Three hours in the Volvo along the A7, Southern Spanish Coast road, was another dream drive. Using the empty A-7, my Volvo was on cruise control apart from a coffee stop.
Eddie Stead and Irena are renting a villa for a few months and catching up with him for a beer would be a good start to another motoring break.
The first night in Torrox was in a Hotel, unsure of our late travel decision it was best not to risk disturbing Eddie and Irena too late.
The Amaya is a typical Andalucian building, charming with a good view of the Med across the tennis courts at breakfast
A drive into the mountain-sited homes found my old shipmates pad
We broke the ice before heading to a bar for Sunday Roast and football on TV
Asked for his preference of meats Eddie proudly stated he’d always been ‘beef’
The match we had all dressed in LFC shirts for was a bum twitching start, 0-1 down but a 4-2 win, so we paraded our shirts along the sea front and had our pictures by another burning boat (Eddie was Helicopter engineer on Sheffield’s flight team, I was flight weapons and comm’s for the whole ship – broadcast/mag loop/ops room headsets etc, so worked with the scouse chappie) 
before heading back to Ed’s and Irena’s for a night cap.
After a sound nights sleep in tranquil star studded mountain air, it was an early start to head off for Ronda, leaving our hosts asleep.
The two hour drive through the mountains on a road winding along at over 1000 metres high was spectacular.
A city set nearly as high as Mount Snowdon in Wales is so much more than I was expecting. Two half’s of the city are joined by a bridge that had gardens built into the walls on one side
The city has on of the oldest bull rings and some believe it started the ‘sport’.
Orson Wells and Ernest Hemingway tributes are at the entrance to one park near the bullring, so those guys must have found the place too
It was a five hour drive back to Puerto Mazarron, where I could get back to sea views
prepare for a night at the opera
after which I was stopped at a police checkpoint with breathalyser. My 0.0 readings at midnight after a night at the opera surprised us all – my first ever breathalyser was a hard pass 😇
There was more Military Museum Work to do
and help Karl with a ‘care in the community’ project/person
Geriatric Gap Years 
ab fab trip Cliff
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