MIJAS

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Today we are in Mijas. This is a small hill town about 20 miles north of Malaga. We took a special tour that Oceania offers in some ports. It costs a little more but the group is very small and you go in a van rather than a bus. We had four people in our group. It is sunny today but still cool about 61 degrees. The disembarcation route from the ship was quite long.

Most of the route to Mijas was major highway. We passed Torremolinas where we stayed 43 years ago. It has grown quite a bit in that time and is now the major tourist destination on this coast. We went up the Sierra Mijas and on the upper slopes was the town of Mijas. This town was founded by the Romans and subsequently occupied by Muslims for 400 years. It was then retaken by the Crusaders in the 14th century. The muslim influence is still very prominent in the area. Although this is a small town with a population of about 2000, there are 5 churches. The main mode of transportation used to be the donkey. The donkeys would pull small carts to pull people up the steep hills. Thus they were called Donkey Taxis. They are still in business. We walked all over the town which was very beautiful, clean and interesting. All the houses and buildings are painted white with lots of flowers. Some are in bright blue pots in wrought iron holders on the walls. We passed many shops some selling leather good which Spain is known for. We stopped at one shop and some how I came out with a beautiful red leather jacket. Dennis insisted that I have it. Not wanting to disappoint him, I agreed. Then to celebrate, we stopped at a coffee shop and had a pastry.

All in all, it was a beautiful day and on top of that we walked over 3 miles!

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