Advertisement
Published: January 6th 2011
Edit Blog Post
29.12.10 Frigliana
A typical courtyard Monday 27th December 2010 to Sunday 2nd January 2011
Monday 27th December 2010
Maro-Nerja-Andalusia-Spain
Have decided to rest here for a while.
Beautiful morning so on bicycle and off Tom goes. Computer is programmed on kms travelled but Tom thinks it is on time travelled. So at 21, he stops and has a goo and water and turned around. Got home and Gaye says ‘must have been good as you have been gone for a while’ Tom says ‘no actually gone only 40 minutes’. ‘No’ says Gaye, and I realize and check computer. Oops – Tom has been gone 2.5 hours – the ride was so good he lost track of time. So at 1pm we went on a scooter ride, and rode to where he had turned around on the bicycle. We had a late lunch – too much food. Back onto the scooter and headed for home. Gaye said she felt not too safe going there, but coming home was better.
No tea tonight – too full from lunch.
Tuesday 28th December 2010
Tom went for a long bicycle rice looking for a mechanic/auto electrician for motorhome. No go. The Ford service manager spoke reasonable English enough
29.12.10 Nerja
Me on the balcony overlooking the Mediterrean at lunch time to say he’s not interested in fixing and not interested in helping find another mechanic. So Tom told him thank you and G.F. and rode off.
So Tom came home after 2.15 hours and 50kms – all good as this is the third day in a row of riding.
Lazy day ahead.
Wednesday 29th December 2010
Hopped onto scooter and rode off to Frigliana (Pueblo Blanco-white village) of deep Moorish flavour –we were told it is a nice town to visit. It was up in the mountains – all went well with Gaye on the back and going up through winding road Tom says it would have been a big buzz if he was on his own and he knew what he was doing.
We walked around. It is a steep and lovely picturesque village. We talked to a German artist who has been living there a long time. We bought his 2011 calendar for us to send home.
Then back on the scooter to Nerja. Gaye said she shut her eyes when going through the corners !!!. Then in Nerja streets – nearly as much fun as the winding road.
We were sitting having lunch on a balcony
overlooking the ocean, and we smiled at each other and said – we would never have dreamt early in our lives that at 60 we would be 2-up on a scooter in Spain, on the wrong side of the road, with no experience and then looking at the Mediterranean sea in Spain – and we just grinned from ear to ear – so much fun we are having.
Went to Vodafone to see why we could not connect with our code. Went to the travel agency, to see if the tour was still going to Gibraltar tomorrow. Yes, they had enough people to make the trip.
Went into the op shop, purchased 3 English written books. Martin had also given Tom some bicycling magazines to read, so he will have lots to read for a while.
Home and Gaye looked glad to have arrived safely back. So much so, that Tom went to the office and came back and found Gaye with a wine and on computer – nothing unpacked. Just de-stressing.
Thursday 30th December 2010.
Up early and on bus to Gibraltar. There were English and German speaking tourists on the bus. The weather bureau said rain today,
30.12.10 Gibraltar
View of airport runway going across the main road into Gibraltar. A tunnel is being built to help avoid traffic jams when planes come in to land. and boy did it rain on the way there. It was torrential. We thought it was going to be a lousy day ahead.
Not far from Gibraltar, we went through a tunnel about 2km long. Came out the other side and the rain was gone. It was clear and cloudy, so we had good weather for the rest of the day in Gibraltar.
We did a tour of the rock and saw the Barbary apes – which are actually tail-less monkeys. We did a tour of the tunnels. The Great Siege Tunnels – excavated during the Great Siege of 1779-1783. The World War II Tunnels – a massive network of tunnels constructed as a fortress within a fortress. Also went into St. Michael’s Cave – a natural grotto, fitted out as a hospital during WWII and now a unique natural auditorium. There are more kms in tunnels than kms of roads in Gibraltar.
So after the tour we had 1.5 hour to go into the main street for lunch and a look around. Supposed to be a duty free place. Actually a rip off – grilled fish and chips and salad, £11.90 each, then they do an exchange rate of
31.12.10 Nerja Campsite at Maro
New Year's Eve party - Oliver (husband of restaurant owner) in fancy dress 10% to 15% less than the bank rate. This caused a group of Germans to get really peeved – but if you to Gibraltar, it is part of the experience. The items in the shop eg our new TomTom was no cheaper than buying it in Spain. It might be cheaper for the Brits that only shop there compared to Britain-not sure.
Back onto the bus, through the tunnel and it’s pouring again. We stop at a Marina in a tourist town along the way to look at boats and shops – very heavy rain. Might have been nice on a Spring or Summer day !!!
Back home, tea and bed.
Friday 31st December 2010 – New Year‘s Eve
Up late –then we walked to the Caves of Nerja - about a 20 minute walk away. Absolutely huge. Discovered by accident by some local boys in 1959, the cave measures 7,219.38 square metres from North to South. Only approximately 1/3 is open to the public. It was revealed that there was a continuous presence of prehistoric cultures from the beginning of the upper Paleolithic period (approx 28,000 years ago) until the Copper Age (2,000 years ago). It was occupied
for a total of 25,000 years and that it was subsequently sealed up for around 4,000 years until it was rediscovered. We purchased a small book on the caves, as you cannot take photos, and they would not do it justice anyway. There is a huge column in the caves, where the Stalagmite meets Stalactites – this is in the Guinness book of records as the largest known one in the world.
Then home we go for a nanna nap – so we can stay awake for New Year !!
The restaurant at the campsite, run by Alicia - a lively lady from Argentina was all set up for the night. It was a fun night . Her husband Oliver also lent a hand when he got off work – he was as much fun as she was. Beautiful food and too much as usual. In bed by 1.30am.
Saturday 1st January 2011.
Around 1.30pm walked to Sue and Martin’s for New Years day festivities. People from the caravan park were there as well as others whom we had not met previously. Lovely afternoon. Walked home about 8pm..
Sunday 2nd January 2011.
About 10am we hopped onto motor scooter and went for another ride to the south. Stopped and had a late breakfast/lunch in a beach café. Did a bit more riding and then headed back towards home. Tom rode to Maro beach, just near us to have a look. Then home and a relaxing afternoon reading.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 33; dbt: 0.0358s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb