Dinner under the rain at restaurant 34 in Hotel Carabeo

We had a beautiful sunny day but it got overcast very quickly at about 5 pm. We had reservation on the terrace looking at the sea at the very sought after restaurant 34 at the hotel Carabeo. Amanda, who we will be renting the house from next year had highly recommended this restaurant for its view and romantic setting. We made the reservation a week ahead of time and could not change it. 

So we went anyway and got briefly got rained on twice before it stopped and gave us the most beautiful full double rainbow!

The food was just ok we felt but it is a truly beautiful setting and would go back. 

We met Christiane and Thierry Dieumegarde, a charming couple who invited us to visit them in Germany, on the Alsace border. They are getting married on Sept 1st and will spend part of their honeymoon in Nerja!

Competa, our favorite bueblo blanco

The road to Competa is made of endless twists and turns. Oh la la! Terry got us there and back with brio and said it was the most windiest road he ever drove. 

It is certainly worth the effort, Competa is truly beautiful and a bit larger than Frigiliana. There is also a certain vibe there. The local community seem to be made of very close friendships.

We had our best Spanish tapas meal at the Taberna of Oscar. The squid was the best I have ever eaten. It was melt in your mouth without any of the usual rubbiness of squid at all. Yum! We would go back to Competa just to eat at Oscar's.

We had dinner at Casa Nova that night.

Two days discovering more of Nerja

Nerja is a petit bijou de ville. Tout est jolie et magnifique! We went back to the Balcon of Europa, walked the streets, had lunch and walked back home. We walked a lot on this trip. 10,000 to 20,000 each day so far!

We also spent a couple of days on the beach which we so enjoy every time!

We went back for more great pizza on the strip! And an awesome cafe cortado!

We had dinner at a tapas restaurant close to home. The food was just ok but the outdoor ambience was good!

Mijas and drive on the Costa Del Sol

We got up a little earlier on Sunday and planned to drive all the way to Marbella, Estepona and Mijas but there was a lot of traffic and there is a lot of stops on the scenic road along the coast. The drive is nice up to Malaga and then slows way down as you approach the big city. We got mixed up a bit and ended up on the Autovia 7. It was a blessing because it would have taken too long to cross Malaga. We only went to Mijas and it was a good decision.

Mijas is a splendid but very busy Pueblo Blanco. There was also a fair that weekend and it took away from its charm. We really enjoyed walking the deserted street however and enjoyed a lovely tapas lunch at the super good Alboka restaurant on the entrance of the plaza. Delicious tapas!!

We had dinner at our Casa that night relaxing and dreaming of our wonderful road trip to Mijas.

Maro, La Herradura

We drove through Maro today on our way to La Herradura. The beaches along the costs are spectacular. We wanted to stop at one of the beachesbut it was so busy being Saturday, we decided to continuing on.

Maro is very small and didn't see the need to stop. We will come back next year and explore on a weekday.

La Herradura is a little rough on the edges and the beach is not as nice as the ones in Nerja but we were happy to come this way and have a long lunch at Realengo, a local pizzeria. 

 We had dinner at PataNegra in town and met Theo and Emma from the Netherlands who have a place at El Capistrano village. I had met them at the pool first that day and recognized them when they sat next to us at PataNegra. Nice coincidence!

Frigiliana Pueblo Blanco

What a gem of a village! It is only about 15-20 minutes from Nerja and a fun afternoon to spend walking the streets of the white village. We had a lovely long lunch with a view of the valley. Just beautiful bueblo blanco!

We stayed at our Casa for dinner enjoying the view sipping vino blanco and enjoying chorizo salami and manchego! Great day indeed!

2nd & 3rd day in Nerja, Spain

We went to visit a villa we may want to rent for six months in winter 2017-18. It is called El Jardin Secreto, is a 4 bedroom detached house with a pool. We liked it a lot and can see us enjoying our first few months of retirement in that house with periodic friends and family. We will commit only when we have also visited Malaga. The rate is 1000£ or $1750 Canadian which is very affordable and great value.

After the visiting the Villa, we drove to the Balcom of Europa in Nerja's town center. Quite the view of the Mediterranean. We enjoyed a stroll and lunch.

Here I have the fan Francine brought back from Spain when she visited in the early 80s!! A true piece of  art!!

We walked the streets of Nerja town and went back to El Capistrano to freshen up before dinner at Ayo on Burriana beach. We had the super famous and tasty Ayo Paella and watch the Flamenko show offered on Wednesday night only. A serendipitous treat indeed!

On the third day we went to Burriana beach, the largest and most beautiful beach of Nerja We had a wonderful pizza lunch on the strip. The server was super friendly and we will definitely return to this place!

Nerja, Spain 2016

We arrived in beautiful Spain on a Tuesday morning after spending an awesome weekend in Montreal where we saw the two Alexes, my niece and her friend and where I used to live on 2019 de la visitation.

Nerja is a gorgeous small town on the Costa Del Sol where the sun shines 320 days a year. We are here to check out potential places and accommodations to spend several months when we retire next year we hope.

So far, we can see that Nerja is small & lively without noisy or obnoxious tourists. So far so good! 

We had our first tapas meal on Burriana beach at Moreno's where they treated us to a wonderful Flamenko performance! Wow! This dancer was amazing!!

We finished the first day with delicious sherry, complimentary of Moreno restaurant! We would gladly go back there.

Cayo Jutias - Day trip

We hit the road at 9:30am this morning after a copious breakfast at our great Casa Particular.  Thomas, the Cuban taxi driver picked us up in his beat up Lada.  We drove to for about 2 hours to the sound of the happy Cuban salsa musica.

We stop on the way to the Prehistoric morales, a reproduction commissioned by Castro long time girl friend and painted by a student of Diego Rivera, the famous Mexican painter.

The road to Cayo Jutias was very bumpy and Thomas was driving very fast, zigzagging holes and pedestrian.  Oh la la!  It was a bit scary at times.

Cayo Jutias is very beautiful, Bonita azure agua.  It was busier than we thought but we spent a great 2.5 hours relaxing, driving beer and talking with two guys from Seattle.  The ride cost us 45 cucs and was worth it.  Thomas will be our driver tomorrow for Varadero.

When we came back Julie welcomed us with a fresh pear juice.  It was deliciouso!  Very refreshing.

We had a last stroll on in the Centro and had our last dinner in Vinales at our Casa Particular, Casa Moraima, 44 Calle Salvador Cisneros Este.  C.P. 22400 tel: 52752090 Triptovinales.com 

Horseback riding in Vinales

We went horseback riding in the Vinales valley today.  It is a truly beautiful peaceful valley through tobacco fields and camel back mountains called Mogotes.  We started the tour with a cigar rolling demonstration.  They showed us how to roll a cigar and how the tobacco is grown, harvested and dried.  With a had a Mojitos before mounting our horse. 

Mine was Lucerno and Terry's was Mojito.  The ride was beautiful and peaceful and then, when going down a small hill, Lucerro tripped, slipped in the mud and fell square on its two knees sending me flying in the air.  I went right over his head and crashed on my nose and my chin!  Oh no!! Oh man, that hurt.  But nothing broken, just a very red nose and small cut on my chin.  I was shaken but mounted the horse again and went on with the tour back home. What a trouper Terry said! 

An hour after my fall.

After make up.  

I was able to camouflage my nose perfectly with foundation and our host's husband fixed my twisted sunglasses.  Terry gave the man a Classic Car magazine and he was clearly delighted!!

We went for lunch at the same pizzeria as yesterday and finished the afternoon at the local community bar where we watched a fantastic show of classic Cuban musica.  We met Pedro the guitar player who toured all over Canada.  That was one of our favorite thing to do!

Vinales

We left Havana is a vintage 1950s Chevrolet. We drove for three hours without seatbelts and no car interior!  Vinales is a beautiful village in the valley where all house are bright color painted. Truly unique and beautiful pink, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange mini houses with signs advertising room for rent.  

This is our first experience in a Casa Particular.  Our room is bright pink with a window which opens to the street view or boys playing soccer.  Our hosts do not speak a word of English.  The driver did not either.  I wish I knew Spanish. It will certainly encourage me to learn it.  triptovinales.com see last day in Vinales for address.

We walked 25,000 steps around the village, went for a delicious pizza lunch and a few drinks at Pizzeria El Eden, one of the many village bar/restaurant.  The village is filled with tourist.

Tonight we will enjoy dinner at our Casa Particular.  The room cost 85 CUC for 3 nights.  Bkft 4 CUC and dinners 10 CUC/each.  In comparison the Havana hotel cost $440/night and dinners were on average $25-30 each. No wonder Casa Particulars are so popular and I would recommend them over hotels.

The food tasted wonderful too.  Very simple but tasty lobster, chicken, black beans soup and much more.