Off to Murcia

The journey of around 4 hours from Mijas took us through very changeable scenery - dramatic snow capped mountain ranges and over vast flat plains. At one point the scenery so resembled the 'wild west' we half expected Clint Eastwood to come riding out on horseback! No wonder some westerns have actually been filmed in that area. As we drove at the higher altitudes through the mountain ranges we realised the gaps between us and the snow capped mountain tops were closing! The roadsides became thickly carpeted with snow. It was absolutely freezing when we left the car for our coffee stop which seemed quite bizarre having left such a warm climate just 2 hours previously.
On our return journey Saturday we actually drove through a blizzard - snow swirling around on the road and very poor visibility! We were rather glad to reach the blue skies of Mijas.

We found Murcia, which sits on the river Segura, to be a vibrant city, much larger than we expected with so much to see - including some fascinating (though rather beyond my pocket: "thank goodness" says Michael!) boutiques down the many side streets.
We soon caught up with Jon and Jen when we arrived and spent hours catching up and enjoying our supper in a tapas bar - a very popular one judging by the number of customers and a very lively one! The staff seemed to spend any spare moments they had between serving customers, tossing plates and glasses back and forth to each other to see who would drop the first one and then there were the competitions to see who could hold the wine bottle up the highest and still manage to pour the wine into the glass below - which produced roars and cheers from everyone! As we made to leave we were offered free shots - whatever it was it certainly warmed all the way down! Finally leaving around midnight expecting to return to our hotel Jon received a message from the groom-to-be inviting us all to join him with friends and family at a nightclub - it was finally 3.30 a.m. when we finally got to bed - but it had been a super evening.