Day 1

A very early start to the holiday. The alarm went off at 2:00 am and we left for the airport at 3:15 am. We flew from Stansted to Málaga and, on arrival, picked up a lovely little Skoda from Niza.

After the drive, we arrived at El Prado del Sol – Olvera. The accommodation consists of two charming little casitas.

It had been a very long day by the time we settled in, so we enjoyed a few beers by the pool with Liz and Jenny before finally heading to bed. After such an early start, sleep came very easily!

 

Day Two: Sentenil, Sunstroke and a Car Park Showdown

Day two. Or was it yesterday? Actually, yes, day two was yesterday. Glad we’ve cleared that up.

We headed off to Setenil de las Bodegas. Or “Sentinel”. Or “Set-a-nil”. Or whatever version of the name my brain was capable of producing in 38-degree heat. You know the place: the village where people looked at a giant rock overhanging a cliff and thought, “Perfect. Let’s build houses underneath that.”

Before I get to that, let’s talk about our accommodation.

Cally and I are sharing a Casita, while Paula has a tiny little self-contained place all to herself, which she’s naturally claiming is “more cosy” than ours. The pool is gorgeous, which is fortunate because stepping outside feels like walking directly into an air fryer.

There are three dogs and one cat. The cat is called Tapas, which is by far the most Spanish thing we’ve encountered so far. I’m not particularly interested in the dogs, if I’m honest. They’re perfectly nice, but they’re not a cat called Tapas.

There was some discussion about a cat catching a lizard, but after a lengthy witness statement and several contradictory accounts, we concluded that was actually Liz and Jen’s cat somewhere else entirely. Journalism at its finest.

Anyway, back to Setenil.

It’s absolutely stunning. The streets twist through huge rock formations, and there are beautiful little shops everywhere. Everywhere you look there’s another impossible-looking house wedged under a giant slab of mountain. It’s like the entire town was designed by someone who lost a bet.

The only downside was the heat. It was so hot that by mid-afternoon I was operating on the same level as an overcooked potato.

This may explain why I ended up having a minor altercation with a car park attendant.

Now, “altercation” makes it sound dramatic. Nobody was arrested. There were no headlines. But there was certainly a moment when I realised I was approximately three seconds away from a full public meltdown over a parking space.

Sensing danger, Cally tactically removed me from the situation and took charge of the car before I could become an international incident.

A wise decision all round.

So, in summary:

• Beautiful accommodation.
• Excellent pool.
• Cat called Tapas.
• Stunning village built underneath a rock.
• Temperature similar to the surface of Mercury.
• One near-meltdown in a car park.

All in all, a very successful day. Tomorrow’s goal is simple: see more sights and try not to start any diplomatic disputes with local parking professionals.