Our 2018 European adventure

True to our word Monday morning we left Benalmadena and headed back along the coast to Callanhonda. Before I continue if you are ever in Benalmadena try out El Naranjo resturant. Service is second to none and the food? They do a meal deal. 2 steaks, salad and choice of potatoes with a bottle of wine all for €17 per person and the steak was amazing.
Anyway I digress, we rented an apartment here about 11 years ago and wondered if it had changed much. Booked into a site called Los Jarales just off the busy A7 and although the road is very busy the site is OK. Only a few minutes walk to the beach and, it seems, an endless supply of bars, restaurants and markets. We have been visiting places that we went to previously however the was a bar 2 minutes walk from the apartment we stayed in. The bar is still there but has changed drastically. It was just a little beach bar but is now a place of fine dining with a great atmosphere. We lunched on the paella yesterday and it was very good.

After a few days in Callanhonda exploring the beach, bars and resturants we have hired a car and explored further afield. Yesterday was a local outdoor market and the Marbella (really don't know what the draw is with that place. It's busy, the beach isn't great and I just can't see the attraction). Today we spent the day in Mijas village. Much nicer than I remember and after walking around most of the day we ate in one of the restaurants in the main square. The Del Dia was salad, lasagne and ice cream to finish. Food was very good and plenty of it and all for the sum of €9. Tomorrow we will explore the open market a few miles away in Mijas Costa.
Going to stay here until Monday, probably, and then who knows. We have about 3 weeks left of our trip before we have to start heading back to the UK.

I have been keeping a loose track of our expenditure while we have been away, out of interest more than anything else, and here are the main items.
We have travelled about 2,500 miles and spent the following (roughly)
Diesel €511, camp sites €364, bulk gas (cooking, fridge, heating) €17.50, groceries €513, alcohol €217, meals out €476 and car hire €75. Total €2,173.50. I'm sure if we had spent 2 1/2 months travelling in the UK at this time of the year we could have pretty much doubled that total.