Marbella - Saturday travel

Friday night/Saturday morning was a little fraught for us all, but eventually all 3 of us - 4 including Gary, who was taking my car away - made it to the airport in good time. In fact we were a bit too early, particularly as the seats were all pre-assigned anyway.

There was a bit of panic on the drive between Gary's office and the airport - all of a sudden, my car lost its traction control and warning lights started flashing. We turned off the software and it seemed to be ok after that. Whether my car is going through its death throes or whether it's just a temporary blip, we don't know.

This - and the early morning start - had distracted me a little and I forgot to unhook my phone from its charging unit in my car before Gary drove off.

Check-in was easy but there was a bit of a temporary panic in security as my laptop seemed to have disappeared. I always get stopped and scanned and body searched since my metal knee was put in, and I try to keep an eye on my belongings as they go along the belt whilst I am searched, but it's not always easy to monitor them. I think it's too easy for thieves to make off with other peoples' belongings at airports and I wish there was a better way of doing this. My backpack was OK and so was my jacket, but one of the security guards insisted on putting my laptop in a tray of its own. It's a Sony Vaio and the outer cover is dark grey - the same as the trays used in security. Somebody in security had been tidying up whilst I was being searched and hadn't noticed the laptop in the bottom of the tray and had put a pile of other trays on top. What a relief when we eventually found it - I had assumed the worst.

Having recovered from this particular panic with my laptop, I sat down and went through my belongings, only to finally realise that my phone was missing. Too late. We contacted Gary to let him know and hopefully he'll get it over to Banchory this week and one of the golfing group will bring it out with them on Saturday.

Otherwise, the flight was fine and although there was a slight delay at the other end with the baggage, we were on our way with our rental car well before lunch. In fact, we were too early when we arrived at Marriott's Marbella Beach Club - our very first timeshare, where we'd only been once before in 1999. It's matured a huge amount since then - a really nice resort. We had lunch at the new (to us) restaurant down by the beach:

By the time we had finished, our apartment was ready. Second floor, west facing - ideal for the afternoon/evening sun - and we had a (slightly distant) sea view as well:

After unpacking, Jo and Ross had a nap, whilst I watch Scotand's rugby team's match against Samoa on the laptop. We then drove to Puerto Banus and did some grocery shopping at El Corte Ingles. Prawns and chorizos were the order of the day and Ross did an excellent job of cooking them for dinner back at our apartment - even though the chilli content was perhaps a fraction high!

G & T's and red wine ensured we were ready for bed after a long day.