Bus to Torre Del Mar and the Thursday market.

Moe bought the latest fashion, to be revealed at a later date.

Joe and Chris visited a local hostelry.

Afternoon was packing up in readiness for our departure tomorrow, whilst in the evening we grabbed a pizza at the camp restaurant.

This is the warmest bit of Europe…

 

Moe checked in with a migraine today so our plans to travel to Malaga were abandoned. We had a day chilling at Valle Niza and a BBQ in the evening. Weather was dry but it wasn’t really warm enough for a full-on BBQ.

Alison brought the cakes – awesome…

 

Our friends from Conil arrived here yesterday having decided to abandon their plans to visit Portugal due to the incongruous weather.

In the afternoon they drove Moe and I to Nerja where the ladies partook in a spot of shopping and the guys a spot of beer tasting. For the beer tasting, we enjoyed a wonderful panoramic view of the bay and the sea, thankful that the bar finally turned on the outside patio heaters. A bracing Northerly wind has taken hold and despite a sunny day, the windchill is brutal.

In the evening we returned to Torre del Mar, dining at an absolutely superb Chinese restuarant – Restaurante Chino Hong Kong. Won’t need to eat for several days now…

Met our friends who have flown in from Yorkshire to spend a short break in Malaga and decided to take them to Ronda.

We have visited this stunning town before and you can view details of prior visits here:

Ronda 2016

Ronda 2015

On this occasion we added the Bullring to our visitation list.

The Plaza de Toros (bullring) in Ronda occupies a very special place in modern Spanish culture and history as the home of the Rondeño style of bullfighting and also of the Real Maestranza De Caballería De Ronda. The bullring was built entirely of stone in the 18th century, during the golden years of Pedro Romero’s reign as champion bullfighter.

Home to the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Ronda, Spain’s oldest and most noble order of horsemanship, an order that traces its heritage back to 1485, and the year the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the Moors in Ronda, thus bringing the city back under Christian rule after 773 years of Islamic rule.

Many tourist guides will tell you the Ronda bullring is the oldest and largest in Spain, in fact the story is confusing. This little bullring only has seating for 5,000 spectators, hardly the largest in the world, but the rueda, which is the large round circle of sand, is the largest in the world at 66m, making it 6m larger than Spain’s biggest bullring, the Plaza Toros Las Ventas in Madrid.

A selection of other photos taken around the old town of Ronda.

It was a long day so in the evening, we declined dinner with our friends and returned to the campsite where we grabbed a Pizza and an early night.

 

 

Nothing much to report. Spent most of the day catching up with computer stuff and updating Caravan Ramblings.

Caught the bus to Malaga, the stop being just a couple of hundred metres from the campsite. Whilst I’m certain I ordered a return ticket, the price didn’t match what we expected for either a one-way or return.

Then on the way back, we were asked for some additional money which also didn’t correspond with any of the fares expected or paid! Only in Spain…

On our arrival at Malaga, we quickly found the tourist information and started to follow the highlighted tour of the historic sites. Malaga in eight hours – a challenge.

We started our tour at the street calle Larios, an important shopping area of Malaga, where the best
designer shops are located. We then arrived at plaza de la Constitution in the heart of the city’s old quarter.

From there we headed west, along calle Compañía to the Palace of Villalón (16th century), home of the
Carmen Thyssen Museum Malaga.

We chose not to visit the museum but instead explored the Iglesia de los Santos Martires.

By now it was raining  little harder, so despite the guide leaflet informing us that we should now be enjoying breakfast, we decided it was time for a late Tapas lunch.

After lunch it was time to visit the Cathedral. The Cathedral of Málaga is of course a Roman Catholic church with the Renaissance architectural tradition.

The cathedral is located within the limits defined by a now missing portion of the medieval Moorish walls, the remains of which surround the nearby Alcazaba and the Castle of Gibralfaro. It was constructed between 1528 and 1782, following the plans drawn by Diego de Siloe; its interior is also in Renaissance style.

Our next stop was the Roman Theatre, situated in calle Alcazabilla at the foot of the Alcazaba. Built in the 1st century A.D., it was used until the 3rd century. After its restoration, the Roman Theatre of Malaga has recently recovered its use as a scenic space.

We climbed up the metal staircase behind the theatre hoping to enter the Alcazabilla but this was merely a viewpoint and by now the rain was much harder so we decided to retire to an Irish bar and watch the England Ireland six nations game. Ireland ran out 24-15 winners.

We only completed about half of our whistle stop tour so we need to return another day.

 

 

Drove to Aldi at Torre del Mar for supplies whilst later in the day we cycled to Benejafare. BBQ in the evening just before the rains arrived.

We left Conil about 10:00am and headed to Malaga and then ownards to Camping Valle Niza, close to Torre del Mar. We took the road to Medina Sedonia and then the motorway all the way to within 2 miles of Camping Valle NIza, arriving circa 13:30.

Valle Niza is a small site and the touring pitches were about 66% occupied. We chose Pitch 10 which was one of the driest and better drained plots. Quite large but we only have the “sunshade” awning erected. Anything to do with the word “sun” is merely an extremely loose connection.

We parked the car opposite in a very small plot, which has been rarely used this winter, only to attract the ire of the Campsite staff who rather animatedly gave us a good ticking off and told us to park next to our outfit.

We just about managed it. However, we do have a sea view, if one looks carefully enough!

Despite the picture clearly showing a BBQ in full action (the picture was from a different day!), we actually ate in the site restaurant.

The chicken kebabs and Sphagetti were very good.

 

Our last day at Camping La Roselada in 2018. Went to the Harbour restaurant for lunch with Chris, Alison, Paul and Andrea – cycling the circa 4 miles and managing to dodge the showers.

The Tapas was as good as ever, the prawns in chilli and garlic oil are a particular favourite.

We’ve made some great friends at Roselada and wish everyone  well for the remainder of their travels – in the case of Mike and Linda – for the next three years!

Adios amigos! Till next time…

It was time to finish off the packing in the afternoon, including loading the now electric bikes on top of the Sorento. The added weight not making things any easier.

Ready to go…

It was quiz night at the bar in the evening where we secured the 4th prize. The tie breaker question was How many passengers can an Airbus A380 hold in its maximum configuration. We went for 697, the other tied team 737 with the actual number well north of 800. Hey ho.

The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art Foundation, based in Jerez de la Frontera is known all over the world thanks to its show entitled “How the Andalusian Horses Dance”, a unique exhibition of horsemanship which both exhibits and summarises the work which the institution has carried out since its establishment.

We visited the School with Chris and Alison, having booked tickets some days earlier at the campsite. It’s a popular show because our first choice option to visit with Mike and Linda too was already sold out.

Parking was behind the Equestrian School in some kind of public car park. Several enterprising Spanish men were keen to take 3 Euros off us for a full days parking. Unable to provide us with a receipt, the payment was considered more akin to an insurance policy to avoid damage to the car whist we were at the show…

We looked around the palace, its grounds, the general museum and the carriage museum.

Late afternoon we headed to the Restaurante La Torre at El Palamar. Situated right next to the beach, it must be a stunning location with some nice weather!

Food was good – can highly recommend the burger. For dessert, the ladies wanted Strawberries and cream again; but the Strawberries and Cream restaurant is closed on a Tuesday. Instead, we showed a picture to the waiter and this is what he produced – it certainly wasn’t on the menu!