Fuengerola (again)

 So this is a follow up to What we did on our Hollybobs, We went to Fuengerola again for a couple of nights.

Firstly it was cheap, 2 nights in a hotel in Fuengerola town for the 2 of us was less than 70 Euros, OK we had to pay 18 Euros for parking from Saturday Morning to Monday morning but even that was half price thanks to a discount from the Hotel.

Lets start with the hotel as it was a 2 star establishment, 3 streets back from the sea and slap bang in the middle of the restaurant district. It was a special deal for that weekend, it can usually cost more. It was OK, bed was comfortable and we took our own tea and coffee making gear as none was supplied in the room, nice balcony and a fridge, with the best will in the world, do you need more, well the Wi-Fi was a bit hit and miss but the staff were great and coffee could be obtained in reception. Did I mention it was only 3 streets back from the sea?

If you are looking, it was called Hotel Marbella and I can sort of recommend it, we are not fussy and for the money it was great value.

There are 2 places we cannot praise highly enough , the first is Safari Bar right on the main drag, Fantastic rustic look, amazing staff and the Sangrias are better than anything we have had in our near Decade here in Spain, the food is pretty damn good as well.

The second is a Chinese restaurant in the lanes a bit back from the front, in a sea of Brit Bars, Irish Bars and "Fusion" bars, it stands as a beacon of brilliant food. It is called Ying Bing, we have been a couple of times before, Just before the pandemic and just as everything opened up again and the food and service is still exemplary.

Now it is well known by our friends and family that when we came to Spain, the one thing we did not want was to move to Little Britain hence living in deepest darkest Andalucia, over 170 kilometers from the coast, so one thing we don't do is the typical English bars when we do visit the seaside. This time, Sunday morning we were up somewhat early and on our wandering found a place just opening that did English breakfast from 3.95, as everything else was shut, we asked the guy if he could make tea (something you do not buy in a cafe in Spain, ever) and he said he could and he did so we relented and had English breakfast with extra crispy bacon.

After spending Saturday getting mellow at Safari Bar we went out for drinks in the restaurant district and found a Hotel that did barbecue to share for 28 Euros, good grief it was wonderful and it turned out it was a 2 min walk from the hotel so win win.

One thing that always made a trip to Malaga region acceptable when we came out here was a visit to Fuengerola Iceland to pick up some foods that, to put it bluntly are unobtainable up here. Examples of difficult to buy stuff were, Pasties, Back bacon, pork pies, Scotch eggs, Greggs pastries, Gravy granules, malt vinegar and Brown Sauce, so essentially treats for special occasions. It was a place we visited when picking up or dropping off friends from the UK or Ireland at the airport. 

Of course we visited and oh boy, what a terrible disappointment, not only were the prices astronomic and by that I mean stratospheric but they had a sign saying the could no longer supply, Pork Pies, Richmond Sausages and several other things. Clearly it is another Brexit Bonus, going so well isn't it?

Fortunately we have found a wholesaler warehouse in the town so went there instead. We use to spend between 100 and 200 Euros in Iceland (not all for us, we had shopping lists from other British residents), this time 13 Euros for a friend and about 10 Euros for us, also that was probably our last visit, its just not worth it.

Anyway, that was our trip this time, Recomendations, Hotel Marbella with reservations, Safari Bar and Ying Bing and Hotel Casa Consistorial all without any reservations. To avoid: Iceland/Overseas Supermarket as it's over priced and poorly stocked, the staff are a bit underwealming these days, its almost as though they know their days are numbered.

Until next time peeps, be good to each other.