2013 Los Amigos Mijas Costa.

I'm not quite sure how I found a special offer, online, for a stay in a studio at Los Amigos Beach Club in Mijas Costa Southern Spain. So with our new found freedom from animals we decided to have a months break in the sun. We left Castandet on the 10th of January and drove over the border and down towards Madrid. I had booked us in for an overnight stop at the hotel Juaneca in San Agustin de Guadalix just north of Madrid. Looking at the map it seemed as if the hotel was adjacent to the main road but our sat nav had other ideas! We made a joint decision to obey the sat nav and ended up in some exclusive, private development high up in the hills! We retraced our steps and stopped in the middle of the village to ask directions. It seemed to be tapas time and I leaped out of the car and asked a group of chaps, standing around on a cafe terrace, glasses in hand, where the hotel was. It was indeed at the side of the main road and we finally arrived, probably an hour or so later than we should have done without the help of the sat nav! We left early next day in order to circumnavigate Madrid before it got too busy. It was a vain hope that it wouldnt be too busy but with the sat nav behaving itself we survived without mishap and carried on our journey to la Cala de Mijas. We were pleased with our accomodation which was a studio apartment and the bed folded up into the wall, all very well designed and comfortable. We unpacked our belongings and settled in for our 4 week stay. There was a heated, indoor pool at the complex which we made full use of, mainly during Spanish lunch hour when it was relatively quiet. We also made full use of the miniature golf which provided us with lots of fun., It was only a short drive into la Cala, a small town by the beach with all facilities. The older town of Mijas was a few kilometres up in the hills. One day we drove up there to meet up with friends Mags and Tony who had driven down from their holiday resort of Nerja to join us for lunch. I discovered some stables not too far away and had a good ride out on a very nice horse in some interesting countryside high up and away from the coast.One day we visited the "exclusive"resort of Marbella which we found to be over-rated and very busy. The coast road that runs from Malaga down to Marbella and then Gibralter is very busy and not the most pleasant of roads to drive on. We had a day trip to Ronda to meet up with friends feom Devon, Paul and Steph, who now live near Seville. It was many years since i had seen them, N had met Steph but not Paul when we lived in Dalwood. It was good to see them and we had a very pleasant lunch with them. They invited us to stay over at their place on our return journey. Another week at Las Amigas and all too soon it was time to leave and make our way back. Looking at the map for the route toPaul andd Steph's we decided to explore the historic town of Osuna.and have lunch there before continuing our journey. I have forgotten the name of the village where Steph and Paul lived although to be fair we never saw a village! There house was set well back from the road along a track through the vines. Due to Paul's explicit directions we found it without anyproblems. We soon settled in and met the various animals and had a tour of their smallholding. Paul is building what looks to be a bery large boat, im not sure how he will get it to the sea which is a long way away! Next day we went to the outskirts of Seville with them as Paul needed some DIY supplies and we had lunch in the commercial centre. Seville is huge and busy infact we have circumnavigated it twice and got lost both times even with the sat nav! I still havent managed to see the town centre, one day perhaps! Another pleasant evening with them and then it was time to leave and continue our journey home. We stayed at the hotel Juanesca again and next day were back in Castandet.