Have you ever had an experience so amazing, so surreal, so astonishing, that you cannot believe it is actually happening? Our last full day in Spain will forever be embedded in our memories as one such day.It was meant to be a quiet affair comprising a stroll to the city, a nice restaurant for lunch, … Continue reading Three Failed Plans and a Party
Our very good friends, Bob and Irene are a couple of sexagenarians (no, not that, they are aged between 60 and 69) who we met in 2017. Following a chance meeting while eating tapas at Mr Grumpy’s* (not his real name) we became immediate and firm friends. Despite the years that have passed and the … Continue reading The Musician and the wee Scottish lass
Our Friday fun-day adventure was to walk the 5km El Caminito del Rey (The King's Little Path). It’s a walkway that clings precariously to the vertical sides of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, with the Guadalhorce River churning across the rocks some 100 metres below. If you’re afraid of heights, it’s the stuff of nightmares. The walkway … Continue reading The awesome and alarming El Caminito Del Rey
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and based on the thousands of people who flock to Costa de Sol beaches every day, there’s a lot of beauty to be found on the playas of southern Spain. This beach (pictured) is called Playa-Balneario Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Beach Spa of Our Lady of Carmen) … Continue reading Spanish Beaches & Restaurants …. I Will Survive
It’s an amazing place for people watching. I love to watch the Northern Europeans and the Brits as they straggle from the beach to the bars and restaurants. They glow pinkly from too much sun or too much cerveza, or both. Their feet are sandy, the shirts are off, and they grin widely as they walk along the promenade, volleyballs and beach umbrellas held hostage under sweaty armpits.
It has been a less than auspicious start to our holiday, as the following trio of bad news explains…… uno, dos, tres. Let’s go! Uno - Swiping right with Uber and Airbnb Compared to a hotel booking, the Airbnb check-in always has some complications around it, the Malaga apartment being no exception. We had arranged … Continue reading Bad news comes in Tres? (hopefully)
Sobremesa is a Spanish word that describes the time, after a meal, when everyone sits around the table, chatting. It’s about good food, friends and communication. The translation is 'sobre' (on or about) 'mesa' (table). After the meal, it’s usually the time for ‘el paseo’, the custom which sees Spaniards promenade leisurely through the main … Continue reading Sobremesa and El Paseo
When in Spain, be sure to order a small plate of pimientos de padron. They are little green peppers which taste similar to a sweet green capsicum, except that one in ten has a kick like a mule!! They are cooked in olive oil until they blister (about 1 minute) and then sprinkled with salt. It's a … Continue reading Pimientos de Padron
Despite spending 20 days in Spain, I’ve not yet eaten any churros. Churros and long delicious pastries, deep fried, sprinkled with sugar, and often accompanied with hot chocolate. Typically, you would order churros y chocolate. On our last trip to Malaga, Ross, not one for exaggeration, famously said “there’s hundreds of churros cafes here”. But … Continue reading The search for Churros
Imagine, after the 1974 floods of Brisbane, the Council forefathers went: "Right, that's it! We're going to redirect the river around the city so that terrible flooding doesn't happen ever again". It sounds inconceivable doesn't it? But that's exactly what happened in Valencia after the floods of 1957. The floods devastated the city and 81 … Continue reading It takes big balls to divert a river – Valencia
The Tepid Travellers 