Hello from Marbella

Monday, June 13, 2022
Marbella, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands
Marbella 
It was a early start up at 4. 30am to get to the airport to catch our flight. It was raining and it was quiet the challenge but we made it. The airport in Dublin was really busy. They are back to 80% of capacity before covid hit. You still have to wear face masks on flights but it was pretty casual in the terminal. The flight was packed and after 2 and half hours we arrived in Malaga. It was a 40 minute transfer to our apartment in Marbella.
Marbella is a city and resort area on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol.  It has a population of 390,000.The Sierra Blanca Mountains are the backdrop to 27 km of sandy Mediterranean beaches, villas, hotels, and golf courses. West of Marbella town, the Golden Mile of prestigious nightclubs and coastal estates leads to Puerto Banús marina, filled with luxury yachts, and surrounded by upmarket boutiques and bars. 
We arrived and we had booked a walking tapas tour. Our guide not local by any means but Irish?? We walked the old town and visited 3 tapas bars and had some local wine. It was a great way to start our stay here by having a quick walking tour of the old town. There is the annual San Bernabe Marbella fair festival on here at the moment. Every town has a festival one week of the year so we are fortunate to be here at this time. With locals dressed in Flamenco dresses and lots of dancing and street parades. This would explain why the accommodation prices were so hi. They eat late here as the sun sets at 9.40pm.  The quaint Old Town is home to Renaissance-era whitewashed buildings, flower-draped balconies, and narrow, winding streets. Plaza de los Naranjos draws visitors with its orange trees and restaurants with terraces, serving traditional dishes like gazpacho (cold vegetable soup) and meatballs. 
The next day the boys had booked golf (the best of 3 they said!) at 8.00am. The sun rises at 7.30am. Los Naranjos Golf Course was stunning with streams running across the fairways and dams to hit over. Whilst challenging it was quite open which favoured my opponent Tim. He did win our last of three games leaving the score at 2 to 1 in my favour. I told him I let him win one as it was his birthday! He did play well and we both admired the course and felt grateful for the experience.  Bec and I wandered into town for breakfast and shopped for some supplies for our self catering for breakfast and snacks. We caught up on some washing and enjoyed our beachside apartment.
We went out to lunch at a Seafood restaurant and the boys said it was some of the tastiest fish they had eaten. Tim had sardines cooked over the char grill on the beach. Mark had cooked sole fillets cooked the same way. The beach sand is black and in some places very rocky. The water temperature is 18 degrees. The weather is great here averaging 30 degrees. You can see why a lot of people holiday here. After lunch we found the Amare beach bar and there was a guy wondering around playing on a electric guitar (Tim did think he was faking it, but we worked out he wasn’t)  and settled in for the afternoon. The girls did some needed retail therapy and tasting some local wine, served with fresh popcorn and boys had a siesta at the apartment. We headed to the old town for dinner. With no siesta, Bec and I went home early, and the boys stayed out for a couple of cleansers. The next day the boys were very tired and wanted to sleep longer than normal. We had a relaxing day and headed to a restaurant in Av. Miguel Cano which is a street here with lots of different tapas restaurants. Our local host recommended it. It served tapas and you could pick whatever you wanted as they passed by your table. Your bill was worked out by how many toothpicks were left on your plate. The next day we thought we might experience one of the local beach clubs here called Ocean club. We headed to Puerto Banus, south west of Marbella, a popular luxury boat marina and where the Beach Club was situated.  It was about a 15 minute cab ride. The weather was 30 degrees and it was like a big pool party. We shared a big oval poolside beach lounge. The atmosphere started out quiet but then the party kicked in and it was very much a people watching event. Sangria, beer, Veuve, soda, dancing girls and cocktails. It was very overpriced but a great day out.  It was our last evening with Bec and Tim and even though we were a bit worn out, we had a farewell tapas dinner close to our accommodation, ending in an early night after a big day out. Before meeting our 9am transfer we said a sad farewell to Bec and Tim. We had a lovely time with them in Ireland  really enjoyed  our visit here together on the Costa de Sol. They are heading to Malta and we continue our road trip in Spain. 

Comments

Michelle
2022-06-14

What a fabulous holiday you are having! Really enjoying reading your blog

Suey
2022-06-16

Thanks for your blog. I found it really interesting. I haven’t been to the Costa Del Sol, but have passed it and thought that it looked different snd beachy. I also appreciated the description on how the price for your tapas meal was calculated. That was also interesting. Keep enjoying and seeing lots!!

2025-02-09

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