Introducing....Torre del Mar

On my morning walk today, I took loads of photos and decided that I would do a post of our local town as it is a really attractive place, I thought people might like to see it.  I sometimes wonder if when some people think of the Costa del Sol, so they visualise drunk tourists, British fish and chip shops and noisy discos!  Fortunately Torre del Mar is not a bit like that!

Torre del Mar is our nearest town and is situated 28km east of Malaga on the coast.  It has a population of approx 20,000 and is a very popular holiday resort with Spanish people.  It has the name Torre del Mar (tower of the sea) because it had many watchtowers along the coast during Roman and Moorish times. Today it has a 26m high lighthouse situated on the edge of the promenade.  During the 19th century, the area was the centre of the sugar industry whereas nowadays they grow mangoes, avocados, kiwis and salad crops, because of the  tropical climate.

The most outstanding feature is its sea front, which is about 2km long, and is apparently considered the longest in the Mediterranean! The beach is very wide, more than 50 meters in many places.  The whole promenade is planted with flowers and palm trees, making it a very attractive area to stroll along at any time of year.  This promenade is also lined with lots of seafood restaurants or chiringuitos as they are called here.  The photo below was taken at approx 9am this morning.

The town is busy and has LOADS of small shops, but this post is really just to show you the promenade area which is also very popular with joggers, people walking their dogs (as dogs are not allowed on the beach except for the 'dog beach') and cyclists who have their own cycle paths.

Most people start at one end of the prom and continue walking along to the busy fishing port of Caleta de Velez and then walk back to their original starting point, a distance of about 7km.  This is what Lucy, my Miniature Pinscher and I do when we choose this route for our morning walk.  We can watch the sunrise from our starting point, there are some beautiful sunrises seen from here.  Here is this mornings:

The temperature when we set out was a quite chilly 8C, but it soon warmed up and by the time we got to the end of our route it was 20C.....and that was at 10am!  It's why we have to set out earlyish as I don't want Lucy getting overheated.

All along the route there are different beach areas, special beaches allocated for different groups of people, or different activities.  The seniors beach has wooden gazebos with  picnic benches where older folk can be seen sitting chatting or playing dominoes!  Of course this time of the morning it's pretty empty except for a few people using the gym equipment on the seniors beach.

There are several areas with play equipment especially for children....

There is even a 'Biblio Playa' which means 'book beach' and you can see below the lovely wooden benches and armchair where I suspect local teachers bring groups of their pupils for reading...what a lovely environment to have a reading class!!

And safety too is big here.....there are First Aid and lifeguard stations all along the beach, including this one, which would be hard to miss!!!

All the way along the prom there are examples of local art.  What would normally be the plain back walls of the fishermens buildings, are covered with art!

Here are some examples, some are laminated, whilst others are made from ceramic tiles: (unfortunately because of the laminate there is a lot of reflection!)

I guess you can't have art without a contribution from probably the most famous Malagueño, Pablo Picasso....a ceramic tile version of his famous painting Guernica.

Even the public bathrooms are attractively decorated, and although I haven't got photos here, take my word for it, they are incredibly clean!!

These two below were taken a different day.....I missed them this morning!!! Must have been half asleep :)

Plus statues and fountains:

The fountain below is either new or having a makeover, you can see the workmen are still working on it,  the star shaped pool is completely tiled in tiny mosaic tiles!

This fountain is dedicated to the Virgen of Carmen, who is the patron saint of the town, and also the patron saint of mariners and seafarers!

 Also along the promenade is the lighthouse mentioned above, as well as the bandstand where they often have live music in the summertime!

Finally at the very easterly end of the promenade, so the town of Torre del Mar joins the area of Caleta de Velez where there is a busy fishing port and marina....

It is when we reach this point that we turn back and do the whole walk in reverse!

"Yes Lucy, we only have to walk back to about here.........!!!!!"

 
Well I hope you have enjoyed our little walk along the promenade at Torre del Mar!!

Thanks very much for visiting, have a lovely weekend!

Hugs Sharon x

A doll for sale, sewing and more morning walking.....

I am having another small clear out to make way for a new doll....or three!  And so the following girl is looking for a new home.  She is a Fairyland Mini Fee Chloe in tanned skin, with a beautiful custom faceup by Caroline of Viridian House in Scotland.  She is resin, fully jointed, 40cm tall, slim ball jointed doll.  She has the 'cutie' legs and medium sized bust.   I am asking what I paid for her $600 plus postage, but am open to offers!  She is lovely but I admit that I prefer really young looking girl BJDs. Chloe will travel nude and bald to her new home but I will include random eyes.  Please excuse the dusty eyes in this photo!!  The shame!!!!

You might recognise her dressed:

Also on the dolly front, I did a bit of sewing last week and Brodie, my Iplehouse BID Bordy, was happy to be the recipient of the dress.  I used an old Sasha smocked dress pattern and reduced it by mega amounts...(goodness knows how much, I've slept since then! ;) ).  I used a thick cotton fabric for the main body of the smock and used a 'shabby chic' design quilters cotton for the collar and cuffs.  Unfortunately the sleeves are a bit too long but I'll adjust the pattern next time.  I'm sure Brodie will grow into it!!! 

Finally for today, a few photos from this mornings walk.  We found another new route which took us even higher up into the olive groves and then walked back down and then along the beach which was deserted except for a neighbour swimming with her two dogs. 

Someone has been busy making a circle of stones in what are actually the abandoned 'footings' of an apartment block facing the beach.....

And finally, a small little house in ruins, which is located in a field nearby.  The 'house' is tiny, made up of just two rooms, one is approx 2m by 2m, with a small archway into an even tinier room.  At the back (which is the front in this photo) is a largish stone horse trough.   And the wall on the right of the photo is part of a water depository.  At one point there was obviously electricity and running water to the property, but it has all gone now.

I hope everyone has a lovely week ahead and thank you for stopping by!

Hugs Sharon x

Summer's end.....

I won't apologise again for my blog being neglected, that's getting a little 'old' now, but thought I'd do a 'Summer's End....' post and share some of what I've been doing over the last couple of months or so.

In my last post, Summertime and my poor neglected blog  I wrote about my 'new' healthy regime, well I have continued with that, and am now 26.4 pounds or 12 kilos lighter!!!  I have continued to walk every morning with Lucy my Miniature Pinscher, and we now walk approx 8.5km (just over 5 miles) most mornings.  I have also joined a local municipal swimming pool where I attend two one hourly Aquagym classes every week, and I really love it!!!  It's hard work but definitely good fun!  I've ridden my bike a bit, but I honestly think I'd like to replace it with a mountain bike as mine doesn't have any gears and is really suited more to shopping in a town rather than riding out in the countryside!

I've taken lots of photos during my walks, and will share some here, but please forgive the lesser quality, they are taken on my iPhone.

We've seen some lovely sunrises....

Some beautiful empty beaches, now that the children have returned to school....

Views from the hills above where we live, and towards the mountains.....

We have also seen lots of flora and fauna!  Donkeys, horses and asses.....

Goats and sheep......

Herons....(or could be an egret!)

Chili peppers....

Female peacocks....peahens? 

Lovely flowers!

I also decided to have all my long hair cut off about six weeks ago too, it was down to mid back in length but I never did much with it apart from put it in a ponytail, so I went really short, and I feel like a new woman!!!  (Apologies for the 'bathroom selfie', I don't take photos of myself very often!!!)

 It's almost the same as I had for my wedding back in December 2005....

Hope those weren't too scary for you!!!!


On the dolly front I have been relatively quiet because my interest waned, probably due to the very hot weather.  My doll/sewing room here on the coast is small and gets very very hot despite having the window open and the fan going full time....plus I really don't like spending time inside when the weather is so lovely.  So as a result I've done very little sewing or playing!  But I have done some ordering!!!!  I have two little BJDs on order and hopefully they will arrived from South Korea some time before Christmas :)

However, I am currently customising a Blythe doll for a friend of mine, and am just waiting on the eyechips arriving.  Once the doll is all completed and put back together I will share photos on here.

I have done a few wig changes with my bjds and today took some photos of my Fairyland Little Fee Antes.  Fiona, the normal skin Ante, is one of the new wig recipients.  I bought this Monique Gold Bubbles wig for her in Honey Blond but I thought it was too pale and made her look 'washed out', so yesterday I dyed it with tea and the colour has turned out perfect for her!

Both of my Antes, Tyrone (left) and Fiona, are playing with their new little baby cousin....under adult supervision of course ;) 

Well that's about it for today, I don't want to bore anyone too much!  I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my photos and also hope that you've all had an enjoyable summer. 

Here's to the autumn!!!

Hugs Sharon x