Arrived in Olvera

 
We arrived in Spain about a week ago.  We spent the week getting settled in our rented house in Olvera.  

When we flew from Madeira to Malaga, via a 3 hour stop-over in Lisbon, everything went smoothly.  Having registered on both the Portugal and the Spain entry apps, all that was required on entry was quick scan of their entry code.

We had arranged for a rental car and the pickup went smoothly as well.  As usual, we didn’t get the selected vehicle but an “upgrade” to Peugeot Rifter, an SUV sized vehicle, diesel. It worked out well.

It was the first car that I had driven with a lane warning system.  It surprised me the first time I changed lanes when the steering tried to keep me in the current lane.  Once I figured out that the turn signals cancel the lane change correction, it was less annoying.  

We have retrieved our bicycles from the storage garage and have been for one short ride.  Everything seems good with the bikes and their batteries.                         

For our first ride we headed out along the Via Verde de Las Sierras, an abandoned rail line.  It is nice scenic ride thought 18 tunnels and a few bridges. About 36 K in length with 3 cafes along the route. All of which are restored stations.

The photo below is of the Olvera station located n the outskirts of town. It has very nice restaurant and bar. We enjoyed some nice tapas and drinks at the end of the ride.

Getting the motorcycle was ready was a bit more problematic. The battery had been on an “intelligent” storage battery charger but the battery was completely dead.  A new battery solved the problem and the motor started on the first crank. My insurance is valid today, so we will get the moto out of the garage later today.

 

The weather has been quite cool over night.  A couple of days ago it went down to 2 degrees but it warmed up to about 17 degrees by afternoon. Last night the temperature only went down to 11 degrees, which is normal for this  time of year, highs around 20.  Perfect for out door activity.

 

These are a couple of photos taken while walking around town.    On the left, some garden pottery art.

 

 

 

There are lots of orange trees in town along many of the streets. The oranges are a just ripening.

Thursday we took the rental car back to Malaga and spent the night there.  It  was definitely busier in Malaga than it is here in Olvera.  Lots of Brits and northern Europeans. 

We had a nice time exploring Malaga and we bought a few things that we needed, before taking the bus back to Olvera.

These are a couple of shots from the main downtown shopping area of Malaga.    Vehicle traffic is highly restricted on many of these streets. 

The weather forecast looks good for the coming week.  We will probably take the moto out for a test ride down to the coast one day and get in some longer bike rides.

 There are nice villages within bicycle riding distance with good cafes and restaurants. When we eat a meal out, we generally eat midday or early afternoon. Most stores and restaurants are closed between 2pm and 5pm.

Stores reopen around 5pm but restaurants don't reopen until 8pm.