Nerja in November: Day 1

We land in Malaga airport pretty much on time, at 1.30 are getting off the plane, whizz big-suitcase-free through the airport, get our Cercanías ticket and have 5 or 6 minutes to wait for the 13.54 train into Malaga. Then it's 8 minutes to Maria Zambrano station, a short walk through the shopping centre and across the road to the bus station. The Alsa ticket office is just behind stop 11  near the Bar Caffetteria Number 1. I'd read about the slow moving queue but by 14.20 we have paid €9.30 for the two of us, have got our tickets and are back outside. The tickets have got a seat number so there seems no point queuing to be some of the first on so we wander over to the caffetteria to have a look. The man behind the bar is very friendly and instructs us to sit down, so in the end we have between the two of us a largish beer, a plate with two tortillitas de camarones with two slices of tomato, some bread and a few chips and a largish and burningly hot (one of the many things I so like about Andalucía) caffe con leche for a total of €7.85. Then, there's also time to go to the toilet before getting on the 14.45 coach to Nerja, which is heading also to Almería and therefore will make just two stops before Nerja. The coach only has about twenty people on it so when I ask the driver says we can sit where we want. We move up front because I'm always a fraction queasy on coaches. 

The journey is mostly along the motorway and is a smooth ride but I'm still pleased to get off when we arrive in Nerja. From the bus stop, despite taking a couple of wrong turnings it's just a 10 minute stroll to Oyó Pepe Mesa apartments where we are staying. We booked through Booking.com and are pleased with the studio apartment. 

It's small but is well organized and has everything required. The apartments are built around a typical Andalusian internal patio and ours gives onto this but it's quiet, bright and warm and snug. I'd started to feel the cold back at home so this is definitely a strong point for me. There are extra pillows and water and a chocolate each in the fridge, everything is perfectly clean and I have no complaints.

After sorting ourselves out and waiting for a heavy shower to stop we head for the nearest Mercadona supermarket, just 5 minutes away, to quickly and easily stock up on what we need. You can therefore imagine our disappointment when we arrive outside the supermarket to find it's closed, alas...., for refurbishment until well into December. Back to the drawing board. Well, back to Google maps. We get water and beer at a small corner shop near the apartment and then set off for the next nearest Mercadona which is a twenty minute walk away. Today is Saturday 2nd November and yesterday was a bank holiday for All Saints Day with the result that Mercadona is packed with people but decidedly short on its normally excellent choice of fresh fish, meat and vegetables. The fruit and vegetable section looks like Christmas Eve before a blizzard and the meat area offers only a few sparse sausages and some uncompromising turkey legs. Still, we get of couple of Doradas, cheese, bread, wine, small bottles of Salmorejo and Tortas de Aceite de Inés Rosales and other staples and trundle back to the apartment. Actually it doesn't really seem that far, partly it's downhill and partly the I'm-in-Spain adrenaline is still coursing through the veins like a particularly potent Manzanilla di Sanlucar de Barrameda.

We get some fruit in the handy greengrocer's we'd spotted before and are soon back cooking. Except, oops, I'd forgotten that we aren't in an Airbnb and that the kitchen cupboards in this residence are decidedly bare, even of salt, which I absolutely didn't even think about buying. I take a coffee cup and try the receptionist who gives me an 'I knew you were going to be pains as soon as you walked in' look, mixed with intense patience, but departs for the kitchen all the same. Supper is quickly served and bed, considering we were up at 5 a.m., as quickly follows.