End of my Holidays

This is my second but last day in Benalmadena. I will at the airport this time on Thursday to take my flight back to reality. So, I thought I will just post this today and have a day of rest tomorrow.

Time flies. I had a great relaxing five weeks here in Benalmadena – a nice, holiday town as well as a retirement town, a town of holiday makers and retirees.

Benalmadena is made up of three districts – the costa...

The town center...

And the villages, also called Pueblos on the side and base of the mountains...

There is quite a big community of foreigners – British, Europeans, Scandinavians, and Russians here. Some bought holiday apartments so they can have a place to stay when they are in town during the summer months and/or when it gets too cold in Europe.

I can understand why many Europeans want to retire here. Benalmadena is a very likeable town. The place is idyllic, the pace of life is slow and laid-back. Life is simple, and affordable. The locals are friendly and accepting. A very likeable town indeed.

Benalmadena is self-sufficient. There are many little shops, and supermarkets all within walking distance. One doesn’t have to go far for the daily necessities.

There are enough things to do here in Arroyo. There is the Costa – where sun and sand beckons. And places of interest like the Puerto Marina, the Park of the Doves, cable car rides up to Mount Calamorro. There is a Wednesday second-hand goods market, a Friday flower market.

You can wander around the town area, pick a nice cafe or restaurant – of which there are many, have a meal, or a drink and watch the world go by. Just chill and relax. At night, if you like to party, you can head to the square at the costa and party the night away.

If that is not enough excitement, there is a bus in town taking you directly to Mijas Pueblo. It is a village which nestles on the mountain side in the next town. It is an interesting village, beautiful with a rich history. A tourist attraction no less. The bus ride is about 40 minutes. Or, you can visit the other towns on the Costa. Each old town has it’s own charms. And then, there is Malaga center, which is about half an hour by train.

It’s your holiday. It is up to you, how you want to spend it. Some people visit Europe in ten days. Some take ten days to explore a little town. To each his own.

I have been here a few times, and I did the touristic things on my earlier trips. Now, I just relax, do as little as possible.

Till the next time, Benalmadena! I will be back!

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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Sights and Sounds of Arroyo de la Miel

Some photos of Arroyo taken when I was out on my walks. We are five minutes walk to the town center of Arroyo de la Miel, which is really convenient. We walk everywhere, and all over town.

Here, on the ‘outskirts’ of town, it is very peaceful and quiet. You get the odd noise or sound from your immediate neighbours, but otherwise, it is so quiet one wonders if anybody lives in the neighbourhood.

There are quite a few avians in the area. Throughout the day, you hear pigeons and doves go coo-coo coo, coo-coo coo in the background. The peace and quiet is occasionally breached by seagulls’ squawks as they fly passed. At times, their squawks sounded like they were laughing and other times, like they were crying. They can be very noisy. Green parrots nestling in the trees in the area will screech when they are startled. In the evenings, swifts screech as they hunt for food.

This is a recent installation on the main street. A ceramic seat. It looks interesting, and it serves as a bench for people who need a rest. However, I feel it looks quite out of place and does not really belong as part of the old town.

Benches are a common sight in Arroyo de la Miel. They are on pavements, outside apartment blocks, outside the shops, squares, playgrounds, by the side of roads – anywhere where it might get used. And they do get used.

As I mentioned before, the place is very hilly, and full of slopes. And there are many old folks here. The benches are very useful to them. They can take a break from their walks and have a rest.

A duck pond in the neighbourhood. According to Roger, the pond was built so that migratory ducks could stop to have a break before going on their way. If that is true, whoever thought of the idea should be given an award.

People here like dogs. I think I am not too far off to say one in four households has a dog. It is very common to see people walking their dogs throughout the day – and late into the night too.

With such a big number of dogs, there is the problem of dog turds on the streets. Some dog owners are inconsiderate and do not pick up after their dogs although they are required by law to do so.

I remember the first time I was here eight years ago, the stench of dog urine on a hot summer day was really awful, and dog poos were everywhere. You have to be careful where you put your feet when you are out. Imagine – you are visiting your friends or going out to a restaurant, and you stepped on some dog poo. Hmm… Kind of awkward, isn’t it?

The situation has improved over the years, but there is still room for improvement. I guess there will always be room for improvement, as there will always be dog owners who take the easy way out.

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Quiet Evenings At Home

On days when we are not dining out. Roger and I take turns to cook. We eat simply, usually cooking something that is not too much trouble – something simple but healthy.

I am not a good cook. Thanks to the advance in gourmet science, there are ready-made sauces. Just mix the sauce into whatever you are cooking and viola, you have a nice dish.

We take our meals on the balcony. This way, we get to see the sunset while we dine. Dinner for two on the balcony with a view of the sun setting behind the mountain ranges. I don’t know of any restaurant that offers such a view.

A sample of what I prepared.

A sample of Roger’s dishes.

We hear Swifts screeching as they hunt for dinner, mostly "aerial plankton" such as flying ants, aphids, mosquitoes and spiderlings. I tried capturing a ‘scream’ of them – yes, that is what you call a group of Swifts, but they were too far and fast for me.

Watching the sunset while we dine.

After dinner, we sit out on the balcony, enjoy a few drinks, and listen to a radio station that plays very nice hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today. A nice way to reminisce the days gone by. It’s amazing what memories a song can dredge up.

From the balcony, I get a good view of the night sky above the mountain ranges. I was able to see the new moon. This was last month’s new moon. (I believe it is another new moon today.)

It is not often that one gets to see the moon move across the sky. Here, sitting on the balcony, I saw the moon appeared in the evening and disappear behind the mountain ranges into the night. Each night, the moon comes into view an hour later and sets later and away from us until it eventually sets at sea when it is a full moon.

The new moon at the top of the photo.

A pleasant evening spent at home, listening to music, watching the moon and the stars while enjoying a couple of drinks. Very pleasant indeed. Nowadays, there are not many stars in the sky. The stars are still there, just that we can see them due to the pollution in the sky.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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Beautiful Sunset In Benalmadena

This is a follow-up to my yesterday’s post – well, sort of.

Yesterday, I posted about how I didn’t see any interesting sunset so far this year. However, yesterday evening, I was rewarded with a beautiful, colourful sky.

It was after half past nine in the evening. We had just had our dinner. I was washing the dishes in the kitchen when Roger called out to me, asking me to hurry up if I wanted to catch the clouds. I asked him to take a few pictures for me first while I finished up.

These were what he captured.

When we were out for a walk late afternoon yesterday, I noticed it was quite cloudy. I suspected then that I might get to see a beautiful sunset. Back home, I took a couple of shots of the lovely skies, hopeful that I might get to see a beautiful sunset after all.

I am glad we were at home last night and I was able to watch the sunset. I sat out on the balcony and followed the clouds until it was dark. The sun was on the last leg of setting, so it wasn’t too long before the show was over and the sun disappeared over the horizon.

I snapped loads of photos. These are the better ones. There is a limit to what the phone camera can do despite the advance in phone camera technology. The real scene was a lot more awesome and beautiful than what the camera eye captured.

In case you are wondering how colourful skies come about, they are a result of the clouds reflecting the sun’s rays. What sort of colours we get depends on what sort of clouds are in the sky, and also how sunlight interacts with molecules and small particles in the atmosphere.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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Sunset, And Cloud-spotting in Benalmadena

Sunset in Benalmadena in summer is about 9pm. I get a good view of the sun setting behind Mount Calamarro from Roger’s balcony. However, it would be another half an hour or more before the sun sets over the horizon of the Mediterranean sea.

The sky over Mount Calamarro offers a view of the changing skyline in Benalmadena. If I am lucky, I get treated to some magical, and phenomenal natural light shows and cloud formations.

I haven’t been lucky this year. So far, it has been mostly cloudless blue skies. I have not seen any impressive sunset, light shows or cloud formations. These are my best captures to date.

I have always found clouds fascinating. I love watching them and seeing their formations in the sky. Sometimes, they resemble figures, animals, and the kid in me finds that amusing.

To me, the sky is like a canvas, the clouds are the paint, and the wind is the artist. The artist is always at work, painting beautiful pictures in the sky. Blink and the picture is changed. The ever changing ‘landscape’, is always interesting to watch and can provide endless hours of entertainment, especially in the tropics where ithere is always cloudy skies.

These are some more dramatic ones – courtesy of Roger.

This one is from last year. One that didn’t made it to print, because when I witnessed a beautiful sunset, I will take lots of photos of it, and there were enough to make a post.

As the Chinese saying goes, “The sky has unforeseeable clouds.” So, cloud-spotting will never be dull. There are enough interests in these formations that people form cloud-spotting communities to share photos and information on these natural phenomena.

Sometimes, being simple is good. You see the beauty in ordinary things.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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Cafes and Restaurants in Arroyo de la Miel

There are many cafes and restaurants in Arroyo de la Miel. On the main street, or the town center where there are tourists, the cuisines are more international. The restaurants are bigger and they fare better because they do a fair bit of tourist trade.

On the smaller streets, side streets and alleyways, there are numerous smaller cafes and restaurants. Most of these small, local restaurants are tucked away. You have to live in the area to know they existed. They serve mainly the locals living in the area.

Some of them are so small, they have only six to eight tables inside the restaurant. Even that is quite a squeeze. If they are lucky to have a little courtyard, or side-walks, it will give them some flexibility, they will be able to fit in another eight to a dozen tables.

There are also restaurants that are foreign owned. These tend to be located in areas where you find enclaves of foreigners and expats. Their clientele are mostly expats and retirees living in the area.

There are many of these small cafes and restaurants all over Arroyo de la Miel.

This is the Meson la Mezquita – a restaurant we go to on occasions. It is on a side street. They have six to eight tables inside the restaurant, another six to eight tables outside the restaurant. They are lucky to have the alley way and they made full use of that with another six to eight tables, or even more if they should need to.

This is Meson la Espiga, another restaurant we go to with friends. They are on the street. They have about ten tables inside the restaurant. They made use of the sidewalk and could set as many tables as they needed.

These are international restaurants in the squares and plazas. They usually serve a mix of tourists and locals in the area.

Judging by the number of cafes and restaurants around, I guess Spanish people must eat out a lot. Most of the cafes and restaurants do all right – be it on the main street or in an alleyway. Each has their own clientele. There is always someone at a cafe or restaurant at all times of the day. Someone is having a coffee, or a drink or a group of friends enjoying a leisurely meal.

Some of these cafes are what you call Tapas bars or Tapas cafes. Tapas are small portions of food served with a drink. You order a drink and the establishment serves you a tapas to go with the drink. The tapas is usually something from the menu.

I think if I were to dine every day in a different restaurant within walking distance, it would still take me a couple of years to go through them all. So, you can imagine how competitive the restaurant business must be.

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