Our Andalusian Adventure

The time has come to say goodbye to our freedom, my mother and Rob are due anyday. They left the UK on the Monday after getting very itchy feet, their winter rental is not ready for another 7 days but they just couldn't wait! I can't blame them though, they had a amazing adventure ahead of them. They decided to drive through France and Spain over the next 4 days ready to arrive with us on the Friday. Their route would take them on the euro tunnel to Le Mans for a quiet stopover, then Pamploma, Valdepenas and lastly a action packed night in Cordoba. They landed on our soggy doorstep on Friday morning... Not the weather we had hoped for but by the next day it was beautiful sunshine and we got to show them our new surroundings. A bonus for our village is on a Saturday is the weekly market, this is where we buy our fruit and vegetables for the week, you can buy other items, some of which are a bit random - batteries and scary looking kitchen knives  It is a good chance to catch up with the locals as you can guarantee they will all be out for the market.  One of the best products to buy is the mangoes, they are delicious!! There was a job that came up for Mango pickers i'd have liked to give it a go and the money wasn't bad either 10 euro an hour. They had been inundated with interest and so no room for me maybe next year.

On the Sunday it was another gorgeous day and we decided to try and find the Feria de San Miguel in Velez-Malaga our search took us  into the centre of the town and i'm glad it did. There was lots going on live music, dancing and a massive amount of food!!

Our next mission was to find the horses which were supposedly doing a display in the car park next to the football stadium, but nobody told us there were two football stadiums!! We asked around and nobody could help until finally we saw the poster advertising the event and then a young lady who informed us that we were looking near the wrong stadium. So, we all got back in the red hot car and off we went in the direction of El Ingenio. Luckily we approached the area from the right direction so we could see the horses from the dual carriageway. After a stressful ten minutes we had arrived and were delighted with what we found. A fantastic display of the beautiful Andalusian horses, all groomed to perfection and ready to show off their amazing paces. And all the horses were carefully placed around the bar and seating area. Naturally we had to get a drink on such a hot day and once 2pm came  they served free Paella for everyone. For me it doesn't get much better than this surrounded by an animal I love, delicious food and plenty of sunshine. Even Chloe and Olivia had a ride, a day to remember!

The next day our guests left, anxious and excited to see their home for the next few months. Us, glad to have the next two days to ourselves. We decided to take our bikes out for the first time, back in the UK i would ride often with my good friend Lorraine, which initself was always amusing! Biking around a mountian however i feel would not be so amusing. We drove the bikes to an area we had got to know a little, parked up and unloaded. This short drive is breathtaking and most of it on tarmaced roads. We mounted the bikes and off we went at a good pace. The good pace was due to the decline of the track and i hadn't realised quite how much of a decline it was until we started to head back up. This was now turning out to be one of the harder rides i had been on in recent years and I haven't been on a ride since!

Wednesday came before we knew it and off we went to our free Spanish lessons at the adult school but just before we arrived when we received a phone call from the panicked in-laws saying they might not make the flight as there was a accident on the motorway!! Oh my goodness, that would be a disaster if they missed it the girls were so excited to see them! The spanish lessons were spent half the time listening and half the time checking our phones for updates!! Thankfully they made it and Olivia and Paul collected them (once they found them) from Malaga airport on time. I stayed at the house and prepared a meal we could all enjoy al fresco.