"in which L' Amapola and Inspector Leaf visit Marie" Alora by amapola66

On a short trip with 'Inspector Leaf' earlier this month, we visted his good friend Marie who lives in Vegas Morales near Alora. Alora is a village situated 40 kms north of Malaga city and she invited us to stay during our little road trip. A typical pueblo blanco, the village is on the road to Antequerra and south of the lakes of El Chorro. It's situated between three large hills, one of which sports the ruins of a castle which is rather spectacularly perched on top.

Marie's place was not easy to find with our rather basic intructions (past the black gate etc...) and has some unmade roads at the last minute; but that was half the fun and when we arrived hot and thirsty after a drive from Marbella, I took no time at all to throw myself into her pool which is surrounded by hundreds of fruit-laden lemon trees as typical of the area and cool off. Marie has created a place for total (much needed) chillout she also has a 2 bed apartment on the side of her house which she lets out to vistors wanting to walk and explore the delights of unspoilt Spain (tip coming soon).

Alora has a couple of excellent, well priced family restaurants on the outskirts and the usual variety of local bars and shops.

• Pros:Chill-out heaven, scenery, walking, views, slow pace of life
• Cons:Chillout heaven!
• In a nutshell:Perfect for a relaxing, short stay of an authentic Spanish nature.