Prickly Pears! (Chumbas)

The Prickly Pear is a formidable thorny cactus that makes a useful hedge. The fruits on the edge of the lobes are delicious. But beware! The fine hairs on them are painful and difficult to remove! I have an ancient pair of 'chumba' tongs for picking them.









Take care when skinning the 'chumbas' too! Cut off the two ends; slice top to bottom, and open them.
However the easy way to enjoy them, is to buy them from a street vendor! He'll skin them for you.

Prickly pears are perfect at this time of year! The fruit tastes sweet and juicy, but it does have hard seeds embedded in them. So mouth it gently - rather than chew!

Melons and Water melons

In summer there used to be one of these melon and watermelon stalls under a shady tree just a few hundred meters from Bahia Dorada. But that disappeared years ago, and the site was used for an upmarket complex of apartments. But stalls like it still exist! This summer I saw this one on the road to the coast, coming down the mountain from Ronda.

Experts give a water melon a hearty slap, and listen for the right sort of 'thump' to be sure its ripe! I do the ritual slap. Although I don't know the right sound, it's always delicious anyway!

Sabinillas Sunday Market

Wander the lanes between the stalls of the Sunday morning market at Sabinillas, and see an extraordinary range of items for sale - in no particular order! Apart from colourful fruit and veg, there are antiques and art works, crafts and clothes, books and bangles, toys and tools, herbs and plants, besides gadgets and gismos of every kind! I bought a cheap toy metal detector - but it didn't work! No matter. The idea of it was fun!

Estepona Alive!

San Isidro, the patron saint of Estepona, is celebrated with a Fiesta for a week in May, with much song and dance! It starts with a trip out to a park in the country for paella and picnics under the trees. Then every day in town there is something going on! My friend Brian took this enchanting picture of Spanish dancers!