Marbella etc (6)

MONDAY 6 Oct (cont'd.)

Despite Jo's lack of mobility she suggested we go out for a short walk in the afternoon so off we toddled, past the relatively new Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre:

and on to the humpy-back boardwalk:

then rewarded by a small bottle of Frappucino:

and later, dinner, beer, wine and bingo in Charlies bar.

TUESDAY 7th October

Yesterday was going to be a down day - books and pool - but today definitely was. Still, we had pre-dinner drinks back at Charlies:

WEDNESDAY 8th October

The day started, as usual, with a hot bath to ease Jo's back. Afterwards she felt able to suggest another walk - this time eastwards towards the boardwalk at Dunas de Artola where we'd been a few times before. We weren't sure we would make it all the way there but in the end we did. We hadn't previously noticed that the beach there is officially a naturist one but somebody with orange paint obviously didn't think it should be allowed:

Then it was boardwalk all the way, past the Monument and on to a beach cafe for lunch - yes, gambas pil-pil again:

We slightly lost our way on the return journey so, at the end of the day, I had clocked up almost 19,000 steps - all in flip-flops/thongs - the highest total yet.

We had booked dinner at El Med, the resort's upmarket restaurant down by the sea, but first we had to finish off the 2 remaining beers in the fridge plus what was left in the gin bottle. When we did finally get to El Med for our 7:30 pm booking we were surprised to see that the Spanish Night, which started at 6:00 pm, was still going strong - the flamenco section hadn't even started.

We setttled down for our meal anyway and took a few pictures as the sun was going down:

I chose my meal badly - whole sea bass but done in the Cadiz way where they slice up the meat and then deep fry it:

Liqueur coffees afterwards - mine was French (Cointreau) and Jo's was Calypso (Tia Maria):

Jo may have been straining to see a bit of the Flamenco dancing - but what a racket it was. Hardly a nice quiet dinner in lovely surroundings.

THURSDAY 9th October

Packed, checked out and Uber'd all the way to airport, where we now sit in the VIP lounge (as they call it). Ross is picking us up at ABZ.

Marbella etc (5)

SUNDAY 5th October

Jo's still struggling with her back and finds most movement painful. That said, once she's up and properly dosed, she can walk a bit. We discussed whether we might try another beach to boardwalk saunter but the uneven surface of the sand wouldn't be good, so I looked at where else we might go that didn't involve a beach and I noticed from Google Maps that one of the very first golf courses our group played on back in 1998 was less than half an hour away and the walk would take us through a bit of parkland on the other side of the main A-7 dual carriageway.

It was, however, our hottest day yet - 32 C (90 F) - and we would be walking in the heat of the day. Nonetheless, we set off and, once over the A-7, we came across some nice bike/walking trails in the woods that would lead us up to Santa Maria Golf Club, bringing back some very fond memories for me of the days when I used to be moderately capable and competitive at golf:

In the clubhouse for some lubrication, looking towards the 18th fairway, I took this photo of Jo and her new sunglasses, acquired at a little supermarket on the way here:

I wandered down to the first tee where I recalled there was a fairly big fear factor in our group back in 1998, but, seeing it now, I wondered why?:

That fairway looks plenty wide enough to me - just don't think about the water all the way up the left!

Heading back through the trails again we got a close-up of the adventure park (https://aventura-amazonia.com/parques-amazonia/marbella-eng) - a bit like Go Ape or Landmark - only a whole lot scarier:

Stopping at the small(ish) supermarket where Jo bought her sunglasses, we picked up a few groceries and headed back - but not before Jo insisted on stopping for her ice cream treat at Kalt Helados:

Another 12,000 steps day.

Dinner back at our apartment was bread and garlic prawns cooked in butter (we didn't have any oil).

MONDAY 6th October

I'm afraid no improvement in Jo's back but at least the pharmacia was open again, so off I trotted to acquire a huge tube of what the Spanish call Voltadol Forte and some extra strength paracetomol (650 mg).

We actually saw some clouds this morning but, although a bit cooler than yesterday, it's still plenty warm. Looks like a book day for us.