Slightly befuddled by jet lag, a bottle of $4.00 spanish cava, a pasta dinner with our landlord's garden grown courgette coupled with four cloves of roasted garlic, some Iberian sausage and a bit of herbes de provence, we sail into the second evening of our life on the Costa del Sol. A great deal of the stress of travel is averted by simply knowing what you are getting yourselves into. And so it was for us returning to Nerja for the third time...we know the airport, we know the taxis, we know the steets and the supermercado and the way it all works in this part of Espagne. So we've been supremely relaxed since the moment we arrived. Our landlady, Lola Jiminez, owns this building and they live downstairs. They also own a glorious villa nearby and several other apartamentos in downtown Nerja. Our wrought iron doors on calle Augustias lead into a superbly marbled foyer where the child Jimenez's Vespa is neatly parked on a bit of carpeting. Our stairway (also marbled) and with a somewhat over the top gold embossed tiling leads to the second floor and to our apartment. It's utterly brand new, with none of the gloomy dark wood and smoke-stained stucco which can be part of the Iberian housing experience. Ikea is a big part of home decor here and we have all the classic pieces...the high-end pine dinette, the best couch-hideabed, simple yet tasteful tab curtains and a comfortable bed. The kitchen, as almost all these kitchens are, is small but really tasteful...and very functional...solid granite countertops, a small fridge (north americanos need big fridges but spaniards don't) a gas cooktop, stainless steel sink and moulded drainboard and swedish hi-gloss blue cupboards with all sorts of stark white Mikasa tableware and cheerful red-handled cutlery.There's a big glass door that leads to a small indoor courtyard tiled in blue and a spiral staircase to the roof terrace which looks over Nerja and a somewhat obscured view of the Med. The only drawback to this place is the comparison to our place in Capistrano last year which had the most fabulous balcony facing south over the picturesque red roofs to the sparkling sea...and below us...flowers and vines and whitewashed walls and cypress trees everywhere. Downtown Nerja is more a vista of tv aerials and solar panels and some Spaniards freshly washed underwear flapping gaily on the line...however, the apartment itself is vastly superior so one weighs one against the other...anyhow...it's all very enjoyable and Tom says I must tell you that HE made the supper....as though anyone would assume otherwise...tomorrow we will go to the bookstore and find more things to read and supply ourselves with kitchen staples...I hear it's very cold in the valley....having my hi-speed wireless and my own laptop brings home so near...I feel I could step out the door and drive to Barry's Bay in fiive minutes. It is reassuring in a way, but one loses the delightful sense of being entirely removed from one's prosaic homey self.