Back to the airport

Not A lot of photo opportunities today, I spotted these cars in Malaga Airport and reckon the owners wont be coming anytime soon!

It's an early start today as Mum and Margaret need to be at the airport for 11.00, we set off at 8.30 just to be sure. For a change we take the Ronda Road, this involves driving up to Jimera de Libar then onto Atajate, up to Ronda and then down the road to San Pedro where we joined the main toll road to Malaga. We chose this road because the road surface is so much better than the normal route and we were getting a little fed up with the bumps on the road surface.

It was a good journey, we made pretty good time, only being slightly delayed on the airport approach road. We found the new car park at the airport, easily and got them to the check in right at the start of the queue. After they checked in we had a quick drink with them before they headed through security to the plane. They really enjoyed their holiday and we really enjoyed having them, Mum is coming back again in June which is good news for us and especially Ben and Dan.

After we said goodbye we headed to Ikea to collect a few things, a new book case and a light for Davids flat just to mention a couple. We have a love hate relationship with Ikea, Susan loves it and I hate it. Everything about Ikea is about taking cash from you, it's amazing how easy it is to go into a spending frenzy in that shop. Even the trollies are designed to hold your yellow bags open and easy to stick things into, you are surrounded by posters of happy people with bulging bags and full trollies, the idea being that you'll feel bad if you dont have a full bag and trolly. If only Ikea was listed on the stock market, I'd buy loads of shares in it.

After Ikea it was la Canada, a large shopping mall on the toll road, we're still looking for a new shower head since someone replaced the old one. We didnt find one but we did find a new bracket that might do the trick. We'll try it out another day. Susan found the curtain pole that she wanted but had forgotten the measurements so she'll go back next Thursday on our next airport run. We had a bite of lunch then round the supermarket for some bits and pieces, printer paper for one!

A long day and the dogs were on their own for a long time. We got back around 4 ish and I took them for a walk round the olive groves. We've been talking to a little horse that is tied up in the Olive Groves so today I took some apples for it, it was pleased to see us and gets on with the dogs really well. It liked the apples but the local dogs were barking at us so we left the apples in a pile and headed back.

It's an early night I think, the house seems strangely empty and the dogs are missing Mum and Margaret. Tomorrow we have decided to have a day off before the cleaning and washing starts on Saturday ready for our next visitors on Sunday.

Duquesa and Sabanillas

It's market day in San Luis de Sabanillas and as Mum and Margaret missed the market in town this trip we had promised them a market someplace. So, we're heading down to the coast near to Duquesa for the Sunday Market. It's a lovely bright day but again with a cold wind, nothing as bad as is heading for the Uk we understand. Susan drove and did very well on the twisty roads, thankfully they have reopened the road round Gaucin so we dont have to drive through the middle of town. We saw a huge number of cyclists riding up the hills, I dont know how they manage it!

We headed down the road to Manilva, this picture was taken near to the coast, you can see the med in the background. On the way we passed what we thought were Olive trees cut right back to the ground but we since decided they were grape vines. Manilva is so built up since we first passed through there 5 or 6 years ago, we cant figure out where all the people are coming from.

We parked fairly well back from the coast expecting the town to be very busy as it is Market day, we walked down and across the main road heading for the sea. We found the sea and a lovely little coffee shop, stopped for a drink and asked the waiter where the market was, it's cancelled today as it is voting day! Never mind, the sun is out and the sky is blue. We finished our coffees and walked along the beach towards Duquesa. This statue is by the beach in Sabanillas, no idea what it is about.

This is the building that housed the coffee shop, there were quite a lot of brits about and quite a few dogs which was good.

As we walked along the beach we looked back and this is the view towards Marbella along the coast. The sea was cold and refreshing. Not that any of us swam.

We had to cross a small river before we got to duquesa, this is mum crossing, she made it without falling in.

Margaret decided that paddling was the best option, I guess she was right.

The dogs just loved their day out, they love the water so much, they ran and ran back and forward.

We arrived in Duquesa and had drinks in a cafe, occupied pretty much totally by brits, not my idea of a place to live but very nice. Some great boats, very rich people dock here for holidays. It's nice to visit Duquesa, it is a great spot, the weather always seems good and it's just nice to sit and watch the world go by.

We walked back to Sabanillas and past these fishermen mending nets on the way, it must be time to set sail. Once again the dogs loved the water.

I liked the colours of this boat but I'm not sure I'd like to set sail into the med in it, it looked a little knackered.

We drove back up into the mountains, past Gaucin and on to Atajate for Lunch. We like this restaurant, the food is always excellent and the staff friendly. Our waiter bore a remarkable resemblance to a younger George Michael but we kept quiet about that.

A lovely meal and a quick drive back to the house where we are all tired and ready for a relaxing evening, perhaps we'll finish last nights chicken