Lunch

A no-brainer today: a beach day. After a slightly late start we got to the Playa del Muerto in time to hire two sun loungers and a parasol, and have a refreshing swim before lunch at El Balcon de Cotobro, Almuñecar's best restaurant, thoughtfully booked by S on the way back from our house viewing the other day. This will be our local! Not that we'll be eating there every day, it's more a special occasion place.

Happily we long ago grasped that the best approach in Spanish restaurants is to order one starter and one main course between two. Our starter was a massive and estupendo take on ensalada tropical. You may not be able to imagine a salad of lettuce, mango, pineapple, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and langoustines dressed with sweet chilli sauce, but it was superb (that said, the Spanish couple at the next table ordered the same and didn't finish it).

Main course (blip) was excellent salt cod and considerably smaller than the salad. We had room for a shared dessert of cheesecake and ice cream. Then back to the beach for more dozing and swimming; we didn't leave till gone seven. The sea was glorious, warm and smooth as silk. It's a nice beach when the sea is as calm as this; it doesn't get too crowded because you have to walk along two other beaches to get to it. And it will be our local :)

Stressful moments trying to find a parking space when we returned were resolved by S popping into the Helios and getting a key card for their car park. There have to be some advantages to staying in an expensive hotel. Then we had a chilled evening of a couple of drinks and tapas on the sea front, followed by a glass of wine in the sky bar and a relatively early night.