The clue
I’ve thrown the kitchen sink at this outing. But still my friend wants to make drama out of its supposed shortcomings.
“We’re in a former health resort!” he complains. “The very least I’d expect is a proper sit-down lunch.”
Sorry, Friend — there just isn’t time. Not when there’s so much to see. Our first stop was a school on the southern side of this sizeable town — alma mater of a postwar theatre director (mother: Elsie). He then became an Oscar-winning film-maker, whose life and times included movies shot in Australia and America as well as England. We’ve also seen landscaped gardens and a theatre — and now we’re headed to an ornate facility with a distinctly Ottoman flavour that’s over 120 years old. Friend, however, has done some research and suggests we divert to a second facility that’s on the same street, 200 yards south-southeast of the first. It too is devoted to wellbeing, he claims.
It turns out he’s talking about a tearoom. “At last — let’s have a proper brew,” he suggests as we approach.
“All right — a quick one,” I concede, grumpily. But he tells me he’s also booked one of its full-blown afternoon teas, complete with eclairs, sandwiches and cakes.
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“It’ll take more than hour,” he explains, which means we won’t have time to check out all the interesting, 20th-century art in the town’s gallery. I feel like I’ve been bushwacked.
“You can call me a latter-day Ned Kelly if you like,” he crows as he orders some signature scones on the side.
Fat Rascal would be much more appropriate.
The questions
1. What was the film-maker’s surname?
2. What’s the name of the Ottoman-flavoured facility?
The prize
The winner and up to nine guests will stay for seven nights’ self-catering at Ronda Oasis, a five-bedroom villa in the mountains of Andalusia. At the end of a cypress-lined driveway, this whitewashed finca lies seven miles north of the town of Ronda and close to the Morosanto Winery. The style is light, airy and elegant, with tiled floors, deeply shaded patios, two swimming pools and kitchens both indoors and out. Long, lazy days beckon on its terraces, with all kinds of day-tripping in between — walking in the nearby Sierra de las Nieves National Park, perhaps, or a day by the sea in the south. For details, visit oliverstravels.com.
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The prize also includes a flight budget of £1,000 and a car rental budget of £250. It must be booked by April 30, 2025, and taken before December 21, 2025, excluding June 1 to September 1, subject to availability.
How to enter
Answer the questions and complete the entry form here by the end of Thursday, January 16. One entry per person.
See here for the full competition terms and conditions from The Times & The Sunday Times. Your information will be used in accordance with our privacy and cookie policy.
Last week’s prize
The answers are Have I the Right? and Libeskind. Amber Turner from Essex wins a luxury Dartmoor break worth up to £1,604 at Gidleigh Park, Dartmoor.
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