The flight to Malaga from Gatwick was uneventful - only a couple of hours - we landed about 1:30 pm. We managed to get through immigration or whatever with hardly a glance at us. No body scanning, no pat downs. No language problem at all. We got carts at the baggage carousel and collected our luggage without a hitch.
Julie had said that she would meet us at baggage claims - but now I was wondering whether that would be inside or outside. I couldn't remember whether she was collecting us or the car first. As we were looking around, I remembered that she had given me her "Russian" cell phone. I pulled that out and saw a text that she was there. We figured perhaps she had the car and was outside so we started for the door. I heard my name called as I was texting Julie that we would go outside the door to look for her. Beth spotted Joan and Charlene calling us - they are Julie's friends who were on lookout for us while Julie skirted the perimeter.
I think I have said that Spain was never high on my destination list - I'm not sure why - certainly not because of the language barrier - I have been to Italy a couple of times and survived. Irish and British accents can sometimes be very difficult to understand. Spanish is one of the romance languages based on Latin - I loved Latin when I was in high school - I think I got my highest mark on the college boards in Latin - so I can figure out the meaning of a Spanish word here and there. Maybe it is because when Julie, GeeGee, and I did that tour of central Europe "back in the day" as my kids say, there were countries that I had seen then that I wanted to return to see in more depth. Whatever, once I knew I was coming here, I started researching Spanish history - I had forgotten that it was more than just Ferdinand and Isabella sending Columbus on his way - and more than just a foray by the Moors into the country. Like anywhere else, Spain has a distinct culture and history, but also shares international problems and concerns. I am particularly interested in the current situation since Spain belongs to the European Union like Ireland where we have a house and some property. As we stepped outside the airport, I was feeling really excited!
After a detour to pick up the rental car, Julie and Joan collected me, Beth, and all our bags. We were on our way! As we drove from Malaga to Marbella, I couldn't help but be struck by the colorful buildings - everything is so vibrant and looks so clean. Buildings are white, light beige, cream colored, pinkish, mustard - an occasional blue. There are buildings up the sides of the mountains - all the way up! There are tall palm trees everywhere. And the foliage and flowers are magnificient! There were many signs in English - Julie had said that the Costa del Sol was a British "colony" - there are many British living here and many others have holiday homes. The major industry seems to be tourism which reminds me of Sneem but on a much grander scale.
I love these flowers!
One of the buildings in the Marriott resort.
This is the view from our balcony. We could look out at this fountain and watch people having their pictures taken by it.
Ahh, here is someone taking Beth's picture.
We were room 2115 in this building.
This is at our doorway.
I have never been to a resort before - I'm not a sun and surf kind of gal - except for Cape Cod - and here I either go to the beach very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon. I have had too many bad sunburns in my life. So I prefer cool temps and occasional rain on my vacations! This place is gorgeous! It is self-contained - there is a market for groceries and other necessities, a gym, two outdoor pools, one indoor pool, sauna, restaurants, AND the Mediterranean!! The resort is right on the Mediterranean Sea. With Africa in the distance. You never have to leave the place! And the apartment was gorgeous!
Julie and Joan were in charge of the laundry. I had forgotten about doing laundry in Europe - it takes hours!!! When I lived in Sneem, I used a quick cycle that took 30-45 minutes. Any other wash cycle could take 2-3 hours!! So when J & J called for laundry, I was more than happy to oblige with the clothes I had worn in London. Beth and I had expected cooler temps in London but ended up wearing our lighter clothes because of the unusual Indian summer that England was experiencing. So I was running out of light clothes. There was also someone here to clean the bathroom every day. I was in heaven! How could I ever go home!
Beth and I shared a twin bed room. Julie had the master bedroom - after all, it was her time-share. And Joan had the other twin room.
So we settled into our room and then headed out to the outside bar for a drink before dinner and to meet up with Charlene and her four friends from West Virginia. It was warm and sunny.
We had a nice dinner - bottles of wine were flowing. Julie - who has quite a bit of Spanish - ordered the house wine. She explained the one plate, two plate menu - similar to Irish and English "starters" and entree - or our appetizers and entree. I had a scallop starter and then seafood. The food was fresh and delicious.
The folks from West Virginia had flown to Madrid and taken the train to Malaga where Charlene picked them up. They were a very friendly group - football fanatics. We were all heading to Tangiers in Morocco in the morning. We were all looking forward to it.
After dinner Julie, Charlene, Beth and I were going to head to a local convenience store for enough groceries to get through breakfast. Joan and Julie were not going to Tangiers so planned to do laundry and go to a large grocery store while we were gone. Beth realized that she had lost her prescription eye glasses - during dinner she thought. Not the best way to start the stay in Spain. She looked for them but could not find them. We started prayers to St. Anthony. She was worried about returning to work if she did not find them. I gave her a pair of Christmas Tree Store glasses that I had brought - that helped somewhat. But she never did get them back.
We picked up some scones, jam, and yogurt for breakfast, bottles of water - bottles of wine for tonight. Julie told us that this part of Spain was a desert, and we could become dehydrated quickly so we needed to drink plenty of water. I had not brought any suntan lotion so wanted to get some before heading to Tangiers. I almost dropped dead when a bottle cost 18 euro!! about $25!!! SPF 50!! I thought $10 a bottle over here was bad! Wow! I wondered how people could pay the prices of food in this shop! I love ice cream when I am in Ireland and England - ice cream cones, Feast Bars, Choc Ice, ice cream sandwiches. Magnum bars were almost 4 euros!! I bought an ice cream bar that had vanilla ice cream, caramel, almonds, and milk chocolate - all my favorites - and it was 1.90 euros - almost $3. What a bargain!!
We went back to the Marriott. The parking garage was horrifying! Small, narrow parking spaces between big pillars. I would never be able to pull into one of them in my best days!! Never mind back in like Julie and Charlene did!! And it was so clean that the tires squeaked when they turned on the cement!!
We went upstairs and had a glass or two of wine. Yakked for a while. We had to be ready by 9:30 am when the private tour guide would pick us all up. I set the alarm for 7 am. I can't remember if I took a shower that night - I would take a shower at night, and then Beth would have the bathroom in the morning. I would run in before her for a couple of minutes - especially to slick down my hair which would stick up all over my head after sleeping on it when it was wet. I now know how I would look in a Mohawk!
I got things ready for the morning and jumped into bed. I could hardly sleep thinking of going to Morocco!
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