There were seven of us for the midweek Eucharist in the church shop this morning. On the walk back, I visited the car hire office and paid the balance outstanding on the month's rental, then we went to the Parador and booked a table for this evening's last super before Clare returns to Wales.
Nerja's Parador is an interesting modern building dating from 1968, perched on the clifftop above Playa Burriana with a balcony enclosing a grassy terraced garden and swimming pool overlooking the sea, and a lift down to sea level. The building has a spacious sheltered patio for open air dining overlooking the sea. In contrast to the imaginative re-purposing of ancient castellos and palacios, this has an air of cool spacious sixties modernity - what was trendy in our youth, has by now passed the test of time. It's been renovated, no doubt, but not demolished and rebuilt. As a building, it's already a historic landmark statement about the development of the Costa del Sol as a global tourism destination.
A video slide show on display in the lobby shows photos of the hotel and of Nerja down the years. The hillsides around the hotel and Playa Burriana in the seventies were bare and empty of housing. The location was possibly chosen because it was just outside of town in a landscape that at least gave an illusion of remoteness. Now it's surrounded on all sides, apart from the sea, by the hotels and housing areas which have sprung up since those days. Holidaymakers must now go much further afield if they hunger for remoteness.
After a post-lunch siesta, I spent a fruitful hour writing a response to an enquiry about a possible RadioNet development while Clare had a swim. Then it was time to walk down to the Parador for our meal. The menu proved to be an interesting one. Clare had something called 'Butterfish' which we'd not come across before. I had stewed kid goat in a sauce of almond and saffron with sardinas for a starter, and a glass of sweet muscat instead of pudding, and just one glass of a very fragrant DOC Toro red wine with the meal. Eating while the sun was setting was pure delight, even if it did begin to get a little chilly towards the end, with the light wind off the sea. As we walked home, the residual heat from walls soon warmed us up, and the house when we arrived was that much warmer again. A lovely conclusion to Clare's sixteen days of holiday.
What's mostly on my mind tonight is tomorrow's EU referendum outcome. This last few days I've been revisiting my Facebook account, and am surprised and not a little impressed to discover that almost all those 'friended' over the years are pro-Remain. Probably the majority are Christian, and that may explain a lot. I was touched by the way public buildings in many EU major cities are being floodlit with images of the British Flag, as an act of support for the #Remain campaign. It's another expression of the sense of inter-dependence that many Brits now feel about the EU, warts and all. To want to reject the relationship built up over the past half century, just because of the difficulties it presents on all sides is an expression of contempt, not only for the colossal achievement of peace through partnership over the past seven decades, but also for those relationships we will continue to rely upon whatever the outcome of tomorrow's vote.
I will feel so ashamed to be British is the brexiters succeed, and genuinely concerned for the kind of future such a selfish vote will engender.
After a post-lunch siesta, I spent a fruitful hour writing a response to an enquiry about a possible RadioNet development while Clare had a swim. Then it was time to walk down to the Parador for our meal. The menu proved to be an interesting one. Clare had something called 'Butterfish' which we'd not come across before. I had stewed kid goat in a sauce of almond and saffron with sardinas for a starter, and a glass of sweet muscat instead of pudding, and just one glass of a very fragrant DOC Toro red wine with the meal. Eating while the sun was setting was pure delight, even if it did begin to get a little chilly towards the end, with the light wind off the sea. As we walked home, the residual heat from walls soon warmed us up, and the house when we arrived was that much warmer again. A lovely conclusion to Clare's sixteen days of holiday.
What's mostly on my mind tonight is tomorrow's EU referendum outcome. This last few days I've been revisiting my Facebook account, and am surprised and not a little impressed to discover that almost all those 'friended' over the years are pro-Remain. Probably the majority are Christian, and that may explain a lot. I was touched by the way public buildings in many EU major cities are being floodlit with images of the British Flag, as an act of support for the #Remain campaign. It's another expression of the sense of inter-dependence that many Brits now feel about the EU, warts and all. To want to reject the relationship built up over the past half century, just because of the difficulties it presents on all sides is an expression of contempt, not only for the colossal achievement of peace through partnership over the past seven decades, but also for those relationships we will continue to rely upon whatever the outcome of tomorrow's vote.
I will feel so ashamed to be British is the brexiters succeed, and genuinely concerned for the kind of future such a selfish vote will engender.
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