The well-k
nown musician, formerly a member of the band Alisha’s Attic*, lives nowadays in Cortes de la Frontera (Málaga).
On Sunday 25 August 2024 Marcus Myers performed live for diners at Restaurante La Cascada at Hotel Molino del Puente, Ronda, to celebrate the hotel’s 19th birthday.
Preamble
Owners Ian and Elaine Love left their successful restaurant, Harbour Lights in Cabopino, to move inland to offer their three young daughters a more authentic experience of Spain, away from the mass tourism of t
he coast.
To that end they bought a disused corn mill and spent some three years getting it renovated into the charming riverside hotel and restaurant it has now become.
It’s been one of our favourite eating places since the Meter Maid and I moved to live in Fuente de la Higuera thirteen years ago.
In those 19+ years the Love family has grown up. All three girls attended state schools in Ronda and as a result are bilingual.
Robyn Love is a marine biologist based in Scotland and is married to Gianlucca Gerich from Germany. He is also a marine biologist. They met at university in Cádiz. They are often away onboard a ship somewhere in the world studying the marine environment.
Carly Love is an estate agent by profession. She also owned and ran a successful restaurant in Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife) for a few years, together with her novio Tom O'Connor, a trained chef. Since the birth of their daughter Sofia, they have returned to the mainland and now live in Ronda.
Carly has gone into partnership with her dad Ian to establish their own estate agency, Love Viviendas, with their office at the hotel. Ian has retired from the kitchen of La Cascada in favour of son-in-law Tom, who has continued to maintain the high standards of comida casera (home-made cuisine). Ian is now “on the road” selling properties. He also helps out as barman and waiter in the restaurant.
Megan Love, the youngest daughter, has just finished her degree in Public Relations at Málaga University, and now works as a PR consultant in the city, but she is often to be seen in La Cascada, helping out if need be.
As for mum Elaine Love, she now runs the hotel and restaurant single-handedly. (I suspect she always did!)
Birthday “do”
A trained plumber, Marcus Myers no longer needs to get his hands dirty fitting pipes and mending washing machines, as he earns his living from singing and playing guitar around the area.
As well as a soloist with some 200 songs in his repertoire, he is front man for the rock group Equis, who play a different kind of music altogether.
On this night, Marcus entertained us with his cover versions of classics from the 60s and 70s. The Beatles featured heavily, as did Simon and Garfunkel. There was also material from Neil Diamond, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Eagles, Louis Armstrong and many other recognisable musicians of that era.
The audience was mixed with local guiris, as well as guests of the hotel and two others nearby, mainly Spaniards, but not exclusively.
One table of six seemed to be enjoying themselves hugely, singing along and dancing.
When I spoke to them afterwards, they told me they were visitors from the Cádiz area and they had never heard Marcus before. They were very impressed. The main cheerleader, Antonio, is a soldier based with the American forces in Rota (Cádiz). He is about to be deployed to Ukraine.
Two of the women in the group were born in Germany of Spanish parents, one in Essen and the other in Dortmund. They are, of course, bilingual (I can vouch for that as we spoke German together for a while).
Our Meal
While Marcus was performing, everybody was eating and drinking.
Rita and I each chose a starter: gambas al pil-pil for Rita and gazpacho for me.
We opted for a main course to share – a mixed barbecue grill of three meats, morcilla and chorizo with a huge grilled green pepper, corn-on-the-cob and French fries.
We were pleasantly replete yet still found space to share a tarta de queso con nata y helado de vainilla.
The whole meal was delicious, washed down with still water and a nice bottle of Ribera del Duero from Burgos.
Thank you, Rita (she paid the bill!). A “consolation gift” as she heads off to Germany in a couple of days to care for her sister who has just had an operation.
Leaving me “de Rodríguez”!*
Epilogue
A very enjoyable and relaxing evening with great music, delicious food and good company.
¡Feliz cumpleaños, Hotel Molino del Puente!
© The Culture Vulture and The "Guiri" Gourmet
Links:
Alisha's Attic - Wikipedia
... de Rodríguez? - Secret Serrania de Ronda
Marcus Myers Music
What is a guiri? It's what the Spanish call us foreigners - but is it good or bad? (secretserrania.com)
Photos:
Hotel Molino del Puente
HotelSearch.com
Karl Smallman
KAYAK
marcusmyersmusic.com
Paul Whitelock
Tags:
19th birthday, Alisha’s Attic, Beatles, bilingual, birthday “do”, Burgos, Cabopino, Cádiz, Carly Love, chorizo, classics from the 60s and 70s, comida casera, corn-on-the-cob, Cortes de la Frontera, De Rodriguez, Dortmund, Elaine Love, Essen, estate agent, Feliz cumpleaños, French fries, Fuente de la Higuera, gambas al pil-pil, gazpacho, Germany, Gianlucca, green pepper, “Guiri” Gourmet, Harbour Lights, Hotel Molino del Puente, Ian and Elaine Love, Karl Smallman, La Cascada, Louis Armstrong, Love Viviendas, Málaga, Málaga University, Marcus Myers, marine biologist, Megan Love, Meter Maid, mixed barbecue grill, morcilla, Neil Diamond, Paul Whitelock, plumber, Public Relations, PR consultant, Puerto de la Cruz, Ribera del Duero, Robyn Love, rock group Equis, Rolling Stones, Rota (Cádiz), Scotland, Simon and Garfunkel, Sofia, tarta de queso con nata y helado de vainilla, The Eagles, Tenerife, Tom O'Connor, Ukraine, What is a guiri?