9 – 10 August 2019

We enjoyed our drive into the Sierra Nevada, both for the beautiful mountain scenery and the fact that every kilometre took us further away from the Lemonrock Hostel and its unwanted roommates.

We were excited to be heading back to the coast, and thrilled to be catching up with James and Elizabeth, and to meet Orion for the first time. One thing this trip has really instilled in us is how lucky we are to be able to catch up with so many friends during our travels, many of whom we haven’t had a chance to see for ages. 

We pulled into James and Elizabeth’s place and immediately felt more relaxed, the minor annoyances from the last few days melting away. First order of business was a swim, followed by a well deserved beer overlooking their beautiful garden, replete with avocado and lemon trees and grape vines. Liz was in heaven. The kids seem to waste no time connecting and were soon enjoying each others company, sharing toys and being generally self amusing. 

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It was great to see James and Elizabeth, and lovely to be able to drop in to the wonderful lives they have made for themselves in this beautiful area of the world (which, for the geographically minded, is between Gibraltar and Malaga). 

We went to a great dinner at the nearby Bahia Limon and had one of the best meals of the trip (prawns, tuna and steak… yum) overlooking the beach and the water. (We were beginning to understand why they looked so relaxed). 

It was a great night, which reminded us again that you don’t need to live in someone’s pocket to be a good friend. 

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The following morning, after breakfast, coffee and of course a farewell swim, we hit the road for another 5 hour drive to Lagos in Portugal. We were sad to be leaving the Woods so soon, but excited to be visiting the most south western corner of Europe. 

We were infinitely more relaxed than when we had arrived, we had snowboarding plans pencilled in for the following February and we were ready (if a bit sad) to be leaving the wonderful warm waters of the Mediterranean behind for the more frigid (but wavey) Atlantic.