Getting about

First thing, Clare and I walked downhill to the nearest beach and back to find out how long it would take ius - twenty five minutes, or thereabouts. Nice healthy exercise. With last minute errands to perform, Fr Geoff and Carol had a busy morning, so later on it was my opportunity be taxi driver, get used to their car and familiarise myself with Nerja town centre street layout. We lunched together in a restaurant overlooking a beach on the south side of town, then went home for a siesta before taking them to Malaga airport for their journey back to the U.K.

The Autovia (motorway) carves a spectacular path through coastal hillsides, with views of the sea, valleys and high sierras at every turn. The seventy kilometre journey takes less than an hour at a leisurely pace, allowing time to register not only the beauty of the landscape, but also the extent of the urbanisation of the Costa del Sol. Housing has been constructed in every conceivable location in this very hilly landscape, and not always in harmony with it. In the coastal plain areas there are high rise apartment blocks, but little beyond three storeys in the interior. Many of the  buildings fail to take advantage of their place in the natural environment. It's not quite ugly, it's not beautiful - if anything it's odd, an unnatural evolution from a visual perspective. But then, one could say the same of many volcanic landscapes too. Twentieth century urbanisation represents economic volcanic activity in its own way.

As the sun was setting on our way home we stopped at a hypermarket near Velez-Malaga to pick up a few necessary food items. It was vast, and reminded us of similar shopping centres in France. Navigating our way to the main entrance for the first time proved a challenge. The key to anxiety free motoring in any country is understanding how the road system is designed to get you where you want to be. However, there are always sufficient differences in local road markings and signage (despite international conventions on these facilities) to raise anxiety levels when attempting to find the right way to go.