Europe 2014 - off again

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Hola everyone,



Well yes we’re still here in Costa del Sol and feeling like locals now – people are recognising us… must be time to move on..



Saturday night we left early for Mijas, a town up in the hills, to have an early dinner before we went to a show in the local auditorium. We also wanted to get there to get a car park and check out where the auditorium was as we hadn’t seen it on previous visits. We arrived there about 6pm – just to find that all the restaurants were closed until 7.30pm! However, we were able to have a drink while waiting so it wasn’t a totally lost cause and obviously a good time for weddings in the park nearby as there were two while we were there.



We have been to an English Restaurant – The Newmarket, which is close by and the English couple who own it told us about the show in Mijas – their son is in one of the 3 groups playing that night. There were the groups, Showaddywaddy ( 4 guys) The Harlettes (4 girls) and The Four Tops – 4 men. They played all 60s & 70s songs – which was fitting with the audience! All about that age and up bopping and singing along to all the songs – there were a couple of songs we didn’t know. We had a very late night getting to bed at 2.30am. It was a really fantastic show and we were so glad we went.



We went back to Mijas again the next day as John was looking for a leather bag to carry stuff around in instead of his large backpack. We had lunch half way up the hill at a restaurant out on the terrace – a photo of John is included on here with the view overlooking the mountains in the background. We stopped at El Chaparral - another gorgeous, well-manicured and very green golf course for a drink afterwards. We enjoy the wide spacious terraces which overlook the 18^th fairway and green – just fabulous views of the course often with the background including either hills or the sea.



Last night we went to a sleazy hole in the wall nightclub to see an Adele tribute show. It only took about 60 patrons at the most. The girl who sang (Welsh born) - Rebecca Louise did an incredible job and sounded just like Adele. She sang Adele’s songs for half the show then changed into herself and sang a lot of other songs – people were up and dancing and having a great time. Rebecca’s parents were next to us and were very proud of her – she has an amazing voice and is wasted singing other peoples’ songs. Other tribute shows this week include a Drag Queen show – should be hilarious and we’ve booked to see the Jersey Boys tribute show on Thursday night. It’s very safe there and most people there are around our age and English. One of Rebecca’s songs is on video on my facebook.



Today we went for a drive not sure of where we might end up – as is often the case with us and decided to stop at a beach – Benalmodena, a beautiful beach – as they all are here – just one very long coastline. There were some older women who were sunbathing topless – they don’t seem to care about getting sunburnt here – no slip, slop, slap at all. The beach was typical in that they had the umbrellas and sun lounges for rent.



At this beach is the Puerto Marina which has many shops, restaurants, and people cooking sardines on open coal BBQs – very popular here and in Portugal. There were the usual Moroccan boys illegally selling their wares… they were warned that the guards were on their way on their Segways so they took off over the fence or in the toilets until the guards were out of sight. We’ve seen this happen in Barcelona a few times too. The Marina is great and very full of boats – some take out tourists for a very modest fee for an hour or 4 hours depending on the boat etc. We wandered along the beach and just took in the sights and enjoyed just being there.



On our way back home we stopped at another golf course – so very many here!! This one was called Torrequebrada Golf – one we couldn’t find yesterday. Another spacious terrace with magic views over the course down to the sea.



Eventually we had to fill the car up so we drove into the petrol station and you wouldn’t believe it but they had attendants to do it for you – how nice was that?!



Must tell you about the rubbish system here too. There are 4 huge bins placed generally near shopping strips which cover Glass, usual stuff, recycle and gardening. So each evening between 9pm – midnight you can place your smelly rubbish in the bins. There are no bins in any of the complexes, only these council ones – quite different!



Well it’s nearly 8pm – have done this twice tonight as I lost the first one after finishing it – ughhh so we’re off to dinner somewhere close by.



Keep well everyone and take care,



Love Us Mitchies xxx

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Photos

Showaddywaddy
Daggy coats but were one of the best acts I've seen in a long time - told Jonathon - in orange jacket to come to Australia. He was working in his parents restaurant on Sunday doing the old English Sunday roast.

Mijas restaurant
John enjoying the magnificent views overlooking the mountains and valleys.

Benalmadena Beach
Just a very beautiful beach - one of many here on Costa del Sol.

Puerto Marina
Moroccan influenced buildings in this Marina with a variety of boats moored here. Shopping & restaurants all around.

Torrequebrada golf course
Just great overlooking the views like this and the background from wide, spacious terraces - thank God they generally have a separate area for smokers - still allowed to smoke on the outside of restaurants here.

El Chaparral Golf Course
John enjoying a drink on the terrace overlooking the 18th fairway and green.

At the nightclub
Enjoying a great night at the hole in the wall nightclub - most people were our age... interesting hey. Mostly poms and some families with very young children - the show started at 10pm until about 11.30pm.

Nightclub singer - Rebecca Louise
She was in the middle of singing Rolling in the Deep - by Adele - it was the last song of the night although she had sung it in her first bracket - very popular song.

Decorative roundabout.
Not sure why they decorate some of their roundabouts but it looks good. There are several thousands of roundabouts here - incredible amount.

Says it all on the boat
Not really we don't want a boat but enjoy going on them.

Unusual light fitting
Saw this in a men's shop - Bailey's and it just appealed to me.

Tournevo Park
This is the complex where we're staying - we're just around the corner to the left of the photo and up some stairs.