Another Bank Holiday...

...another grey and wet day in Nerja. Bekie is working today from 10am-5pm and I will join her in the Smugglers' Inn later to watch the Preston v West Ham game. It would be nice to see West Ham back in the big boys' league.

Joanna, Kirsty, Sophie and a rude old lady on Calle Diputacion. 

Flying High

The easiest way to get to Nerja is to fly to either Malaga or to Granada. EasyJet, British Airways and EUJet run services to Malaga. RyanAir run services to Granada. The transfer from Malaga to Nerja would take about 45 minutes by taxi. The transfer from Granada to Nerja takes around 1 hour 20 minutes. There are some online taxi companies which provide reasonably priced transfers.

Posh Spice impression. 

Bekie's basil plant. Bekie found this plant in the busy marketplace. It was just a mere seed with a fagile stem when she rescued it and brought it to the sanctury that is our apartment. There she tended to it's plant needs around the clock. It wasn't an easy journey but you can now see the end result - a thriving, healthy mass of leaves and twigs. Bekie now uses the basil plant for flavouring pasta dishes and I drink its sap when thirsty.

Boca Juniors v River Plate

We went to the Iguana Bar last night for a quick drink only to find that the bar were showing the Boca v River game from the Argentinian football league live on Canal + Deportes. We stayed and were joined by 30-40 South Americans to watch the game. The Iguana is only a wee, intimate establishment but it was full to the rafters with larger-than-life characters. It was one of the best pub football experiences I have had. Everyone was making lots of noise and there was much laughter and merriment. The game ended 2-1 to Boca with the winning goal coming 7 minutes from time. On every occasion a goal was scored the good folk in the bar became mentalists and the decor of the bar barely remained intact. Can't wait for the next encounter.

Advert taken from the Town Crier newspaper. Minogue's bar is in Torremolinos, near Malaga. If anyone wants to visit this bar give me a shout and I'll make some calls. 

The Festival of San Isidro

Basically Isidro was a farmer dude. He arrived in Andalucia (southern parts) and brought the locals bread 'cos he thought they might like it and it would stop them killing him. In exchange they gave him some ham as a gesture which he accepted and probably stuffed it into his bread and made a sarnie (accompanied possibly with some spicy Nik Naks).

They may have killed him after he had eaten the sandwich as he had gained a false sense of security. The moral of this tale is to never let your stomach make major decisions.

Once the carnival reached it's final destination near the caves everyone gets absolutely wasted. We only stayed up there for an hour (true) before winding our way back to Nerja town. However the celebrating would have gone on well into the wee hours. Great picture of a tractor and pissed-up, scritty-haired bloke. 

They must have some dough! Most floats had catering facilities. Normally this would be a huge loaf of bread (as can be seen) and also a leg of ham which would be shaved as the carnival ran it's course. Also they would cram as much booze on the float as was humanly possible! 

Nice ass! The carnival procession passes underneath our balcony. The women and girls were dressed to the nines - as were the men. Even the donkeys had scrubbed up. 

A lovely Sunday. The festival of San Isidro was celebrated on Sunday. Everyone in town gets dressed up and a carnival procession runs through Nerja up to Maro and the caves (about 4-5km). 

Sky, sea and sand. Nerja on Saturday afternoon. Bekie and I relaxed on the little beach near our apartment. After a late night in the Iguana Bar and a 3am chicken tikka wrap from Balti Towers I felt I needed to get some fresh air. Tried to go into the water but it was freezing and my testicles said "no way sunshine". 

Bekie's First Day

Bekie's first day went well on Friday. She started work at 10am and finished at 5pm. However the owners asked Bekie to work 8pm - 10pm in the evening as well so that she could see an evening shift. The owners seem pleased with Bekie's work and she'll be working Monday and Tuesday next week on the 10am - 5pm shift. Sizzle pop.

Bekie's Employment Status

Well Bekie has found some work in the local pub/restaurant named the Smugglers' Inn. It is literally a stone's-throw from where we live in Nerja. Bekie is being employed as a part-time cook/chef cooking everything from a full English breakfast to crab claws. Bex spent 4 hours in the kitchen today with the owner cooking breakfasts and the like and has her first full shift on Friday when she'll be working from 10am-5pm. Any special requests for meals prior to visiting us in Nerja should be sent to bekie.parker@gmail.com

Bex looking pleased with herself. Another hot day in Nerja. 

Bex's new place of work - The Smugglers Inn, Nerja. 

The warm up (not really needed) before the Malaga v Villareal game. The temperature reached 91 degrees farenheit and we were properly baked on top of the stand. The game ended 2-0 to Villareal after Malaga had a man sent off. Maybe the heat was too much for him as well. 

Sitting outside La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga awaiting the start of the Malaga v Villareal game. Bekie, Ivan and myself were trying to find any shady spot available. The photo shows the side of the ground that is currently being redeveloped. 

From left to right: Robert, Katie, Ivan, Bekie and myself. A smashing time was had by Bekie and myself. 

Bekie and Ivan loungin'. 

Wednesday 4th of May. Spent at Robert and Katie's villa near Arches with Ivan. Good food, drink and chat was enjoyed by all. This picture was taken from the terrace in the late afternoon sunshine. 

A Bank Holiday without rain is a rarity. 10:30 on Monday morning. Lots of rain and rumbles of thunder. Photo taken from our balcony. So we decided to mop the apartment floors and give the place a clean. 

NIE Numbers and Job Searching

Well we visited Torre Del Mar on Friday and managed to collect our NIE numbers which are State-issued and allow us to legally work in Spain. We added this information to our respective CVs and went to a cyber cafe to print them out. After printing we took our CVs to a couple of local English bars and handed them in. One of the owners told us they were too long so we had to reduce the documents to a single page. Hopefully this will do the trick but it looks like finding work is not going to be easy.

Today is the 1st May and it's holiday weekend in Spain as well as England. All shops are closed today and will remain shut tomorrow. We think the tourist season may start hotting up this week with people taking advantage of May Day. This is when we will ultimately realise whether or not we will find work.

There is a general election in Britain on Thursday (in case nobody realised) and I can honestly say I am glad to be over here. However we will be keeping an eye on Sky News.

Taken from the newspaper Sur. Keith, one for you.