12th – arrived, though 2.5 hrs rather than one later as Chris decided they should take a bus, walk some, take another bus, all northwards, instead of southwards. Guess who’s not going to forget this in a hurry. Dinner with all to great, famous pub restaurant Tuman Tap & Grill.
13th – getting the hang of Chicago buses & trains now. No ticket collector or driver seems to care that some of our credit cards don’t work on their payment devices, they just don’t want any holdups; fair fares are even cheaper! Lots of walking today, around parks, beautiful outdoor theatres
& a river walk amidst the skyscrapers. Some of these lofty buildings are stunning, both new & 1920/30’s art deco.
A three part train journey takes us to a night at a Heathrow (Thistle) hotel, then a flight to Chicago, the first stop of this epic, & Chris’s bucket list, journey. Extra-dimensioned by our daughter Phoebe, her partner Neeraj & our son Max joining our adventure for its first two (out of three) weeks.
And all this whilst Trump, Musk et al lay waste to the established structure of western society. Methinks we’ll not be talking politics for a while …
3+ hrs up the motorway network, we’re in the old town of Zaragoza. We toured the basilica, just outside the hotel we’re staying in for two nights & ate in a traditional tapas bar, La Republica. Then got hooked up to the hipster drinking, ending up in a pub which before our eyes changed into a nightclub where we danced …..
Kath suffering today. Managed to walk upriver to Zaragoza Expo, from 2006, Zaha Hadid bridge of work/living space – a horizontal version of Le Corbusier’s vertical city to the sky in Marseilles.
And the biggest fresh water aquarium in Europe.
Evening brought music. Country blues, until Chris had to leave, from Theo Lawrence in the Rock & Blues Cafe, then a funky mixture from the DJ at La Lata de Bombillas (canned light bulbs.) Nay bad for a Sunday night.
Bilbao
Our three hour journey was interrupted by a visit to a Rioja bodega . Kath bought three whites, Chris one red.
Staying at Ibis in Bilbao because it has an EV charger in its underground car park. ‘Xept we were told on arrival it was taken out. Hmmmm
First night given to Pintxos trail, mostly in old town. Reminded of why we so love this place. But once the sun goes down, it is cold here.
Second day given to a classy vintner, more pintxos in the market & a great local fare dinner in the old town.
And tomorrow we drive to Santander & the ferry home.
Staying in a smart hotel 30 mins walk from old town which has a really good restaurant & bar. And a basement car park which Booking.com has with a charging point but the reception team deny this. Found an electric socket so car now charged for free.
Went to cinema last night to see Poor Things in English with Spanish subtitles. I do love Yorgos Lanthimos films. Kath still thinking on’t.
Next day was a bus ride to the contemporary art museum, the oldest in Europe. Not as impressed as the last time we were here. Google told us that was five years ago. Gentle walking took us to the old river bed that years ago was drained after the rivers were diverted to avoid flooding. Ahead of the game, methinks. We ended up at a music club, listening to accomplished jazz ‘open micers’ &, knackered, took a taxi home.
Third day in the futuristic science park, as above, followed by a (first) visit to the city’s beach, which is v sandy, a la Tenby, & huge. A visit to utra cool drinking, former warehouse, La Fabrica de Hielo (ice factory) was followed by a seafront restaurant famed for its paella. Was OK, not outstanding, but classy 20th century family restaurant decor.
A one night stay in this seaside town included a walk around the bay & a swim for you know who. Staying in a 4* hotel (Kath’s choice), badly prepared for the two separate coach tours which we watch over dinner & on through the night.
We’re reminded again & again how lucky we are to have each other & not to be struggling with ageing impacts. And not to be running a hotel, though some of the non-performance makes us want to contact the owners. Manana.
90 mins drive brings us to Murcia, with a delightful old city centre, a huge cathedral just around the corner from our swish hotel. A fish in the middle of a (proper water level) river is delightful, photo below.
Car charged, cheaply, in underground car park with another new app. Restaurants are great, with one of the best old tapas joints superb.
After two nights, it’s time to move north, to one of our very favourite cities, Valencia.
Next stop is Almunecar, just a little east of Nerja, before we journey onto the city & region of Almeria. We have a one night stay in a superbly located seafront hotel. An evening walk brought us to the preserved ruins of a Roman salt fish factory, the Moorish castle above & a 1970’s style wide beach fronting promenade. We found various tasty statues, including this one.
After a motorway journey through never ending plastic – every flat piece of land turned into cloches/greenhouses – we arrive at Gran oHtel Almeria, a time to be pampered. Overlooking the various fountains of Las Ramblas, our fifth floor balcony gives us sea, port & beach views. And a sneaky EV charge in its basement car park, too.
We find Sea Salps (photo below) on Almeria beach after a new explanation for a well known discovery on beaches at home.
A contemporary art museum contaIned fab works of art, best of which was the first, a paper statues photo session (also below).
Next day is alcazar time, the city has the biggest except for Granada. And it is huge. Not sure about the restoration works – there are lots – with modern materials ….. And we round off the night with a jazz concert. Well, almost jazz from Antonio Alvarez and the Band in Motion. We like Almeria!
After a stopover for a car charge at a closed shopping centre adjacent the motorway, indeed way above the sea, we arrived in Nerja. We’ve stayed here twice before, drawn back to the myriad of narrow lanes, variety of hospitality & choice of beaches (all being black/fine gravelled, but not so fine).
At 15.30, after collecting the keys for our flat, we started looking for lunch. With so many places closing ‘til the from 19.00/20.00 evening sessions, we queued then sat down at a table of the Italian restaurant immediately opposite our flat. We finally had our food order delivered to our table at 6pm, some 2.5 hours later.
Having seen the tiny kitchen, as above, from which two chefs produce pizzas & all sorts of other traditional Italian dishes, our frustration was converted to respect. Oh, & they do all the washing up in there, too!
Next Nerja day is sunbathing & swimming (for Kath). Dinner in Michelin restaurant Sollun, a five course taster + wines package at a really attractive price, proved worthy of its accreditation with close attention of Mastercraft guiding us through the course & wines.
Two more days of glorious sunshine bathing, on two fab beaches, brings us to the end of this Nerja trip. Feel, somehow, we might yet again return one day.
Now time to drive into the mountains, to visit a former colleague at Glam Poly! Jime has been living in the Sierra Nevada mountains, cultivating his finca to produce grapes & olives for since 2011. A tour round the Finca was followed by a lunch in the main local town, Linjaron, about a mile away. He & his partner love their lives high up in them mountains. On the way down, Kath & I agreed we couldn’t live Iike that.
On our last day in Malaga, we went for a long walk around the eastern bay in the sunshine. Found ourselves in a huge restaurant with great food, thousands of waiters &, after some confusion, at an edge-of-the-beach table. Two hours later our return was accompanied by spitting rain. Came across what appeared to be a kite surfing race. Never seen so many kite surfers together, we counted 14, with more to join them from the beach.
Hop on hop off bus day followed by visit to Moorish Alcazaba & adjacent Roman theatre, a taste of this ancient centre of Arabic, African, Phoenician, Roman, sometime French & most recently, of course, Spanish cultures.
NW corner of old town, craft beer bars & ZZ club – 4 piece band doing Jimi Hendrix et al from yesteryear, great tiny venue vibe, drums still playing in my ears – non-touristy musical corner found
Exhibitions day, with visits to Contemporary Art Museum & Carmen Thyssen Museum. The former was a great, former wholesale market space with inspiring, sometimes provocative, large art pieces. The latter was not so great, with many more classic 18th, 19th & early 20th century works, albeit in a beautifully restored heritage building with a highly functional modern extension.
And today (Thursday) was the turn of Malagar’s Pompidou Centre. Designed by the same team as the original in Paris, Richard Rodgers & Enzo Piano, the two storey open spaced exhibition centre is a delight to visit. And this time we managed a half decent photo of the outside atrium serving the galleries. And yes, it has been raining a bit …
On Sat 13th , we head further south & it’s getting noticeably warmer.
A gentle drive to Cordoba, staying at the Paradore hotel for a bit of relax & spoiling, brings us back to the stunning ancient Cordoba Mezquita mosque / cathedral – an 8th + century building we’ve visited once before. It’s every bit as magnificent as in our memories.
At the end of our southerly journey, we find ourselves amidst hyper bustling hospitality that is old town Malaga. Our flat for the week is on the 4th floor of one of the restaurant epicentres’ buildings. No early sleeping for now. Who knew? But, actually, the flat is remarkably quiet ….. until the nearby cathedral clock makes another time announcement.
Sunday night was given to a craft beer pub watching Real Madrid v Barcelona. Appropriate or what, since last time we were in Madrid we went to the Bernabeu.
Monday was visiting (eastern) beach time, a reminder of how much it resembles mud. An ace Marisqueria lunch near the port (old, not flash new) compensated for the long walk and the evening was completed by a troupe of Flamenco dancers & musicians. We have rediscovered our snappy fingers, stamping feet thang.
Returned in the dark from Tuesday’s excursions in the mountains of Kath’s stiff neck tension too steep don’t want to see any view. Before that episode, we visited Ronda, high up in them mountains, with an astonishing “new” bridge above a chasm some 400 feet below.
Nuevo Puerta Ronda
Also had a range high anxiety moment when Kath decided we couldn’t return without a charge and all the chargers we tried weren’t working / there. Except for the slow charger in a public car park run by Louis de Parking, who offered to take Kath home for lunch. High anxiety, heightened self esteem – a winning combo?
And every river, every reservoir, there’s not much water here ….
Chris & Kath's Travel Time 