Monday 18 April 2011

Back to my reality

Its remarkable what a mere 6 days away can do for you, if you get the right place with the right company. My first trip to the Costa del Sol was not a bad experience at all. For starters, when we arrived it was 10 degrees warmer than the UK and got better as the days went by. The Spanish drivers are not the mad charging bull baiters I was led to believe, at least not in the relative mildness of  24C sunshine. Our 45 minute drive from Malaga airport to Nerja made driving on a typical British motorway seem like driving whilst surrounded by Barbarian Hordes.

The food was great (if you avoided places advertising "full English breakfasts served here"), the drinks were pretty cheap, the local wine delicious and the locals exceedingly friendly. We ate out in open air restaurants up in the surrounding villages, with stunning open terraces overlooking an azure blue Meditereanean Sea. Didn't see a single submarine launched cruise missile burst out of the Med, so I presumed they were all well out, beyond our horizon. We went to the local cultural centre and saw a top Flamenco artiste and her 8 piece supporting band of musicians. This was not your mass produced tourist affair as it was attended almost entirely by the indigenous and it was utterly stunning.

I found myself feeling relatively relaxed about being surrounded by other humans and this feeling remained until the moment we stepped off our returning aircraft into the arrivals area of our local airport, where once again our ears were assaulted by the squabbling, `effing and cussing of your returning lobster coloured, larded-up Brit tourist family. I hate myself for being so judgmental, but that really was how it hit me.




                                                                            Cat of the Sierra Nevada's                 
 Hell of a Paella pan.
                              Best table in the place
Nerja cats getting fed








People are very fit in this town
                                                                                 A stoop to be proud of

 A nice walk down to the coffe bar for croissants. Not a `Full English Breakfast` in sight
Pampaneira, where the air is thin and the tourists not quite so















15 comments:

Unknown said...

Frigiliana, nice :)

Hogdayafternoon said...

Mr Horsey, you Sir are a keen observer and Costa del Solophile:)

sparkflash said...

'Scuse me while I go and kick the green-eyed monster into touch.

suz said...

Truly a beautiful place.

Hogdayafternoon said...

Sparks: Get out there. Not your typical Brits on the P place at all.

Suz: There's even a piece about the Nerja cats on the town website. I shall publish a few more pics to include those we encountered, along with a visit to the donkey sanctuary.

Old BE said...

A "beaut" of a part of the world. Don't suppose you made it to Granada did you? My favourite of the Spanish cities I have visited.

I was only checking in here to abuse you for not posting holiday snaps..!

CI-Roller Dude said...

Nice views! That's one country I haven't been to yet, but unless we're going to invade it, I guess I won't be going.

Hogdayafternoon said...

Blue: We ran out of (drinking and eating) time. We did get up into the Sierra Nevadas, as far as Pampaneira (see pics with snowy peak and narrow street). Granada/Alhambra Palace definitely on the agenda for next visit. Beaut it is.

Dude: We're retired - we must stop this talk of invasion, but if we do go in eventually it will be to rescue their economy - but it looks a whole lot nicer than Libya or Iraq or Afghan, or Birmingham.

TonyF said...

(if you avoided places advertising "full English breakfasts served here")

I think that applies anywhere in the world....

Hogdayafternoon said...

TonyF: Yes :) and "Big Match Shown Here"

Anonymous said...

Hardly surprising French slang has moved from 'les rosbifs' to 'les fuckoffs' Hog. Syria and Morocco were lovely in many respects, but I won't be able to take up contracts because of the threat levels. Came back to a house full of Bahrainis wanting temporary shelter. Life was so laid back there a few years back, I fell off my chair more than a few times.
Have we lost hospitality and courtesy here altogether is often my first thought getting off a plane.

Hogdayafternoon said...

ACO: What?? They've nicked that ancient Anglo Saxon term of endearment? Us grumpies should strike back and get "Les I don't believe it" in the French vernacular.

JuliaM said...

"...where once again our ears were assaulted by the squabbling, `effing and cussing of your returning lobster coloured, larded-up Brit tourist family. I hate myself for being so judgmental, but that really was how it hit me."

I haven't even been abroad this year, and that's how it hits me whenever I go shopping! :D

anon said...

Gorgeous pictures, HD, thanks for posting them. I love the stoop! And I would love to live in a city that was all stairs and narrow streets and walkways. I could wander around there all day, every day. The white adobe(?) is so pretty too, and yet when people try to import the "Spanish" look here? Oy. doesn't translate so well : /

Have a great week end!

Hogdayafternoon said...

JuliaM: Respects to you and sympathy for your ear poison.

PG: Glad you liked it. We met our pals from Nova Scotia who were there for a couple of months. They must really hate Canadian winter :-/