Casa Bliss Week 5&6 -Work, sight seeing & a trip to the Dentist

Fuengirola - reminded us of the Nelson sculpture

Six weeks have flown since arriving at Casa Bliss. We have kept ourselves busy with further maintenance around the property. The days are certainly shorter as we quickly head toward the shortest day in December.

New gummies first outing
Oiling the flagstones

Our days start around 10 when the sun is up and over the hill, and we normally finish up before 5 so we can enjoy a drink before the sun sets. The temperatures are still in the 20's during the days, lovely blue skies, but definitely cooling down at night - we have started wearing track pants in the evenings, but still in our shorts during the day.

Trying to keep up with the weeds!

Rosie, our host, talked to Bill about the benefits of the dentist she goes to at Fuengirola, an hour and a half away by train. Fuengirola is a lovely seaside town, with a lot of English tourists, and English operators in some of the businesses.  The biggest benefit being the cost, and as we haven't stayed anywhere long enough for Bill to get his dental work done, now seemed a good time while we are based here. So last week we caught the train through to Fuengirola for the day.

Fuengirola groomed beach - 5 km long

We left home on our bikes at 7.30am, just as it was getting light. It was a bit of a shock as it was only 5 degrees and we were still in shorts and sandals. My poor toes and fingers almost dropped off. At least the carriages were heated.

Locals find the winter cold
while tourists sunbath

Bill had his consultation with the dentist and made an appointment for the following week to get a root canal done that had luckily so far given him very little grief, which was to be followed up by a crown.
Tuesdays are market day, and it is a large one they host in the township, so we spent the next couple of hours walking around them. I managed to get another handbag (one can never have too many handbags!) and a jersey for these cooler evenings. Bill's saving all his money for his teeth!!

Novel BBQ outside a
restaurant

We then wandered along the beach looking for somewhere to eat - and what do we do in Spain! Find an Italian restaurant and had a lovely pasta meal. Delicious :)
Lots of English tourists were wandering along the beach front in shorts & T-shirts. There were still sun loungers set up along the beach, where some brave soles were sunbathing in bikini's. I only got the photo of the poor guy who puts the loungers out, as he was working with his hoody on right beside the sunbathers. He must think the English are mad!

BBQ Pits on the beach -
Other BBQ's forbidden  

It was a lovely groomed beach, no sign of the usual rubbish that has been littering the beaches here in Spain, tourism must still be big at this time of the year. We walked as far south as the Castillo Sohail castle, built in 956AD and renovated in 2000 so it is now a useful cultural and tourist event centre. Unfortunately it wasn't open for us to look through at the time of day we arrived. Hopefully another day we will make it.

By the time we walked back to the train station, it was after 5 and got back to Alora Station at 7.30pm and pitch black. Well almost, thankfully there was a full moon and

with our high vis vests, motorists were able to spot us without running us down. Once again my toes and fingers froze on the ride home, but at least my new jersey had a scarf that kept my head warm.
We have been able to get out and check a couple of local sights such as the restaurant

View across to Alora from the Mirador Cafe

(The Mirador) up the road on top of a hill with a drive way steeper than our Nelson one. We left our bikes at the bottom as it would have been too hard to push them up, when it wasn't necessary. Had a lovely pizza with local wine while looking out across to Alora. And we had the day in Coin with Rosie lending her car, so we could have a look around another white washed town  tucked into the hills about 40 minutes away. We had a disappointing lunch there, but the setting was lovely. I love the Plaza's (Squares)  that all the towns have where the locals get together to meet up. Coin, like

The main Plaza in Coin

many other Spanish towns, was ruled by the Moors, before the Christians took it back in the 1400's, so has lots of narrow streets making up the towns heart, which are wonderful to walk through as they are too narrow for traffic.
Although the temps are cold at night, we did manage a quick swim a week ago in the pool that has been repaired and filled once again. Like I say a quick one

Lovely narrow streets of Coin

length of the pool was enough before hypothermia kicked in. The plants and shrubs all look so healthy here, like in spring flush, but of course its autumn ( next week being winter). With the rains that we had when we first arrived and very little since but lots of sun, grass and weeds are flourishing. But it has been ideal conditions for me to get on with painting and Bill creating a new patio area where Rosie said the grass dies over summer

Bill in safety footwear
(You thought he would have learnt)

when it is too hot for it to survive. He has been waiting on the installation of a window above the kitchen he has been renovating, so he can then complete it. Hopefully early next week.

Finished patio area

With less than a month to go till Christmas we have been making plans for a Swiss Christmas this year with my lovely Niece and her family in Sursee. Amanda has promised me a white one, so hope she can organise that for me :) We also have friends in Copenhagen to see on our way through, so will fly up to Denmark for 4 days and then train down to Switzerland. Hopefully it should be a fun one with Amanda & Rico's 9 and 6 year olds getting into the Christmas spirit

Hard to beat a cook up on the
BBQ  for lunch

like our kids use to till they ruined it by asking the "is he real?" question as they look you directly in the eye! Just hope we have enough warm clothing. Ah well if not, guess we will have to buy some.