13 November 2022 - Nerja and grilled fish

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 3,156

Apparently November is the wettest month of the year in Nerja with an average rainfall of more than 2 inches.  Well it's been wall to wall sunshine today with mid-20s temperatures so once again we are in the shorts and sandals and the umbrellas are back in the garage.

I'd read a lot of complimentary things about Nerja but I have to say my initial reactions when we got there were of slight disappointment.  Most of the beach frontages are lined by hotels and a lot of the pedestrian walkways are currently being dug up so we ended up cycling round a succession of rather unexciting one way streets to get into the centre.

There are some interesting looking pedestrianised shopping streets and it's clean with a relatively sophisticated air but the beaches are generally on the small size and they must get absolutely rammed during the peak tourist months.

The main plaza area is the Balcon de Europa which sits on top of a rocky outcrop.

It had a nice enough ambience.  There was musical entertainment courtesy of some Spanish guitar and some cheeky bugger asked me where I hired my bike from.  I mean come on mate, do I look like a bloody tourist to you!

Most people seemed to be content sitting around cafes, having a late breakfast and whilst I can understand a lot of people might be happy spending a week or two there it really wasn't for us so we pedalled back to the van.

We dumped our bikes and headed to the beachside restaurant across the road.  This place is obviously a popular weekend lunch venue for the locals and understandably so.

As I mentioned yesterday the fish is grilled in the traditional way over an olive wood fired barbecue.

Lisa had sole while I went for the huss.  They didn't exactly go big on the veg but the fish was cooked to absolute perfection and smothered in garlic butter and, as always, portions were extremely generous.

My Mum always used to tell me you should never go swimming for at least an hour after eating, so sorry Mum, I disobeyed another order.  We went for a paddle and then got our trunks on for our first dip since we got to the Med.  

So, it's now 6 O'Clock and the sun is disappearing for another day.  But its still 21 degrees.  We were chatting with our Polish neighbour today.  She and her German husband are planning to stay here until February.  I can't say that's my idea of a good time.  I need to be moving on every so often.  But sitting here looking out to sea and knowing that I have to be back in the UK in exactly 3 weeks, I can't help but think how lucky these people are to have the option to just travel as they please for as long as they desire.  We had that freedom and we threw it away.  It still completely does my nut in how anybody believed that could possibly be a good idea.

14 November 2022 - Seeking a quiet beach