High road to Marbella

I drove inland up to Coin for this morning's Eucharist, hoping that I'd remember exactly where to turn when I got to the outskirts of the town, as last time I came I didn't drive there, making it less easy to remember. I got there without error however and arrived first. Four people came for the service, and as there was no organist we had a said service. As it was the fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, we shared our experiences of where we were when we heard the news. Only one of us was too young to  remember! 

Afterwards we went into the town and found a bar where we chatted and drank coffee for half an hour. I was encouraged to return by the long route over the mountains and down to Marbella, and back along the N340 to Fuengirola. The road was excellent and very quiet, and the visibility perfect. Above the thousand metre mark, the pine forests were enlivened by splashes of dark red and bright yellow deciduous trees, now at last losing their paler green. 

A brown tourism sign pointing to the Refugio de Juanar caught my attention. Out of curiosity, I turned off the main road and followed a narrow winding metalled road five kilometres up into the Sierra Blanca de Ojen.

High up in a secluded valley at the end of this road there's a modest sized hotel restaurant, styling itself as a 'Parador'. I parked nearby and walked for a kilometre through the forest, following signs to a 'mirador' on a rocky promontory overlooking Marbella, a good 1,200m below and 10km away. In fact there's a signed footpath right down to the shore, and another along the crests which on of one of Spain's network euro-signed GR hiking paths. A great place on a bright sunny day. Not so when winter sets in, I suspect.

Getting back from there was swift and easy. I went to the office and worked there a while, skyped Clare, and bought some food supplies before attending the monthly ministry team meeting, attended by wardens, readers and worship leaders. It was good to sit in on the conversation and share the plans being made, and not to be chairing the meeting! After preliminary discussions and consulting with Clare, I confirmed my willingness to return in January and serve as locum Chaplain until Easter. Being part of a team again is an experience I value, and have missed over the past six years, since the Archbishop decided to dismember the Benefice of Central Cardiff. Now I have the luxury of participation without the buck stopping at my door. Ah, the pleasures of retirement - feeling useful without responsibilities to worry over!