Olvera pics

Its been a bit quiet this week so we just pottered around Olvera, taking a few pictures along the way.

Since we arrived, and before on our previous visits, we had noticed a park area in the centre of town so we decided today was the day to investigate further. The pictures show the flora and fauna of the park whih was set on several levels, dictated by the granite rock that it was built upon. At the top was a statue of Christ, erected in 1939. The views from here as always were great.

Also shown is Manolo's bar and restaurant, a popular watering hole and one of the focal points in town for people meeting up in the warm evenings, where they all sit and promenade around, no doubt putting the world to rights but more likely talking about the new english that have arrived, how much they paid for their house, what the car cost etc.etc......

A lovely place just to sit and watch the world go by or to have a few beers and tapa's.

San Luis de Sabinillas

Our previous outings to the seaside had been to the Atlantic coast so today we decided to visit the Mediterranean. On paper, the trip looked straightforward, so we left home about 8.45am heading south through Ronda.

The road from Ronda however was windy and undulating and in places like a patchwork quilt of road repairs. The scenery though, particularly through the Genal valley and villages such as Gaucin and Algotocin, was beautiful. At one stage, prior to choosing Olvera to live, we were interested in a property in Algotocin but for several reasons we never actually got there to view.

Arriving at San Luis de Sabinillas approximately two and a half hours after leaving, the journey was longer than we anticipated and we were slightly the worse for wear so a coffee was in order. The area was obviously popular with the Brits as there were quite a few around and the cafes and shops advertised in english, something we are definately not used to in Olvera. Having said that, it was nice to see the fishing boats on the beach and presumably the local fishermen gathered around one of the boats.

Anyway, as always, just a few pics of the trip showing the beach area of the town and a shot of Algotocin on the right.

On the journey home we stopped off at a small village called Gaucin for a late lunch which at €10 each for a three course meal plus two beers we thought was good value.

Teba Castle

On the way back from El Chorro, we took a left turn to a small village called Teba not least because it was a shortcut cutting off Campillos and saving about 20 kms in distance.

The ruined castle really stands out above the village and can be seen from quite a distance away, so inevitably that was where we headed. The views at the top were tremendous although unfortunately it was a little misty in the distance. The pictures once again do not do it justice but at one time the castle covered quite an area. Unfortunately, we couldn't go right to the top of the remaining intact keep as a gate barred the way.

As there was no information available at the castle regarding its origins and history, we looked it up on the internet when we got home. After reading about it, I wished we had spent more time in the village looking around as it and castle have an interesting and colourful history dating back to the 8th century when the Moors invaded Spain and to the Crusades of 1330. Never mind, we can always go back for another look.

Linked posts:

Teba

The following link gives much more detail:

http://www.andalucia.com/province/malaga/teba/home.htm

El Chorro

About 50kms southeast of Olvera lies the village of El Chorro, a place I had heard about through reading the various forums on the internet prior to moving to Spain. So, as it was a nice day, we took a drive out.

The narrow twisting roads to El Chorro bore witness to the recent heavy rains, with mud & rockslides 0n the road so driving with care was very necessary........unless you were spanish of course, in which case its a perfect opportunity to practise your rallying skills. Bless'em!!

The pics show the reservoir, one of three artficial lakes created by a dam, which was built between 1914 and 1921. Apparently, for those of you old enough to remember, this was the location for the film "Von Ryan's Express" starring Frank Sinatra. A few of the pics show a bridge carrying the railway line and a walkway, approximately 100 metres above the reservoir, around the mountain.

The link below describes the area in more detail:

http://www.andalucia.com/antequera/chorro/home.htm

Linked posts:

El Chorro

The Lake District

Ronda Bullring

The bullring was opened in 1785 and is one of the oldest and ornate in Spain. Although we are not fans of bullfighting, the arena itself is spectacular and well worth the €6 each entrance. There are 136 columns, forming 68 arches and the upper and lower sections each contain five rows of seating.

There is a museum situated underneath the stand area which contains costumes, art and memorabilia depicting the origins and history of bullfighting from times past. Well worth a look but not necessarily to everyone's taste.

A bonus was seeing the young lady with her beautiful puppy, of which she was obviously very proud.......totally spoilt and quite right too.

Linked posts:

Ronda

Ronda old town

Ronda

Today we took a drive to Ronda, a town about 45kms south of Olvera. We had heard nothing but good things about it, particularly as town for good shops, which pleased Anne no end.

We were not disappointed. We arrived at about 10am and parked in the railway station car park with a view to walking into the town centre, stopping at every clothes, souvenir and gift shop along the way. After about three hours we arrived at the old part of town.....only joking Anne, but there were a good variety of shops and good quality. Luckily, we had left the bank card at home.

As always, the pictures do not do justice but hopefully they give you a flavour of a very beautiful town, in particular the Puento Nuevo bridge over the gorge, for which Ronda is perhaps most famous. If you ever get the chance put Ronda on your places to see.

Linked posts:

Ronda Bullring

Ronda old town

Market day

Saturday morning in Olvera is usually market day........subject to there not being a Fiesta, feria or other social event.

It consists of about fifteen to twenty stalls selling a variety of goods from clothes, bedding, shoes, sweets, fruit and veg, ornaments etc.......most of the things you would find in the UK but at half the price!!.

On this occasion, Anne needed some curtain material to finish off the kitchen and fortunately (for me) they had some on one of the stalls....otherwise we would have been doing my least favourite chore in the world - shopping.

Anyway, just a few pics plus one of the castle which I thought looked good from this angle.