FROM MALAGA TO TORRE DEL MAR

We walked up another hill,  we are going to be so fit!!!  it was wonderful to arrive at our friends house.  They have just bought it and have had all their stuff transported from their holiday home in Turkey to their new home in Benajarafre, Spain.  We are so familiar with their lovely home ware, beautiful glass, pottery, lamps, cushions and pictures from spending time with them in their Turkish home that it felt like home straight away!   It's a nice quiet area, no traffic sounds,  just birds and the sound of the waves on the shore below.

The beaches on the south of Spain are very long,  they go on for miles.  The locals and holidaymakers alike bring their sun umbrellas,  deck chairs and picnics to the beach.  They never get over crowded because there is so much space.

Most of the houses and apartments have more than one balcony and sometimes a terrace or a garden.  In summer the sun is very hot and sunblinds give much needed shade.

No sunloungers to be seen here but some of the restaurants on the beaches do have them which you can rent for about five euro for a day.

We dined out a few times.  Food was dissapointing to begin with, we are spoiled with delicious nutricious food in Turkey!   However the lunch in the photo above was delicious.  This restaurant in the next town  "Torre del Mar" was recomened to us. We went there twice and enjoyed the food on both occasions.

In the town of Torre del Mar, which is 15 minutes away by bus there is a huge beach.  Running parallel to the beach is the splendid promenade (paseo marítimo) with a wide walking area, cycle lane, grassy areas, play areas for children and numerous chiringuito.(beach restaurants)   It runs along the entire length of the town and stretches almost 4 kilometres.   We didn't walk it due to the heat but it would be great in the cooler weather to hire a bicycle and cycle the 4 kilometers!

There are numerous fountains and colourful flower displays in the town centre which add to the athmosphere.  The town is very flat and residents told us of the serious problems of flooding when the pipes become blocked during winter rains.  We really liked this town but feel it's very far away from Malaga city which would mean constant travelling by bus.....  ideal for holidays but not for permanent living.

Malaga city.  (text from Lonely planet)  Málaga is a world apart from the adjoining Costa del Sol: a historic and culturally rich provincial capital which has long lived in the shadow of the iconic Andalucian cities of Granada, Córdoba and Seville. Yet, it has rapidly emerged as the province's city of culture with its so-called 'mile of art' being compared to Madrid, and its dynamism and fine dining to Barcelona.

More on Marbella

Temperatures are back down to the low thirties so this suits us.  On some days there is a nice cool breeze which flows through the villa.  Mr D. is catching up with the latest sport on TV.  He has watched all of the Wimbledon tennis championship, Golf championships and the World athletics. He only sees the highlights when we are in Turkey so this is a real treat.  
 We have seen more of Marbella.  We walk down the hill always keeping to the shaded side of the street.   It's a big city with a vast landscape of tall apartment blocks which stretch all along the coast and back up the hills to the main motorway.    There are shops and restaurants on the ground floors of the apartment blocks.  The locals can be seen sitting and relaxing while eating tapas in the shade cast by striped blinds which cover all the outside eating areas. 

There is a long park which stretches down almost to the coast.  In this park we visited a world famous bonsai museum which is said to be the best collection of Bonsai trees in Europe and the best Olive tree collection in the world. This museum also holds the "Pinsapo" pine tree which is in danger of extinction and a 400 year-old juniper among other wonders of nature. I love this art.  It tells us that even if you do not have a garden, you can have trees!  I once made a bonsai tree from a sycamore sapling and it's still in my garden in Ireland.

Photos of the side streets in the residential areas where the Spanish people live.

Photos of the narrow streets of the old Marbella which is always thronged with tourists.

Photos of the boardwalk area and the beach at Marbella.

We enjoyed our time in Marbella but soon it was time for our house sit to end.  After welcoming our villa owners back from their holiday, we set off again with our small cases to the bus station where we got on the bus to Malaga central bus station. From there we headed east on another bus which an hour later dropped us off at a little seaside town called Benajarfe.