Day 22: Costa del Sol

Time to move on! Another long-ish breakfast and chat with Will, the Airbnb host, before we eventually loaded up the car and departed around 11am. Our plan for the day was to drive back eastwards along the area known as the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun), one of the areas that gets flooded with Brits during the summer months.

First stop for the day was the little town for Frigliana, which is about 10 kilometres back from the sea and perched up on some cliffs. Very picturesque here, with bright white buildings, great views peeping out from every laneway and thankfully not a huge amount of people around. Everything was very well kept and neat - obviously they get a lot of tourists here every year and want to keep it that way!

Shandos had a recommendation for lunch so we huffed and puffed our way up the hill to a balcony restaurant close to the top. We had a table right on the edge, with fantastic views and thankfully food to match. I had a burger and craft beer, while Shandos had some wine and a couple of tapas dishes. Slightly on the expensive side, but not too bad and still miles cheaper than anywhere in Australia with that kind of view.

After basking in the sunshine for a while we hopped back in the car and headed along the coast again, looking for some of the pretty little beaches that are hidden away. Unfortunately after some driving around we couldn't really find any - they tended to be several hundred metres away at the bottom of steep paths neither of us felt inclined to walk down! We contented ourselves with the clifftop views instead. Very picturesque all the same.

Finally we drove into the town of Nerja for a look around. It was late afternoon by now and the siesta was in full effect, so most shops were closed. Managed to find a free park and had a wander around down to the main area of town, and a spot known as "the Balcony of Europe". It's a clifftop that juts out above the ocean (not super high, maybe 30 metres), but it sticks out quite a way so you essentially get 270 degrees of view from the point. Nice views of the coast in both directions, and the Mediterranean stretching out in front of you.

Had an ice cream and hopped back into the car for the last little trip of the day to our room for the night. We'd booked another Airbnb in the next town over (Torrox), where we stayed in the self-contained granny flat of an older French couple. They were very hospitable, serving us drinks and snacks when we arrived. Flat was nice enough, though it was only about 50 metres from a semi-main road so a bit of traffic noise. Spent the evening watching a Man United game after a quick trip to Aldi for dinner supplies (bread, jamon). Moving on tomorrow!Read more