Costa del Sol.....or the UK???

It hasn’t taken us long to figure out the lay of the land. The most noticeable thing was that we have left behind the colour and flavour of the real Spain and have entered Brit country. The tourists, mostly with British accents, seem to outnumber the locals. Despite that, the beach area is very nice with wide walkways, bike trails, lots of benches for John’s rest stops, statues and buskers. The beach front avenue is lined with small ethnic restaurants. We’ve had chips at the Brit’s fish & chip shop; tapas at the cafe owned by a French chef; and a pizza special at a Moroccan place. We had interesting conversations with each of the owners. There is a large parking lot between the beachfront and the highway into town. I was surprised to see it full of RVs in the evening, so I guess this is a universal practice!

We’ve continued to do long walks every day. I discovered the Miramar Shopping Centre that is about the size of Polo Park and has the largest Carrefour supermarket. It’s similar to Superstore but double the size. I’ve been going there every other day to pick up groceries since I’ve been mostly preparing meals at our condo. The distance is 2 km and a 20 minute walk (30-35 minutes if my anchor is with me!). We’ve also walked along the beach promenade into town where I found a fruiteria (produce market) and panaderia (bakery). Fruits and vegetables are cheaper here than at home and are mostly locally produced. The bakery is simply delicious and fattening, also with very inexpensive artisan breads. We’ve been enjoying locally grown olives, mandarin oranges and almonds, as well as locally made marmalade. The hardest part of our day is the uphill climb back to our resort.Read more