Back From the ‘Land of the Vandals’

Your truly, complete with a glass of the local speciality

Virtually the same view but without me in it!

Another view from the dining area terrace….

….and another….

….and another!

A view from the pool area.

In the wee small hours of this morning - around 1:15am -  Laurel and I arrived home from our two week sojourn in the hills and mountains of Andalusia. It was our third visit to the same place and we have already booked to visit again next year. The reasons for this are very simple. 

1. We can fly from out local airport (20 minutes away)

2. The location (near Alcaucin, around fifty minutes from Malaga airport) is ideally suited to explore the area - around 90 minutes from Granada and the Alhambra Palace and two hours from Cordoba with much else besides closer to home.

3. The hotel is specifically designed to cater for guests with health and or mobility issues and only has five rooms, so it is very quiet.

4. The views across the valley where the hotel is located are simply stunning.

5. The owners, Adrian and Hannah, have been running the place for some twenty years and are outstanding hosts. Adrian is a walking ‘Google’ when it comes to local history and Hannah’s culinary expertise makes everyday an edible adventure!

6. Laurel is able to navigate the entire place very easily and is able to make extensive use of the pool!

We spent most of the time by the pool although did venture out on three days. We visited a local market, spent a lovely day wandering about in Malaga itself and wrapped the holiday up with a scenic tour of the immediate area with a stop for a wonderful lunch at a hotel.

Malaga cathedral….

….and again….

….and again….

….and again….

….and again!

The Roman amphitheatre and the Moorish fort above.

I have a feeling this may be the answer but I am still unsure about the question!

As a result of Laurel’s mobility issues following her spinal surgery in 2022, she currently has two hydrotherapy session a week that we pay for. Having access to a pool for two weeks meant that she was able to tackle her aquatic exercises twice a day which, whilst it will not improve her situation, does give her a much needed ‘lift’ as well as maintaining her current level of mobility. 

The pool - note the ‘Roman’ style steps and two handrails.

The old, run down place overlooking the pool area is also owned by Adrian and Hannah and is due to be renovated by their son in due course.

For my own part using the pool was a lot of fun and so our daily routine in the temperatures encountered of two sessions, one in the morning and one late in the afternoon, was hugely refreshing.

I took with me a fully loaded Kindle and a copy of Hugh Thomas’s The Spanish Civil War to read. Sadly the latter, whilst interesting, was not really conducive to reading around the pool in 34 degree plus heat - it does require careful reading to capture the full picture - and so was parked for a more temperate climate! The titles on the Kindle that I did read were as follows:

The Gun and Death to the French! By C.S. Forester and Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving. I thoroughly enjoyed all three, so much so, that I am now looking at Spanish Guerillas during the Peninsular War and am now reading Wellington’s Eastern Front by Nick Lipscombe which covers the campaigns on the East Coast of Spain from 1810 to 1814. 

The whole area from Alcaucin to the coast was a hotbed of banditry and smuggling - Contrabandistas they were known as - and although I am looking into any Napoleonic potential via Lipscombe’s book, Washington Irving, writing around 1832, has lots to tell about gangs of outlaws and smugglers in the region. This is very much in black powder skirmish territory and as luck would have it the Perrys have produced a box of 28mm Guerillas which would very much fit the bill. Something to think about BUT - on with the serious business of the new book and a deadline to meet!