Day 31. Monday 7 April.

We hadn’t planned a beach trip, just a ‘take the car & head East’ for a little way, before gathering paella supplies for tonight’s feast.

The road winds along the cliffs (a bit like Cinqueterra) & towns (hotel & apartment blocks) merge in a continuous narrow urban strip, connected across gorges by bridges & tunnels. Agriculture fits onto the steep mountain slopes, a lot under plastic, interspersed with orchards of avocados, custard apples, peaches, guava…..Production is intensive, alongside tourism.

 Celebrated finding an easy parking spot in Almunecar in an underground parking lot at the Mercadona (1 hour free) then 8 cents per minute after that, and if 20 euros were spent in the supermarket, then 2 hours would be free. 

Coffee & a walk on the esplanade would fit the timeframe… D reckoned some vinos would meet the target (save on parking by spending on essentials is a reasonable theory). Cafes were doing a very slow trade at the beachside…perhaps being a Monday?

The esplanade was splendid…glorious sun, clear water, a few bodies turning brown & browner & no tourist groups. Took a walk up to where there was a huge statue of Abd-al Rahman, who set up a caliphate from here that was, of course, subsequently conquered after about three centuries. The statue was erected in 2005 by the town council – it seemed to be another small example of acceptance of history and the need to co-exist.

T thought ‘pity we didn’t bring our gear, the water looks fantastic’. Then realized we actually did have swimmers in main bags in the car, so nothing to stop us. While D gathered wine and some other essentials, T gathered towels & water shoes (stones underfoot rather than sand) from bazaar next door & in the underground car park we did a quick change. Hope there was no CCTV. 

 Onto the beach to realize why no one was actually in the water! Colour magnificent, but temperature??? D waded into brass monkey level, and warned T that it was ‘cramp temp’. Yes, it was, but wonderful once the body adjusted. D’s body didn’t really adjust, although he did plunge in at the end so that his manhood wasn’t challenged. For T, the hot stones-bake afterwards was magic.

An extempore lunch happened on the wall (bread, cheese, jamon…we must remember to take oil on every outing, as bread, although beautifully crusty, is rather tasteless without oil). The couple playing boule didn’t mind us observing their technique; T thought the senora was pretty good and the senor did all the talking, but there was a ‘tense moment’ about something (this came after an intensive measuring moment in which they used a phone to do the digital measure!)o

Back to the car & forward to Motril, where tropical fruit production is huge but we couldn’t get an explanation of the orchards that look a bit sick with both green & yellow leaves.

Returning to home via Lidl (scoops of prawns, mussels, cockles & calamari) for that paella feast.

Tomorrow we head to Granada (just up the road) for the only thing on T’s list of ‘must do’s’…Alhambra.

Some thoughts on driving in Spain. Well firstly they’re on the wrong side of the road, even if it is the right side. But having got used to that, and a new car, there are a few things to note. Firstly, despite the aforementioned factors, it is easier to drive here than in Canberra. The reason? There are, of course, road rules such as speed limits, parking restrictions etc, but no-one apart from visitors obeys them. So the upside of that is that the unexpected is entirely expected and no-one seems to get aggro – we have seen no ‘road rage’ of any sort, apart from the occasional horn when someone hasn’t ignored the red light at a pedestrian crossing because there’s no-one on it. Secondly, hazard warning lights were probably invented here because they are an accepted way of signaling that you are stopping in the middle of the street/lane for whatever reason, or maybe no reason – and that’s accepted with equanimity as long as the flashers are on. Thirdly, drivers are polite to pedestrians (crossings are everywhere) and seem happy to stop to let folk get over. Fourthly, all speed limits are advisory only – in the 120 km/hr zone its at least 140; in the 100 zone, 130; in the 30 zone, 80. I’m not making this up, it is empirical. The problem is that, as a driver, you inadvertently tend to go with the flow: until the co-driver/passenger offers guidance or gasps. So it’s actually been more relaxing than expected.