Page 32 - Spanish Insight - August 2019

By Naomi Diestro

Day Trips

on a motorbike

My husband Oscar and I have been on a
couple of motorbike trips this month. The first
was a morning ride to Ronda with some hard-
core Frigiliana bikers, and boy was it tiring! and of course the lake. We should’ve taken
For these guys, the sheer thrill of the ride itself heed of the TripAdvisor comment, warning
was all that mattered; absolutely no time for that although its opening times are Mon-Fri,
sightseeing, just one quick zoom past the 11-2 pm and 6-8 pm, ‘It’s not open a lot of the
Ronda bull ring and we were back in Frigiliana time’. Despite arriving within these hours, we
again in time for lunch! discovered that the boating lake was indeed
vexingly closed, with a note of apology but no
explanation. Cue the big sigh! We did enjoy
some marvellous views from the top of the
watchtower though, before heading back to is in the style of Neo-Mudejar on the outside
the bike and on to our next stop: Casa de los and the Alhambra Palace on the inside, and
Navajas, an exquisite, beach-facing building these days it’s mostly used as a wedding and
incongruously situated among grey, high-rise exhibition venue. Entrance is free and the
blocks of flats, like a rose between several WCs are impeccable – gotta take advantage
thorns. It was originally owned by Antonio of those on a long day out!
Navajas, a mega-successful sugar cane After 20 minutes we were ready to leave. The
planter who once owned the land from here heat was getting to us as we wearily marched
all the way to Málaga airport! Its architecture down its 71 steps, turned right and walked
towards the Bajondillo steps (which lead up
to Torremolinos’s main shopping area), buying
and hastily polishing off a couple of bottles
of water and ice-lollies along the way. For 50
The second was a journey down the A-7 from cents, you can take the lazy option and catch
Nerja to Torremolinos on what was one of the the nearby lift straight up to the bustling San
hottest days of the year. We thought it would Miguel street.
be fun to go sailing in a rowing boat, and as We left that for another day, and instead
Parque La Batería has a pretty boating lake, meandered along The Carihuela promenade
we made our way there. and old fishing district, browsing at the many
Feeling insufferably hot in our biker jackets, market-quality goods on sale in shops mostly
we came off the main road and pulled up at owned by the Dutch, or so it seemed ...
SuperSol en route, to grab and desperately We were savouring a scrumptious Gambas al
glug down a couple of ice-cold fizzy colas. Pil-Pil at the El Lele Isabel Chiringhito on the
Parque La Batería is tucked away behind the sea front when we agreed that venturing out
Montemar Alto train station, not the sort of in this heat was a really daft idea, so back to
place you’d stumble upon, and on entering the bike we went.
we heard the sound of bells ringing from the The whole journey felt like a hot hairdryer
nearby convent and saw a huge expanse was being blown at us, and the moment we
of greenery – 74,000 m2 of well-maintained arrived home, I ripped off my biker jacket, ran
gardens, featuring a children’s play area with upstairs to the bathroom and luxuriated in
carousel, fitness station, dummy tree to hang my very first cold bath. Oh, the relief! Cool
babies’ dummies on once they’ve outgrown at last!!
them, aah! - a pair of artillery canons and © Naomi Diestro 2019
watchtower (hence the name Battery park),

32 Spanish Insight August 2019