Christmas comes late with a Spring Break

Caro and I headed off for a bit of spring sunshine.  It was a belated Christmas Present as last Christmas, I presented Caroline with an IOU and some maps of the Sierra Nevadas in Andalusia.  We both have fond memories of the area and have enjoyed walking there in the past.  So shortly after Christmas I booked Ryanair flights for two to Malaga and we arranged to have our two teenagers "baby-sat".  Many thanks to older cousin Gráinne and the Fishies.

Mid March proved to be a good decision.  We had wall to wall sunshine for the week.  Indeed the views out through the windows of the aircraft gave us a taste of what we might expect.  Though we did not find snow as far south as we were going, the Pyrenees looked inviting also.

Our destination was Nerja, about an hour's drive north of Malaga along the coast.  Nerja is famous for it's caves, but for the outdoor enthusiast it offers a lot more.  Thanks Ben, it was a great recommendation.

We sorted a room right on the seafront overlooking gardens that were full of bird song.  The great thing about off season travel is that once you arrive at your hotel, you can usually pick your own room.  I suppose, if you were a real risk-taker, as I was in my youth, you could arrive without a booking and just wander about until you spotted somewhere you liked. Though I must say the "Hostal 3 Soles" (hotel of the 3 suns) was only missing a pool and a bar to make 4 stars in my book, though I would also have preferred it if they served breakfast a bit earlier than 9.30am.

The town itself turned out to be pleasantly quiet and reserved this early in the season.  Lots of little alleys full of shops and restaurants.  Plenty to do with your spare time if you like that kind of thing.  Not a place for night-life, though, unless you bring your own gang.  I liked it like that and would hate to see the place in high season.  I think I may be growing up.

Parking in Nerja was an issue.  Sometimes we had a choice of a 15 or 20 minute walk to the hotel or pay €1.80 per hour in the 24/7 town centre car-park, occasionally we returned from a hard day in the hills and were lucky to get a spot less than 10 minutes walk from our beds.  Parking must get pure mad during the high season.  Though the car-park was mostly empty while we were there.

Meals were inexpensive as you would expect from the Spanish and you paid a lot less for what you got, whether you went cheap and nasty or went for excellence.  We found excellence to be well affordable, when you were just paying for two.

We touched down in Malaga at lunchtime and had the rest of the afternoon to settle in.  A few hours stroll about the picturesque town centre allowed us to highlight places for further investigation at a later stage.  I spent the evening on the hotel wifi, checking out walking routes for the following day, before heading out for a few tapas.  With the few compulsory beers consumed, it was off to bed to charge the batteries for whatever the following day held.