Our Holiday to Spain, Days 3 & 4
Monday 24th April 2006
We were woken by builders that had come into the house to paint the kitchen! Which was a bit of a shock as you would have thought since they knew someone was staying that a) we would have been informed they would be coming, and b) they would have knocked rather than just let themselves in. Because the house is Keith’s (my mums partner) we didn’t have to pay to stay there, so it wasn’t a big problem for us, but if we had been paying guests I feel it would have been unacceptable. The company that was managing the property for Keith simply didn’t care about these things, and this is one of many reasons why Keith has moved to a new management company. We got what breakfast we could considering the builders had come in and taken over the kitchen and headed out to Malaga. On the way we stopped at Carrefour for the toilet and to pick up a few things, and when we got back into the car we decided we might just stop where we were rather than drive another hour to Malaga as it was lovely and sunny. So we parked up again and spent the day in Estepona. We wandered along the beach front, stopping in bars along the way, and then we wandered through the old town.
Me and Ian in Estepona
We had lunch in the Plaza de les Flores which was a beautiful little square in the old town.
We wandered back through the new town and looked in lots of the shops as we passed, then we headed back along the beach towards the marina. Once there, we stopped for a drink before heading back to the car. By the time we got back it was about 11pm so we had a quick bite to eat before heading to bed.
Sand sculptures
Tuesday 25th April 2006
We got up early and headed off out to Ronda for the day. Ronda is a beautiful city at the top of a mountain which all the guidebooks and Websites we had visited had recommended as a must see when staying in the area. The drive up was very scary as the roads were set at the cliff edge, which when driving on that side is not pleasant. We arrived at Ronda around 12.30, parked up and headed down to see the views and get some maps. As usual, we stopped in some bars on the way! The views were breathtaking.
Ian in a little park which also had a few market stalls
The amazing views from Ronda
We wandered over the Puente Nuevo bridge, which is the famous bridge in Ronda. It was really spectacular to see, the only downside was that the area smelt of piss - a little something the guidebooks don’t tell you ;)
The famous Puente Nuevo bridge
Me and Ian having wandered down the side of the bridge
We headed over the bridge and into the old town where we stopped to have some tapas for lunch, then we carried on and wandered around the shops and went into some of the museums (the museum of history and art and the museum of the bandits) headed inside the Santa Maria Church which has to be the most plush church I’ve ever seen.
Inside the Santa Maria Church
We wandered around taking in the sights and then headed into the Moorish Kings’ house, to look around the mines and gardens.
The view from the entrance to the gardens
We headed down into the mines taking with us a lady who didn’t want to go down on her own. It was a very long way down, when we started at the top we were at the level of the Puente Nuevo bridge; when we eventually made it to the bottom we came out at the river at the bottom! It was very beautiful though. The mines had several large rooms which appear to be where the smugglers stored their items before carrying it up from the mines.
Me in one of the smugglers stores in the mines
Ian at the river at the bottom of the mines
After the knackering walk back up, we headed into the gardens and found a ‘kissing canopy’, which of course meant we had to kiss ;)
The pond in the gardens
By the time we left the gardens, it was 7.30pm and the other places to visit had all closed, as had the shops. We wandered around looking for a nice place to eat. We thought we may find somewhere nice in the new town, but after having a look, we decided to head back to the old town and went to the Taberna de Santo Domingo. The food was lovely and Ian said the wine was also!
The famous bridge at night
The drive back was not enjoyable at all for me, but at least it was better for Ian as the darkness meant that he couldn’t see the sheer drops of the cliff edges. It was fairly late when we arrived home so we headed straight to bed.