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Thursday, 16 November. Many of our group were going to Morocco today, but we were glad we hadn't signed up for that overnight trip. Jane and I had taken basically the same tour while seeing Spain in 1972, and weren't particularly eager to go back. We looked forward to our first entirely free day of the trip. With Tom and Kyoko, we walked east along the beach promenade to the "Fishing Village" where Jane bought a beautiful, soft leather jacket, among other things. Along the way we stopped at a quaint little chapel where dozens of petitions were fastened around a crucifix. We also encountered an itinerant knife sharpener who worked from his motorbike.
We continued on to the wide stairs up to San Miguel. In a huge supermercado there, we bought some Rioja wine to take home. Going back down the stairs, we had lunch at Los Pescaderos, right on the beach. The Bajondillo Apartments, long used by Grand Circle Travel, was almost right across the street, so we wandered through that, just to see how it compared to the Nautilus. (It didn't.)
Tom and Kyoko decided to take a taxi back to the Nautilus, but Jane had to pick up her jacket at the Fishing Village so the two of us walked back there, then along the beach back to the hotel. It was a lot of walking, but we realized that even that wasn't enough to work off the three large meals we were eating every day. After resting a couple of hours, the four of us had an excellent dinner at House Ming. We watched the flamenco show in the hotel lounge for a while before retiring to our rooms. Friday, 17 November. This was another free day for us, and we slept late (8:30). It was sunny, but cool. After breakfast the four of us walked west along the beach promenade to the next village, Benalmadena. It is a fairly new development, incorporating a marina and various canals among buildings of almost fantasy architecture. Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffiths are said to frequent this village. Along the way, we passed a group of at least a dozen stray cats sunning themselves on the rocks along the beach.
Jane and I decided to skip lunch. We loafed and read most of the afternoon. At five we went to the hotel lounge for tea and juice. Later we each had a lamumba. I thought it might help my cold. We had an excellent dinner with Tom and Kyoko at La Brasa, probably the best of all the restaurants we tried in Torremolinos. Saturday, 18 November. Today we were scheduled for "A Taste of Village Life." The bus left the hotel at 10 a.m. and headed northeast. We had a rest stop at an interesting Artiganos store near Antiquera, then continued on to an olive oil factory outside Archidona. Although the factory was not operating, the tour was interesting. The factory was surprisingly similar to a wine-making plant we'd visited in Argentina. We finally arrived in the village of Salinas about 1:30. The bus was met by the ladies who would host us for lunch. Six of us went with Josefa. Her house was small, but it had two bedrooms, a kitchen (with a TV and computer), dining room, sitting room and patio. Josefa was exceptionally cheerful and vivacious, and she served a delicious and generous meal.
We left Salinas about 3:30 and were back at the hotel in an hour. Jane and I spent some time in the lounge before leaving at 8:40 for dinner at La Brasa. We delayed as long as we could because we had eaten so much for lunch. The restaurant was jammed and the two of us got the last table. So far I've just mentioned "excellent meals" and have deliberately avoided going into detail. But I have to describe at least one meal, and this was among the best. The first course was half a tree-ripened avocado topped with tiny prawns in a pink cream sauce. Next was baked salmon with mixed vegetables. For dessert we had profiterole (like a cream puff buried in rich, dark chocolate syrup). Of course, I had two glasses of wine while Jane had her bottled water. Remember, all meals and beverages were included with our tour. We could barely manage to waddle the one block back to our hotel. |
