parking up and looking from afar. We travelled on
enjoying the lovely scenery, I asked Andrew to stop and take a picture of a
really craggy group of hills that I particularly liked.
Our next destination in Andrew's tour is Camares, a village way up on a
mountain top, a drive which is not for people without a head for heights {like
me} Andrew took a photo from the other side, before we started the ascent
properly, so you can see where we are heading. We parked the car as far up
as it could go, then climbed up the hill through the village and continued
beyond it to the top by the ruins of the Castello. At this point our GPS
registered 2400 feet above sea level. Camares is extremely pretty, lovely
detached villas, the Castello and the spectacular scenery of course. The roads are
made from pretty stones set in cement. It was fairly misty when we reached the
top, we think that you could see a lot farther on a clear day. There is a
strange little Cemetery here, quite unlike any we have seen before it is well
looked after as there are flowers everywhere.
We found a bar and had some San Miguel and a loo visit, the hill climbing necessitated
a drink as it is 29C here today. Most of the customers were British, which I
found peculiar in such a remote place. Back at the car park the GPS is only
registering 2274 feet - a measly amount compared to our climb!
We headed off down the mountain and back into Nerja where we parked up and
went to the travel agency to see if they'd sorted out our hotel in Barcelona, it
was closed, but it is 8.30pm so it's not really surprising. We went to Cielito
Lindo a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We ordered chicken and steak fajita's, we
were not keen on the pancakes, but on the whole the food was good. The
atmosphere was great, it's a pretty place with large Mexican hats for
lampshades, and the waiters are really friendly and helpful. They do great lemon
margaritas, a wonderful cocktail called a Caipirinha, it is made
with Brazilian sugar beet rum, brown sugar and lots of fresh lemon, and amazing Mexican
coffee with tequila as the main ingredient! Back to the villa for wine {not
totally necessary} and the diary for me and the TV for Andrew.
