Old Marbella

Well, we didn't make it to Mijas on Tuesday. We found out that Charlene's group had left at 10am. We were going to head out a little later, but ended up postponing it until Wednesday. 

Should we go to the pool or back to the Mediterranean or to the gym or just chill on the balcony? I decided I wanted to see the old city of Marbella. Everyone vacations differently. And one thing I have learned about traveling is to roll with the punches. Another thing I learned is that everyone doesn't have to do the same thing. Grab any opportunity that comes along. And I could hear Marbella calling my name. Beth decided to come along. I had seen a poster in the lobby about a shuttle to the old city. So we walked over to check it out.

There were vendor stalls outside between the buildings. We poked through the displays. There were several British women selling jewelry, clothing, etc. I talked to a couple of them - they all love living in this area - they love the weather. Beth bought several things - I bought a couple of scarves.

When we got to the lobby, we found out the shuttle is only on Wednesday. A taxi to the old city is 20 euro. So we dropped our purchases at the apartment, and ordered a cab. The clerk told us that some of the shops might be closed for siesta at 2pm. It was about 1:30pm.

The taxi driver dropped us off near a park and pointed down a street on the right. We guessed that he was showing us where the old city was. 

We strategized - it was almost 2 pm so stores might be closing. But there were horse and carriage tours across the street at the end of the park. We decided to do that. The snag was that I had very little cash. We went to Santander - the Spanish bank that owns Sovereign Bank here in Massachusetts. The ATM would not take my debit card. Beth had cash so she paid for the horse and carriage tour. 

And what a lovely idea that was. It was sunny and quite warm - there are a lot of hills in Marbella. I probably would have had sunstroke trying to walk around the old part of the city. But it was cool and relaxing sitting back in the carriage just taking in the sites.

Many homes and business had metal grates in front of their doors and tiles around the entrances like the picture above. I loved both. It was similar to what we had seen in Morocco.

I couldn't take pictures because we were bouncing along in the carriage, but I became fascinated with laundry hanging on the balconies along with the metal work and tiles. If I haven't said this before, I drove everyone crazy with this thing about the laundry! And don't worry, I will have pictures.

When we finished the carriage tour, I had to have ice cream so we relaxed in the park as we ate an ice cream bar from a street vendor.

Notice that the ground is tiled in this park. And what about that colorful bench! We sat on a bench like this and licked our dripping ice cream bars. Beth dripped some on her white sweater. In the confusion of cleaning her sweater, I forgot my camera on the bench when we headed off across the street to the old city. 

We were strolling along looking in store windows when I saw a picture of Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Marilyn Monroe in one of the windows. I reached in my pocket to try to take a photo of it and realized I had left my camera on the bench.

We headed back and met a woman hurrying to catch us to give us the camera. Humphrey, you were with me! Thank you for helping me get my camera back!

In the next window was another favorite - Jeremy Irons! A new series on several Shakespeare plays had started the Friday before we left for London. I saw the first episode but missed the episodes about Henry IV which starred Jeremy Irons. The picture isn't very clear but look at what the store is selling in the two pictures.

We stopped at the little souvenir shop below - I bought some shot glasses, some magnets, and some postcards - small souvenirs that don't take up much room in a suitcase.

We continued walking to the right of this shop and decided to get something to eat since we hadn't had lunch.

Don't you love the colorful shawls, fans, and skirts decorating the building above? This was lovely Plaza de los Naranjos - full of little shops and restaurants with outdoor seating.

We looked at a couple of menus and picked a place to eat. The pictures above and below are the restaurant where we ate, but we sat at a table across the street. 

This is where we sat. We decided to get something light in case we  would all be be getting together for supper. I had a delicious salad and more Sangria I believe.

I had one of Julie's cell phones with me. She called to see what we were up to. She and Joan were going to head to the "super" supermarket which was here in Marbella. They would pick us up - we arranged to meet them at the park on the main drag.

So we finished up, paid the bill, and headed back to the park. We were sad to leave the Old City.

The picture below has a pump in the center. While we were waiting here for Julie and Joan, a fellow came along and took a drink from it. You can just barely see a horse in the picture - above the pump - that is where we got on the horse and carriage tour.

I texted Julie where we were waiting. Really, what did we do before cell phones?!!

Beth spotted the car which pulled over just above and across the street from the picture above.

Julie and Joan gave us a tour of some exclusive areas of Marbella. Then we headed for the super store. This place had everything! Groceries, clothes, furniture, everything. I was again fascinated by the prices - especially the cost of the food - it seemed so expensive! How can families feed themselves with those prices? Later I learned that many of the workers live outside of Marbella in the smaller villages. Maybe things are less expensive there. Maybe they have their own gardens.

We headed back to the Marriott with the groceries. I have to give Julie credit for parking that car in the garage. The spaces are so narrow that sometimes Beth and I jumped out before Julie backed in!

Joan whipped together a delicious supper with pasta and shrimp. And of course we had Spanish wine. We had good food, good wine, good company. What more could we ask for?