It's a "Wrap" (finally) of Our Spain Vacay!

Hey everyone!  Between laundry & some house cleaning chores, I've been doing lots of photo editing today, & I'm tired!  I get impatient with this kind of thing and just want to be finished.  Are any of you like that?  Come on, be honest!  Anyway, I've tried to do photo collages as much as possible, just so it seems like there are fewer pictures, but this will be long anyway.  So grab something cool to drink & settle in.  I hope you enjoy!

This is the small fishing town (pop. less than 25,000) of Nerja.  It is very picturesque, & even though it has become a tourist destination, it hasn't succumbed to the concrete & high-rise buildings that has blighted many of the other Costa del Sol towns & cities.  I would loved to have eaten in this lovely little restaurant, but they were not open.

 The heart of Nerja is its spectacular Balcón de Europa, the "Balcony of Europe", a magnificent promenade along the edge of a towering cliff, once the site of the great Moorish castle, with sweeping panoramic views of the Mediterranean and the small coves and beaches below, against an awesome backdrop of hazy blue mountains.  I now want to paint our fence & attach bunches of pots filled with colorful flowers.  Sadly, The Man isn't thrilled about drilling all those holes in the back fence....lol!

This was a great sunny spot to grab some lunch.  It was chilly & the sun & this most delicious pizza were just what we needed.  It was a great place to people-watch.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find this totally charming?  Few people have dryers or yards for a clothesline, so they just take advantage of the sun however they can.  Another very obvious thing, there were no big "gas-guzzler" vehicles.  Maybe we'll catch on to this trend when our gas costs 

over $7 a gallon.....hmmm?

After lunch, we had a couple of hours to just roam around & mingle with the locals.  The blooming tree is an orchid.  Love those & have it on my wish list for our backyard.

The next day's jaunt was to a small village up in the mountains not too far from Malaga. 

This area is known for it's olive mill & olive oil, so there were olive trees as far as you could see.  Some of the trees were a 1000 years old & still producing -- is that not amazing?  I really loved the almost austere look of some of the houses -- very plain but also beautiful.  I'm not quite sure, but it really looked like this gentleman was just taking his donkey for a walk.  Seriously, he walked the donkey down this long  lane, stopped for a bit & then walked back.  I think the donkey liked 

having his photo taken!

This little village had about 400 people, with less than 50 of them being men. No kidding!  It is home to a very old, but high-producing olive mill.  This place was beautiful & almost spotless.  We were divided up into small groups (all English-speaking in our group of 10) & invited into the homes of some of the village ladies where they provided us with lunch.

Sorry this pic is so bad, but The Man took it with his IPhone instead of using my camera....lol.  This is Juani & she was an absolute sweetheart.  She couldn't speak any English, but we managed to communicate anyway.  Her home was spotless -- every nook & cranny.  She served us a 5-course

lunch at her dining room table, & the 10 of us just ate & chatted away like family.  This could easily have been the highlight of the entire trip for me.

Juani's home is on the right in the pic.  

Something else I found very interesting & smart, are the window coverings that you see on most houses.  I know we have something similar here in the states, but they are everywhere over there.  They certainly would block out the sun & heat.

The rest of the photos are just random shots around Torremolinos, our hotel & on the boardwalk area.

I love flowers & plants, so I was enthralled with how beautiful & well-maintained everything was.  The bougainvillea in the first two pics are climbing all the way to the 3rd floor from two pots on either side of the doorway -- stunning!  There are lots & lots of round-abouts instead of stop lights or stop signs.  All of these photos were taken close to or right next door to our hotel.  It's hard to see in this last pic, but this is a "loaded" lemon tree.  I hope ours will produce like that!

Many of the boardwalk restaurants had these outdoor cookers.  They utilized an old metal boat to do their barbecuing in.  I'm not sure, but I think those are anchovies.  I had some fresh anchovies & they were tasty.

Again, pics taken with the phone, so less than great.  These were all taken in our hotel dining room.  The entire end of the room was glass looking out at the sea.  I was enjoying breakfast & watching the sunrise -- spectacular!

Yes, we did do a lot of eating, & enjoyed our fair-share of the "spirits!"  We actually got kind of hooked on Sangria, & this particular restaurant had the best.  My dinner that particular night was salmon & fresh prawns with some kind of light tomato sauce.  It was very good.  The Man does not like fish, so he had a steak -- can we all say "b.o.r.i.n.g.!"

                                                                     

Yep, we are at the Malaga Airport which means our wonderful vacation has come to a close.  We have enjoyed it so much, but we are ready to go home.  We are less than ready for the 26+ hours that it will take us to get there, however.  The worst part of it will be the last leg, Detroit to Phoenix.  Between a bad tire on the plane, a backup on the runway due to a storm, what should have been a 3.5 hour flight, took us 5.5.  And because of the storm, our take-off was like a roller-coaster ride!  Seriously, I had that little "paper bag" in my lap because I thought I was going to need it!  I didn't, thank goodness!  I felt like kissing the ground when we finally landed in Phoenix!

We made it home, safe & sound, & our body-clocks have finally readjusted.  It was truly a thrill for me to share my first trip abroad with this man who has been my hubby & best friend for almost 43 years now.  We are not yet ready to even think about another trip, but you just never know....lol!

Thank you all so much, those of you who have commented regularly, for being so kind with your comments & allowing me to share this trip with you.  My next big project will be getting my album put together.  After that, I am eager to get started on some home projects -- yay!

Thanks again for stopping by, & I look forward to seeing you again soon!

xoxo, CAS