First a view of the bay in which Conil de la Frontera sits, looking towards Trafalgar

January 27 – This that and the other

First, Arcos de la Fontera – This is another puerto blanco and the best yet. It is genuinely perched on top of not one but two hills, it has a castle (but privately owned!), is full of superb palacios and narrow delightful streets – and it is well-heeled. The restaurants are excellent – we actually eat in a Moroccan and I had a brilliant lamb and prune tagine, Janet a pastela which was chicken in cinnamon and pistachio and rice in a filo pastry case with cashews and icing sugar to set it off.

We wandered the streets, having parked cheaply and easily in the high town. We loved the shops, the plazas, the churches and the palacios. We saw a superb early 18th century hotel for sale but could not even contemplate it at our age and that price. But it made us realise that this is one of those small but busy towns that could provide a hotel base for a brilliant week. Maybe, none day...

Now, the ruddy car -We are into the third week of hiring and only now can be sure that the claim will be met and on what terms (which are OK-ish). But LV-Frizzell has to get its Spanish agents to authorise the work so we are back on Spanish time. We have seen the garage – excellent – and arranged for the other kingpin to be replaced at the same time. Some time this week we may yet have our wheels back. WRONG - looks like it MIGHT be this week instead!

Last Sunday was the romeria – That's a pilgrimage to us and it celebrate3s the patron saint of Conil – St Sebastian. He's the one who said his God would raise him from the dead and the Visigoths tested this by filling him with arrows. In fact he failed to die immediately so they bashed his brains out for good measure. The arrows stayed in and he stayed dead. Anyway the town assembles for a mass at the parish church and then process, with full decorations the seven kilometres from there to El Colorado.

Posh gents astride their posh Andalucian horses with children or señoras or señoritas on the pillion. Others march in costume playing music and dancing the Flamenco down the street. More have pony and traps, decked with ribbons and bows and filled with bambinos. Farmers get out their oldest and or best tractor, dress it over all and join in. At the head is a Mary on a chaise carried aloft and a Sebastian pierced through and through.

Much Fino is drink (they carry little ceramic mugs on a leather string round their necks for the use of) but it also seems a lot of beer is also drunk these days, excellent black pudding is eaten (and much, much more). The sausage I can vouch goes especially well with a glass of Pedro Ximinex, the brilliant sweet sherry from the eponymous grape that makes Bristol Cream taste like washing up water loaded with sugar.

January 18

First, an entire blog has got lost in the ether. First time ever with Weebly so I reckon it must have been our connection that dropped out in mid transfer. Sadly I also lost the original at the same time. It mostly dealt with the car breakdown so may be better left unsaid, ever! So... here we go a bit later but still in the same part of the forest...

To be frank, January has passed in a blizzard of coughs, sneezes and tissues so far as I am concerned. And worse for Janet since she has merely been an unwilling and occasionally worried observer. What started as a head cold on Boxing Day followed my normal course and ended up as a chest infection. My breathing is never good but Clarithromycin worsens it markedly (note to self; refuse next time). Until this weekn I have not felt so good.

Then last Saturday of course the car suspension collapsed at yet another speedhump hurdle and we spent sone hours being recovered, then many more fretting and negotiating our future. The insurance company has accepted it is a road incident not a breakdown – collision with road equipment literally! But that still means a lot of hassle, two hire cars in a row and a ￡300 excess to pay. Mind you the whole bill looks loike ￡2,000 so until our renewal comes in we are happy-ish.

The only bright spot is the hire car – a Ford Focus. Bright? Yep, this is like no Ford I ever drove or owned and suggests we may yet return to the Fordian fold in due course.

The weather had, broadly matched my condition – fair to lousy. We have had some bright sunny days but for the most part January has been the antithesis of December. Yet is is never cold and that is the point of the 1500 mile drive! Overnight it can reach single figures but if the sun shines at all 20C is probable; without, even 15-16 is usual.

We have been much helped by a Devonian couple who have ferried us to, from and to and from again, the hire car companies. In return we took them to a shopping complex with a huge DIY – Leroy Merlin – to make BandQ look mean. Alongside was a brilliant mix of PC World and Curries with knobs on.

And today we used some of the very expensive hire car fuel to drive to a place called Rota, opposite Cadiz on the southern side of the bay. It is famous among motor homers for the ranch style campsite they all congregate on. But is in fact a superb little port town, with a modified castle, amazing churches and super little street in the Barrios. In fact it is so nice we have listed it as a possible site for hiring a winter house in a future year.