Day 27. Thursday 3 April.

Lucia had demonstrated the operation of the retractable overhead awning over the patio, and asked that we bring it in if there was any wind. During the night it started to rain, so D went outside, retracted the awning, but it busted. (David repair van from Gaudix nowhere to be found) so an apologetic WhatsApp to Lucia.

She and Sebastian came over and he replaced the screws and plugs – the cross beams are in fact concrete, painted to look like wood. It was not an easy job. D advised Lucia that he thought it needed an L bracket at the wall end and a wedge at the end beam and, explained by diagram ( D – van skills to the fore). She nodded and said she would take this up with the provider. We won’t be using it again!

Better news on the tyre scene. The expert in Nerja advised that the little scar was superficial, and not at all a safety issue. 

Day is overcast but not heavy: hoping rain stays off. Apparently Spain has had an unusually wet winter, not only in Valencia. So off to Frigiliana to check out mostly the old Moorish town. Followed Doris on Apple Maps instructions which took us to a dead end – ‘you have arrived’- where the tourist train turns around. And of course, no parking spots. So did a U turn and, another miracle, immediately found a parking spot. We later noted lots of spots further down, including an underground parking lot, with ‘Libre’ spots.

Down the hill to the ‘3 Cultures’ area that sits between the new and old towns. Bustling with a mixed market (but not much selling) and lots of tourists, many British voices and our first encounter with the recognizable ‘f word’ (cringe moment, and again later). Wandered away towards the old town then zig zagged up through a new garden into the narrow and steep Moorish streets, now a maze of souvenir/art shops, bars and rental accommodation. 

Came across a photo shoot of some sort. Main focus was a haughty princess in a slinky black outfit, including stilettos. We noticed that when not being photographed, she not only put on a coat and comfy (brown) flats while refreshing lustrous hair and redoing makeup, but later changed into sneakers for lunch.

T loved the street & house gardens…pots and plantings everywhere, cacti, wisteria, bougainvillea, azaleas & over a high town boundary wall: the chrysanthemum daisies.

Came across the church of St Anthony of Padua with interesting, beautiful external features, and although inside was not as flash as some, it was still a statement of the power of the church. The wooden doors were probably the best part and T appreciated the understated architecture (Mudejar?)

Other things of interest: the cobble patterns, the steep alleyways, the ‘kids’ blue door, the rescue cat lady (T counted 10 cats at photo point) & oh dear! the alats! (reminiscent of a terrible Fisher episode with white ants).

Returned to the ‘3 Cultures’ area and stopped for a lunch and non-alcoholic beer (Plates of spicy patatas wedges had been spotted…as well as calamari). The waiter became quite friendly when he found out we were Australian while we were setting the bill (that might have had something to do with it).

Returning to home base: washing dry & a vino & the renovation work goes on across the valley: is it a deck extension? A pool Reno? Whichever, the steep slope and worker movement is of WH&S interest

Dinner. Spaghetti bol.