Marbella to Jerez

10 April

Drove up to the village of Mijas – in the hills behind Fuengirola.  Lovely village with many twisting streets and many donkeys on which to take a ride if you so wish.  We embarked on a lovely walk that took us up the hillside behind the village, along the contour of the hill and then back down by the road.  It did involve some stiff climbing but was well worth it for the views, but mainly for the wildflowers and herbs covering the slopes.  They included rosemary which Sarah pinched a little of for future recipes.

11 April

Had a ride into Fuengirola to see what it was like.   Lovely stretch of beach but very commercial. If you want a full English Breakfast or a Devon cream tea with full strength sun then this is the place to come.

12 April

Decided to tackle  another walk, this time from the village of Istan, high up in the hills behind Marbella.  Typical Moorish village, very narrow streets, many quite steep.  So narrow that the refuse lorry was tiny with a miniature skip on the back.   It was Friday and the fish van arrived in the main square where we were having coffee, and quickly a queue formed to buy that evening’s tea.

The scenery on the walk was stunning.   There were terraces cut into the hillside irrigated by water channels not unlike the levadas in Madeira.  These terraces were growing orchards of oranges and avocados.  Once again the wildflowers were in abundance and this alongside the mountain scenery made for a great day.

13 April

We had to do it as we were so near – we went to Gibraltar for the day.  Thick fog when we arrived (English weather) but hot and sunny in the afternoon (Spanish weather).  Strange place, you didn’t know whether to say gracias or thank you.   We took a tour up to the top of the rock, seeing St Michael’s cave, the tunnels dug in the mountain to defend against the Spanish and, of course, monkeys.  The monkeys were quite cute and were no bother unless you tried to feed them, though we did see one pinching a swimming costume from a shop!!!  

 

We stopped at Morrison’s on the way out to fill up with petrol at the heady price of £104.9 per litre – even cheaper than Morrison’s in Hull.

14 April

Tried to do a walk named “Stream of the Beehive” but gave up after getting wet feet crossing the river and getting scratched as the path was very overgrown.   Had a lazy rest of the day.

15 April

Moved to Conil de la Frontera which is about 30 miles south of Cadiz on the Atlantic coast.  Campsite practically empty but very well kept.

16 April

Ventured into Conil for a wander around.  Very pleasant small Spanish town with a good market.  It’s main feature is the miles of golden beach in front of the town.  Later in the day we ventured out to Cabo Roche which is not far from us and had a walk along the cliff top.  There are some beautiful small bays along this stretch of coast.

17 April

Today we went to Cadiz.  Wandered the narrow streets.  This area feels much more like real Spain and is less commercialised than the Costa del Sol.  Cadiz is reputedly the home of take way fried fish (not Britain) so had some fried prawns for lunch.  Nice town well worth a visit.

18 April

On the advice of another couple on the campsite we went south a few miles to town on top of a hill called Vejer de Frontera.   The Moorish influence is very evident here.  Brilliant white houses with brightly tiled entrances offering glimpse into the inner courtyards.  A far more pleasant experience than trying to enjoy Moorish architecture than in Tangier.

19 April

Had a lazyish day.  Went into Conil again to visit the market, caught up on the washing.  Late in the afternoon we did do a 5 mile walk out through the pine woods and along the cliff.  More lovely beaches.

20 April

Visited Jerez – where the Sherry comes from.   In fact the Spanish word for Sherry is Jerez – fancy that.  Had a tour of the Gonzalez Byas Bodega ending with a tasting of Tio Pepe and Croft original.   We didn’t realise the Sherry is still such big business.   Though we were not tempted to buy any after the tasting!!   

 

There was a parade of “The 14 Virgins” due to take place we were told at 3pm.  But at 3pm we were told it was at 7pm so decided we couldn’t sit about for another 3 hours to see the Virgins as presumably there would be fewer virgins around after 7pm.

Drove back stopping off at La Barrossa, another stretch of golden sand with many Spanish families enjoying the sun, despite the very stiff breeze which has been blowing off the land since the early hours of the morning.   If you want a beach holiday this coast would be hard to beat with mile after mile of soft golden sand. This area is however notoriously windy – with many windmills dotted along the landscape.