NERJA

Its most famous landmark is the Balcón de Europa, a promontory named by a Spanish King who once admired the view from there - you know the kind of thing, "Verily from this day forth, this place shall be known as the Balcony of Europe" etc.

Nerja has a densely packed town centre defying much further development, and there is no shortage of eateries serving Spanish food allowing you to try somewhere different every night of a one or two week stay. One of our favourites was the Bar Redondo (Round Bar) which has an open air restaurant section across the passage, where such delights as gambas al pil-pil (prawns in a spicy chilli and garlic sauce) can be had for a reasonable price as well as delicious brochettas (large kebabs). We went there one Easter, and accidentally gave them rather a large tip (about 40% I seem to remember - they must have thought they were in for a good year!). The Sardina Alegre, the Happy Sardine is a worthy alternative, where the owner serves Galician dishes from the north west of Spain. They also ring a large ship's bell every time a tip goes into the piggy bank!

For those with children who won't experiment, you can also get pizzas, chicken and chips etc! Large parts of Nerja are closed to traffic, at least for part of the day, making the process of choosing somewhere to dine that bit more pleasant.

Here, an ageing hippy with cardboard down his socks (to stop the charcoal broiling his shins - snappy dresser or what?) serves up superb portions of this famous rice dish from huge pans. In his younger day, he was one of a bunch of lads who stumbled upon, or rather into the Cuevas de Nerja, the local caves - if you been to Cheddar or Wookey Hole, there's not much new to see here, but unlike caves in this country, they tend to be a bit 'close' and even sweaty.

Nerja is also a good centre for touring inland and seeing something of Andalusia. The nearby village of Frigiliana is very pretty, and has won prizes in the bid for best "Pueblo Blanco" - White Village. The views from the Garden Bar at the top of the hill, looking over the terracotta rooftops back to the coast are stunning, and it's very easy to spend a whole afternoon here. Try to remember who's driving back though.

Seville also figures in the list of places within striking distance - here again we used a proprietary coach tour, rather than driving into the unknown, only to find that parking is a nightmare. We didn't go to the relatively recent Expo site - this is about as interesting as going to the Millenium Dome now it's empty. However, the pavilion for a long-previous Expo stands as a magnificent example of (mock) classical Spanish design, even if it was only built in the 1920s. I carry two enduring memories of Seville. One - orange trees were everywhere; apparently, there are some 50,000 in the streets alone (more than the holes in Blackburn Lancashire by a long chalk). Two - There seems to be almost as many offers of a shoeshine - what is it with these guys, they never give up, even if you are wearing canvas sandals? The also don't seem to have grasped the principle of matt-finished leathers either.

Getting to Nerja is easy. Follow the coastal motorway from Malaga airport eastwards for about 40 minutes. Interestingly, Spanish roads have a new slant to keep speeds down, rather than the dreaded Gatso camera. If you exceed the speed limit, traffic lights change against you to slow you down. Of course, if you overshoot the red light, THAT'S when you get photographed, but not before.