Side trips to Nerja and Gibraltar
17.01.2023 - 18.01.2023
13 °C
In our friend's rental car, we took two day-trips in opposite directions on Tues & Wed.
Nerja is a lovely little town about 90 minutes east. We had a little rain, mostly while driving and it was cooler, but the town was pretty and we walked around and stopped for lunch.
Back in Torremolinos for churros y chocolate - thick hot chocolate, in which to dip the fried dough. Truth be told, not the best we've had - the chocolate in Sevilla was darker and the churros in Santiago were crispier, but still a good dessert.
Wednesday was Gibraltar, aka the Rock, a British Overseas Territory, located at the tip of the peninsula and about 90 minutes west of Torremolinos.
We arrived just before noon at the cable car parking lot (free parking in the white-painted slots only) and immediately stopped to lunch on Momma Maria's very good pizza - thin crust, baked in a big wood fired oven. We shared the spicy and less spicy versions of the pepperoni, meatball and roast chicken pizza.
We had pre-purchased tickets through the cable car company, which included round trip on the cable car to the upper reserve and access to the nature reserve, but during the drive, we learned the cable car was shut down for a week. The taxi drivers, hanging around the cable car lot and wanting to pick up the slack from surprised tourists, said we would receive a full refund upon request and offered a tour of limited sites at the top. Their offer, while reasonably priced, did not include St Michael's cave, which was a key attraction for us, so we walked toward the town centre, thinking we'd ask at the tourist bureau. On the way, we opted instead for a cab driver that would take us to the various attractions AND wait for us to see the cave (at an extra cost). We would then have the option of walking down or staying in the cab.
Pillars of Hercules - great scenic views, which allowed us to see three countries, UK (i.e., Gibraltar), Spain and Morocco.
St Michael's Cave
The apes
A very nice day and we were glad we elected to include the cave. The light show was very impressive. It would have been even better to have attended a concert, but none were scheduled, so we just enjoyed the lights which restarted every 8 minutes.
The cabbie left us at the top of the hill and we walked down, passing the Moorish ruins and through the old city back to the car (about 25-30 min).
The Moorish ruins & view from the top
I have to admit that I did not expect the driver's assertion that we'd receive a refund (thought it was just a way to garner more business for them), but this morning we received a little more than the full amount we paid - the difference due to the in increase in the exchange rate. So, a happy surprise and lesson to be less cynical
Posted by Deb Godley 10:15 Archived in Spain Comments (1)