The first time we were here, the resort was very new and we got quite a surprise a few years ago when we saw how well it had matured. This time, it felt homely and our apartment is in the main building, above reception and next to the indoor pool and market place - very handy. We have a south facing unit so we pretty much get sun on the terrace all day.
The days here are getting shorter but not as noticeably as at home - we're still getting almost 12 hours of daylight. We're sleeping longer - over 10 hours yesterday (Thursday). Some of that is down to being on holiday but much of it is down to the Marriott beds - we always seem to sleep longer on them, although Jo thinks the ones we have this year are a little "seated" and will be due for renewal/replacement shortly. Can't say I really noticed.
Weather's been great this week - mid 20's. A little fluffy cloud and windy the first couple of days but not a cloud to be seen since then. So here's what we've been up to since arrival:
Monday 14th October
Our first full day at the resort after travelling Sunday and we decided it would be good to have a quiet one with no travel and to orientate and settle in. We'd done some shopping for essentials for our apartment on Sunday and there's a handy wee market place on site so we didn't need to do any big shop.
Luca seemed immediately enamoured with the resort and was very happy to go exploring by himself. He loved the small enclosed football pitch and the table tennis tables and has been constantly hassling his Dad to go and play with him there.
Luca also enjoyed the indoor pool and spent a good hour swimming around - something he's not done for some time now. He challenged his Grannie to go in the sea - and Jo accepted:
Tuesday 15th October
We had planned to drive east to Benalmadena to go on the cable car there, but it was apparently too windy at the top and the cable car was closed in the morning, so we decided to make a quick trip west to nearby Marbella instead to check out the possibility of hiring bikes one day. We stayed there for lunch and then drove to Benalmadena to see if the cable car was now open - and it was.
Jo had been on cable cars in Cape Town and Palm Springs already this year so she was an old hand, but that doesn't stop her feeling "feart". The journey up the mountain was the worst for her - and Ross wasn't much better. I was in one cable car with them and Gary and Luca were in the car behind - I can only imagine what it was like there.
When we did get to the top of the ride, after coffees, there was a bit more walking - and climbing - to be done. Luca bounded up the trails but his Dad didn't fancy it and stayed behind. We found a nice sheltered spot at the top for a rest:
Included in our ticket was a falconry display at the top of the mountain, but it was still pretty windy and the falconer told us he would have to restrict the birds flying as they would get blown off course and possibly lost. We did, however, get to see a few eagles and owls:
On the way back we stopped off at El Corte Ingles' huge Hipercor in Fuengirola to do some food shopping. We could have spent all day wandering round this monster of a place, but we did what we had to do and headed back to the Marriott for dinner on our balcony:
Wednesday 16th October
Ross was ill today and stayed at home to sweat off the bug. The rest of us made the short trip to Marbella and Luca, Gary and I hired bikes for an hour while Jo went for a walk along the prom. We met up again and took a team photo - note the bike that Jo knocked over before rushing to sit down before the camera timed out:
Lunch in Puerto Banus sounded appealing so we jumped on the catamaran ferry which had nets that sat between the twin hulls, above the ocean:
Puerto Banus was as up-market as ever - always worth a visit:
Lunch at an Italian restaurant on the quayside was excellent and we went for a long walk round the harbour perimiter afterwards - so far out that we virtually had to sprint back to make the 4 pm ferry back to Marbella.
Thursday 17th October
Down day - time to relax and enjoy the resort. Ross was on the mend now - especially after we popped over to the local Farmacia and got some medicine to aid his recovery. Nothing much else to report, but, as usual, we had a lovely meal on our balcony as the sun went down and Africa came in to full view across the water.
Friday 18th October
A trip to Malaga was organised - Ross had a couple of coffee shops he wanted to try out and the big city was bound to have a brewpub or two wasn't it? Gary thought this maybe didn't hold much appeal for Luca so we dropped them off in Fuengirola at the Bioparc (https://www.bioparcfuengirola.es/) - basically a zoo sporting modern environmental credentials. At the last minute, Luca persuaded Grannie Jo to join them so it was just Ross and I that travelled on to Malaga. I have to confess I didn't notice Jo's absence - she hadn't said anything - until halfway along the motorway!
The traffic in the city was pretty busy but we got parked eventually and found Ross' second target pretty quickly. After sampling their wares we strolled round the magnificent old market and then headed for target no. 1 for Ross - good coffee but nothing there for him to take back to Scotland.
We lunched at a nice brewpub then headed back through the heavy mid-afternoon traffic to pick up Gary, Luca and Jo in Fuengirola. We made it back to our apartment in good time for an earlier than usual dinner - frittata cooked by Ross - after which Jo and Luca went for a swim and I sat here and finished off this blog posting.
