Our recommendations in Nerja

According to one of the area's newspapers, Nerja continually receives the highest marks for overall tourism satisfaction on the Costa del Sol. And no wonder, given the clean, safe, more or less authentically Spanish (as much as you can get on the coast) absence of those horrid high-rise barracks housing Eastern European discount tourists, low crime rate, excellent prices and as we have discovered, a great selection of places to eat of all descriptions. Being restauranteurs and cooks ourselves, we do know good food when we encounter it, and equally important, recognize value for money and all those factors that go into making a decent restaurant experience. And so here are our recommendations thus far....(and we are far from finished doing our research!).

Breakfast: Many restaurants advertise the "Big British Breakfast" which is essentially a classic bacon/sausage/ham and two eggs/toast combination. What makes it British is the addition of fried tomato and (canned) baked beans. Prices range from 3 Euros to about 8 Euros. The cheaper ones don't include the juice and coffee so you'll still end up paying about 7 Euros once they tack that on. Best deal AND best breakfast for our money is the Jamaica Cafe on calle Manuel Marin down by the Hotel Monica near Torrecilla Playa. Total cost for two breakfasts with juice and coffees was 8 Euros. And they throw in all the extras such as jam and butter which a lot of the other places skip. We've also had supper at the Jamaica and although it was nothing noteworthy, it was good value for the money and the food (thin crust pizza in this case) was tasty enough. It's a tremendously popular place with Spanish families and it's always busy and lively, both indoors and on the enclosed terrace.

On the subject of pizza, the Bella Roma, down near the Plaza Cavana does nice thin-crust and they are also very popular and very busy. We were disappointed with the fish we had there one evening as it was non-descript and served with some really boring french fries and nothing else. They have a pleasant atmosphere and a nice terrace and are generally packed in the evenings.

We've eaten paella at Ayo's much touted place on Burriana and found it a greasy disappointment despite the rave reviews some other people give it. I think they turn out such vast quantities of it that any finesse goes right down the drain. You can however, eat as much as you want of it for about 8 Euros...sooo...

There's a little corner place open for lunch almost beside the Bella Roma called The Mandarina and we like going there for lunch. It's a little place with some well-placed tables in the sunny square (almost too sunny on hot days as it has no canopy or umbrellas) and they make a lovely tapas plate for 3 Euros. They also have nice fresh baguettes with ham and cheese and other goodies for 3 Euros. Good budget food, freshly made.

Last winter we had a great dinner at El Encanto, which is tucked into a narrow street downtown. I had rabbit and Tom, again, had lamb. Good food, freshly and creatively cooked and a pleasant atmosphere. Well recommended.

We may not have time to try these others on this trip but if anyone has eaten there, please let us know what you think of Sollun (new and impressed by their menu and by the fresh herbs growing in the window boxes), Casa Luque??? Sloans and Langhams. Happy eating!!!

A lovely evening in late February

We look forward to our special dinners out and this week we are going to a place we discovered last week called The White Truffle. We had their Sunday lunch last Sunday...chicken for Tom and roast pork for me and were entirely pleased with their take on those old standards. Fresh herbs, delicious sauces, everything piping hot and freshly prepared and creatively presented. I've been hearing good things about them also from other people in the area and it seems they are going to be a big hit. We strolled over there taking the long way around via the Balcon de Europa since we are determined to get at least an hours walking in every day. The weather today was gorgeous...hot and sunny and a light breeze.

It's Carneval in Espagne. Here's some photos of the parade in Nerja earlier today. It has a real community feeling...earlier we watched out our window as some of the neighbours got dressed up for the parade. We had a great spot to watch in a little cafe on Pintada....and everyone was in a festive mood....at one point Julius Caesar's chariot lost power and his henchmen had to push him out of the way....that float was followed by a bunch of dubious Alpine maidens with five-o'clock shadows and large bottles of San Miguel lager beer.

What is the cost of a two month winter vacation in Nerja ??? Using our experience as a guideline, here's a breakdown of a sixty day vacation on Spain's Costa del Sol during February and March.
We have never paid more than 1000.00 Canadian per person for airfare including transfers from the airport to our accommodations. We've flown with Air Canada, KLM, Alitalia, British Airways and Spanair via Heathrow, Amsterdam, Milan and Madrid on various trips. The rule of thumb is an overnight flight from Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal to a major hub such as Heathrow or Paris or Frankfurt with an early morning arrival, time to have a coffee and a break in the airport and then a short hop of less than two hours directly to Malaga where you will arrive in the bright Spanish sunshine, depending on your airline, from 1pm to 5 pm. Forty minute airport transfer on a good motorway brings you to your doorstep in Nerja in time for tapas and a drink in the late day sunshine.

Our accommodation per month on the costa averages about 900.00 Euros (1450.00 Canadian per month) depending on the rate of exchange and the particular place we choose. We have stayed in one and two bedroom apartments in and out of town and in small villas in the countryside. These prices are all inclusive...that is...for two people with hydro, water, heating, satellite television, hi-speed internet, parking, clean linens weekly and end of stay cleaning all included in this one flat fee. Should you be travelling with more than two people, the additional cost is usually minimally more...for example for four people instead of two, a two bedroom apartment might be 1100.00 Euros per month. Four sharing is of course, extremely cost effective and there are countless spacious apartments with ensuite bathrooms and lots of space ideal for two couples or a group of friends. We can recomend an excellent selection.

Then there's food and drink and entertainment and transportation. A car rental for one month for a small car (such as a Peugot or Opel or Kia....much like a Chevrolet Astro in Canada....is less than 500 Euros FOR A MONTH. Shorter periods such as three days for 60 Euros are also available from excellent reliable agencies here on the Costa. Cars are brand new, small or midsize, with excellent fuel efficiency and easy to maneuvre on the narrower village streets. Standard stick shift is the norm so if you need an automatic, that will add some price and you need to reserve well in advance.

One of our reasons for choosing Nerja as a destination is that we don't need a car here unless we wish to go out exploring on the back country roads. Nerja is walkable in its entirety and has an excellent reliable town bus which runs every hour from one end to the other. Nerja is also served by the larger Andalucian bus system which means you can hop on the bus in the morning to nearby villages and towns and return in the afternoon. You can take the bus to Malaga for less than four Euros and spend the day shopping in the big city and be home by mid-afternoon for a siesta. In Malaga you can also catch buses and trains and planes for all the rest of Spain and Europe.

Daily cost of living: We have a budget that we adhere to pretty strictly in order to afford our winter life on the Costa (we still have hydro bills to pay in Ontario while we are over here lolling in the sun) and that budget is 30 Euros per day to cover food, drink, eating out, buses, entertainment, books, etc. This makes about 50.00 per day for two people and allows us to eat and drink well at home and to have a couple of meals out a week, as well as little excursions round and about the area and lots of books to read and wine to drink. If you wish to forego restaurant meals you can do it easily on 15-20 Euros a day for two people...if money is no object...well, the sky can be the limit.

So in total: 2000.00 for airfare and ground transportation. 2000.00 for accomodation. 2000.00 for food, drink, fun and games. 500.00 for travel and health insurance depending on your age and good health...comes to 6500.00 for two people for two months. Compare that with any long stay package or even shorter resort holiday and you will see that the Costa is a bargain for a long stay. If you're only looking for a month you can halve the accommodation and daily costs...airfare of course remains the same. And speaking of health...the Costa has excellent English speaking dentists, doctors, health clinics and services so it's also an excellent choice in terms of access to medical services if that should ever be required.

Typical February day in Nerja. The cloudless sky is bright blue and the trees in the square are filled with oranges ripening in the sunshine. We've been eating fresh avocados each day, provided by our landlord who seems to have a garden somewhere on the premises. Although the streetside face of Spanish village houses is almost forbidding with heavy wooden door and small windows with wrought iron bars and closed shutters, a glance in through those doors reveals elaborately tiled inner courtyards ablaze with sun and flowers. Rooftop terraces are filled with plants and balconies spill geraniums and other blooms out into the street.

The many restaurants, bars and cafes of the Nerja area, provide endless variety for eating out at any time of the day. The famous "British breakfast" consisting of eggs, sausages, bacon, baked beans, fried tomatoes, toast, coffee and orange juice can be had for less than 5 Euros in countless beachfront and downtown cafes. Lunch can be as simple as a warm roll filled with meat and cheese or a salad or as hearty as grilled chicken or Argentinian ribs or fresh fish for under 8 Euros. Dinner likewise, starts at about 6 Euros and averages about 9 Euros for a main course. The wine is usually 1.50-1.80 a glass and a good bottle of wine in restaurant can be had for 8 or 9 Euros. Portions as you can see are generous and in addition to Spanish food, there's Italian, Thai, Dutch, German, Argentinian and of course, the British pubs with fish and chips. And when you tire of International cuisine, don't forget the very popular and excellently priced Sunday dinners in those same British pubs where 9 Euros will get you a very tasty and extremely filling meal of roast beef, roast lamb or roast pork complete with Yorkshire pudding and gravy, vegetables, mashed and roasted potatoes and the works. Our favorite is a little place called The Smugglers Inn where there's usually a bunch of locals at the bar watching the soccer on the big screen and the Sunday roast includes both mashed and roast potatoes and three different vegetables as well as freshly made Yorkshire puddings. After all, the cook at home does need a day off.

Vivid displays of flowers and climbing vines are everywhere during the cooler and slightly wetter times of the year on the Costa del Sol. In February, the almond blossoms blanket the countryside with pinkish blooms and plants and flowers open up with astonishing displays of tropical colour. The ocassional days of rain fill the reservoirs for the arid days ahead and what will be brown mountainsides by summer are now freshly green. In our three winters on the coast, we've never had more than five or six days of cloud and rain during the entire two month period of February and March. Sunshine and blue skies are the norm!!!

The opulence of old Spain

In the nearby pueblo blanca of Frigiliana, touted as one of the most beautiful villages of Andalucia, you can wander the steep narrow cobbled streets leading to the old church by the village square. The doors are unlocked and inside the cool dark interior, flickering candles and votive lights reveal elaborate shrines such as this one to La Senora Dolorosa...Our Lady of Sorrows. Spanish churches tend to celebrate the more dramatic and tragic aspects of their faith....the dying agonies of various saints is a favorite subject of various artist's depictions of Catholicism. The bleakness of the subject is somewhat alleviated by lavish displays of beautiful flowers and candles around the shrines.

After you've chosen the food for your dinner, walk over to the wine aisles and choose a nice red, or white or cava to accompany the meal. You'll drink well for under 4 Euros a bottle (about $6.00 Canadian) although we have had lots of success with decent wines in the less than 2.00 Euro price. And there's the fabulous Asturian apple cider...for the grand price of .69 cents for a quart bottle. Chilled, it makes a delicious low alcohol alternative (4%)to beer or wine with lunch or as a cool drink on the terrace mid afternoon. Spanish champagne or "cava" is inexpensive enough to mix it with orange juice every morning should you feel inclined to start the day off in a sparkly fashion. And of course, brandy, gin and all the usual liquors and liqeurs are equally inexpensive. The only problem you should encounter in the face of all this largesse is self-discipline.

A seafood lover's delight in every supermercado on the Costa. Fish, shrimp, oysters, scallops, octopus and every manner of sea creature laid out on beds of ice. If your tastes run more to meat, the selection of sausages, smoked, dried, spiced, and otherwise is equally varied. And then there's the usual packaged beef, pork, chicken, lamb and turkey as we see in Canadian supermarkets. And olives by the gallon, fresh produce (especially oranges and avocados). A cooks delight!!!

Colourful ceramics are on display in the market which comes to Nerja on Tuesday mornings and to the nearby white village of Frigiliana on Thursday mornings. You can also buy pottery and similar bright dishware in the shops in Nerja but the market has cheaper prices and the vendors are more than willing to bargain.

The delights of shopping in Spain

February is the month for the rebajos...the end of season sales which fill the shops with deeply discounted opportunities for the canny shopper. As well as marking down merchandise to ridiculously low prices, shopkeepers are also amenable to bargaining. We were able to buy a quality men's leather jacket originally priced at 460 Euros for 130 Euros. The shopkeeper had already marked down to 200 Euros, dropped the price without asking to 150 and then to 130 just to make the sale. And his shop was full of similar jackets, all at reduced prices. Leather boots and shoes of all shapes and descriptions are reduced from 100 Euros and over to 10 and 20 Euros. Handbags, luggage, jewellery, coats...fabulous prices and distinctive European styling. It's a shopper's paradise and it goes on for the entire month of February or until it's gone. Then come March 1, the windows come alive again with the spring and summer finery.

Spain is also the land of cheap wine, fresh seafood, colourful ceramics and delicious pastries. Ambling through the streets of Nerja and the nearby white pueblo Frigiliana is a window-shoppers delight.

The services we offer

As Canadian innkeepers in the picturesque historic village of Wilno Ontario near Algonquin Park we have ample experience providing hospitality and tourism advice to our clients who come from all over the world to our corner of the Ottawa Valley. You can see our Canadian business at www.wilnostation.com. Naturally, when we began to winter in Nerja on the Costa del Sol, our inclination was to look at everything with an innkeeper's eye...and so our winter business was born. Everywhere we went in this friendly, safe and warm area of the Costa we saw opportunities for winter-weary Canadians to experience the same delightful long stay vacations with less cost and more personalized experiences than the "fly-drive-studio apartment with a toaster oven" tour and travel companies currently provide. We look after your holiday needs in terms of finding your ideal accommodations, negotiating the rental and cleaning and other fees, arranging airport transfers, car rentals (don't even think of renting through Hertz or Avis or National...we can get you rates that are half of the North American companies), recommend restaurants, activities, sightseeing tours, provide maps and guidebooks and in general ensure that you are met at the airport, taken to your vacation home and settled in for your well-deserved winter holiday. As well, we are available for questions, problem-solving and advice while you are here. Once you've become a regular to the Costa, as we are, you may no longer need our services but for first-time winter vacationers, we can save you money, time and inconvenience.

Who needs to arrive at an unfamiliar airport and wonder which taxi company to use? Who needs to arrive at an unfamiliar town and have the taxi-driver have no idea of which urbanization you are in, or where your accommodation is located. Our favorite tale is of looking for calle Naranjo in El Capistrano which involved a driver who took us first to the Naranjo urbanization (wrong) and then was about to go to either San Juan de Capistrano, El Capistrano Playa or Oasis de Capistrano before we ourselves figured it out (we'd been here before so had some idea). In retrospect, it all seems simple now, but the burros who first wandered these streets and alleyways, weren't walking in a linear fashion. Who needs to wake up the first morning after a long trip and have to go out in search of a grocery store for coffee and orange juice and cereal?

As Canadian innkeepers, we have enjoyed expanding our expertise to include winter holidays in our favorite part of the world Let us take care of the details and still keep your holiday affordable and distinctly suited to your tastes. For more information email us at wilnostation@hotmail.com. We can also advise you on flight options and the pros and cons of various airports en route to Malaga and assist you in booking your flights online. Hasta luego. Tom and Joanne

points to consider

• location: in town or in the nearby urbanizations (subdivisions or housing developments). most of which have been developed in the old Andalucian pueblo style with charming casitas or bungalows with walled gardens and roof terraces and wrought iron balcons.


• amenities included: ask about satellite televison (which language is the package ..we have spend a winter with only German sports television), heating source, orientation of balcony,(south is ideal) and if there's a roof terrace, are there any obstructions preventing sunshine for most or all of the day. You will want to sit out in the sunshine and some balconies are just very narrow almost decorative affairs for plants rather than people.


• Kitchen facilities: full cooktop and/or oven. You won't find a dishwasher but almost every place has a washing machine for laundry. A very handy thing when you are staying for a month or two. Every apartment we have ever rented has had an iron, full kitchen equipment including juicers and coffeemakers, microwaves etc. Ask about hair-dryers. Make sure you bring with you from Canada, an adaptor plug for the European outlets. They are impossible to find once you get here. We found one at Capitol Luggage in Ottawa, and you may have to search in various travel oriented stores to find one. Or let us know and we will include one in your welcome pack should you decide to use our services to organize your winter vacation.

what to consider in rental accommodation

Firstly, there's a wealth of great accommodation available in Nerja and other villages on the Costa del Sol. Many Brits, Germans, Dutch and Scandinavians own villas and apartments and condos and are able to spend only short amounts of time here so they put their properties on the rental market...sometimes through rental agents and often through rent-from-the owner direct websites. The low season here is from November through March which means that rental rates are at their cheapest and there are some fabulous bargains to be had. The best part of renting an apartment or villa is the level of comfort and luxury that most offer compared to the aparthotels or tourist-oriented resorts which can get pretty basic or else are highly priced for the more highend. The individually owned apartments, villas or condos are someone's (usually a someone with a certain amount of money) own second home and they have good quality furnishings, beds, dishes, televisions, etc.etc. Our current apartment in the heart of old-town Nerja was completely renovated in the past year and has top quality tile floors and a fully tiled kitchen and bath, new gas cooktop, comfortable bed and a new couch, new linens, new dishes etc. The entry way and stairs are solid marble and there is air-conditioning/heating, satellite television and wireless hi-speed internet. Total cost which we were able to negotiate with the owner is under 800 Euros for the month which includes all utilities, heating and cleaning fees.

Location is an equally important consideration in choosing a vacation rental. Geographically, Nerja lies on a fairly flatish stretch of area between the nearby mountains (Sierra Almirija) and the Mediterranean. In some areas of town there's a steepish drop from the flat part down to the beach so housing in those areas, while possessed of wonderful views over the Med, can involve a short but reasonably strenuous uphill walk home from downtown. Further back in the urbinazations of San Juan de Capistrano, it's a steady slow incline to the villas near the top. Just a bit arduous for more than one excursion per day and probably even quite fatiguing if you had to carry the groceries up there every day. Renting a car is certainly an option and Nerja is pretty simple to navigate, but for us, again, cost and the difficulties of parking downtown, mean we prefer not to have a car while we're in town. There's an hourly bus service which goes from east to west and down to Burriana beach which can get your almost anywhere in town for .90 Euros. There's also cheap taxi service available. But if you prefer to walk, there's many housing options which will give you access to the old town and the beaches with a less than 20 minute walk on fairly flat terrain.

Our reasons for choosing Spain

After a number of years of travelling about in search of an affordable, pleasant,interesting long-stay winter vacation, we have settled on Spain as an ideal destination. We tried Texas and the southern USA, we've been to France and Portugal and Bermuda and although that's far from a comprehensive list of possible holidays, we've been able to distill our experiences into a holiday style that works for us.

Our priorites include cost, safety, accessibility, comfort and a level of activity or amenities which keep us from going mad with boredom. When you spend the winter in a long-stay self-catering sort of holiday, you will settle into the same sort of routines that you enjoy at home. One cannot shop or eat out or drink in cafes for twenty-four hours a day every day. Take stock of what your amusements and enjoyments are when at home. (If drinking cheap wine from sunup to midnight is part of your life, you will truly think you've gone to heaven when you reach the Costa with it's plethora of cheap friendly little bars and shelf upon shelf of excellent red wine in every corner store and supermercado.) But other than those dubious pleasures necessary amenities for us include a reliable cheap source of English language reading material. Yes, the truth is that we settled on Nerja because it has the largest, most comprehensive second-hand bookstore in all of southern Europe. It's also a great place to meet other folks who are spending the winter in this area of Andalucia.

Nerja in February

This is looking east along the beach to Burriana which is Nerja's "party beach". In February, there's not that much partying going on, but it's a popular spot for eating paella in the big open-air beachfront bars. Watch the cooks stirring the paella in their huge cast-iron pans over outdoor fires...but frankly, the quality of the paella isn't what it could be. It's cheap though...all you can eat in a couple of places for 8 Euros...and it's the kind of thing you should check out at least once. Even in February, you'll see sunbathers stretched out on this glorious sand or tucked in along the nooks along the cliffs further down.

Finding good food & drink in Nerja

Tom is the chef at our Red Canoe Cafe and enjoys finding great restaurants, good supermarkets and excellent local wines at rock-bottom prices. One of our priorities in renting our apartments or villas in our travels, is having a workable kitchen so we can cook. Eating out is fun but with all the great produce, fruit, cheese, sausages, olives and such in the supermercado, it's equally enjoyable to create simple delicious locally inspired lunches and suppers. And it makes a long holiday more affordable. We could never spend two months on the Costa if we ate out every day!

What clothing should we bring?

Feb 3:2007

We haven't unpacked yet so we're still wearing our Ontario winter clothing. It's hot!!! Actually it's about 20 degrees Celcius today. I've learned to bring layers, as the early mornings and the evenings can be cool. A light jacket (our famous Canadian Sierra Designs or Columbia fleeces are ideal), a couple of sweaters, and jeans or skirts. Most of the time, during the day, you'll be wearing blouses or shirts with short sleeves (bring lots of sunblock as the sun here is really strong). The ideal wardrobe for the Costa is what I would term "stylish casual". Skirts, skorts, stylish Bermudas, capri's, dressy jeans, are all quite common. Short shorts or cut-offs, really skimpy tops and muscle shirts on men are best left elsewhere. The Spanish dress well and a little more formally than we are used to in North America, especially when out on the town. I like to think of it as anopportunity to practice being chic! (And it's an excuse to buy something I might not wear at home in my workaday life). Make sure you bring a pair of slippers and something warmish to wear for sitting about in the evening after the sun goes down. Most apartments have a source of heating but if your place has been closed up for awhile between guests, it'll take a few days for the chill to completely leave those lovely tile floors.

Why Spain????

Welcome to our Canadians in the Spanish Sun blog. We hope our experience, tips and suggestions will inspire you to join the growing number of Canadians who are enjoying the sunshine, good food, excellent wine, and friendly people of the Costa del Sol. Over the past few years we've discovered great little villages, wonderfully affordable accommodations, excellent restaurants and useful money-saving tips and tricks to make your Spanish holiday as wonderful as ours have been. Here's some photos of this years journey. We're in Nerja (about 35 minute drive from Malaga airport) in a cosy apartment in the centre of old-town Nerja. Outside our wrought-iron balcony is a traditional narrow cobbled street where the local people have shops and homes. In the morning, the old Spanish ladies sweep their doorsteps and water the brilliant red geraniums adorning their windows. In the afternoon, the children run home from school. At night, the shutters are closed up tight and there are strolling couples, occassional tourists, sometimes a local boy on his scooter with a fashionably dressed senorita perched behind him. It's a traditional Spanish village brought into the 20th century, overlooking the Mediterranean....the building we live in is probably three hundred years old but I am writing this on my laptop using my landlord's wireless internet. It's this juxtaposition of old and new, of the modern and the historic, that makes Spain such a delightful holiday destination. And the way to appreciate it, is to make Spain your winter home for a month or two months or even longer. We'll show you how it can all be possible. Hasta luego! Johanna