October 2012

Day 1

Delayed!

What you don't want to hear at an airport. Even worse when the Monarch airlines automated message arrives with the loud ringing of the phone before 0800.

Checking the app for Gatwick Airport shows the flight delayed from 1625 to 1840! At least.

I called Monarch and was rewarded for my 10p a minute 0871 number with information to arrive as ticketed.

So we arrived at 1408!!! The security checks are still in place. Laptops out of their cases, shoes and belts off... Beep! Claire's hip sets off the alarms.

Beep! Something on me sets off the alarm. Maybe the rivets on my jeans? The waist button? Can't be my money or phone or watch as they are in the tray along with everything else?

We both endure the frisking. They even dig out a magic wand for Claire.

Then we are let loose into the shopping mall that Gatwick South. Like IKEA you follow the road through all the shops before being vomited (you want to after 60 different perfume counters) into the normal part of the terminal where you can sit and look miserable when it all goes tits up.

So lunch was in Costa Coffee, and then a walk around the shops. Good offers in JD Sports on Team GB gear... It's London Olympic year after all.

And now to find a seat to while away the next 3 hours.

Arrived!

In the end arrived on the dock at Malaga at 2220 instead of 2020. By the time we recovered the case we found out that we had missed the last Renfe C1 train to Torremolinos.

Apparently a plane in the morning was taken out of service so our plane had to go to Dalaman in Turkey first. I hope they all got on their holiday on time. As it was, the Airbus 300 to Malaga was full. All of us inconvenienced and out of pocket. Not even a free drink!!

The apartment complex is only about ten minutes from the airport. In the end we had to get a taxi. We asked the price up front and the driver quoted €20. A bit of a markup instead of the €3.70 on the train! Thanks Monarch.

In fact over the last 25 years or so I have driven past La Colina many times without even noticing it.

Manuel the night man showed us to the apartment on the top floor. Too late to see the sea view! Two bedroom apartment, two large balconies and plenty of room. The partial kitchen shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Club Playa Flores, La Colina

Club Playa Flores, La Colina

View from balcony

Club Playa Flores, La Colina

We were sitting on the balcony off the lounge drinking coffee and eating toast from the welcome pack. It's midnight and still over 20C.

And on top of that the TV has BBC1 and I got to see Arsenal win at West Ham.

Day 2

After breakfast we had a long walk down to the sea front and round and about looking for a supermarket open on a Sunday. Had a coffee and then lunch before we found a supermarket for essentials and for dinners in the apartment. It was actually close by and the opposite direction to the one we had walked initially. Not that far to walk down up La Colina slope!

Sadly the Sony compact decided it had a problem with the memory stick and so all the photos seem to have been lost. Using a genuine Sony card in a genuine Sony adapter in a genuine Sony camera is not working? Thanks. Glad it was day one! Will revert to the 512mb stick again.

Nice and hot and so after siesta time it was a beer and snacks Kindle reading session.

The sun began to go down. Time to get ready and stroll down to the city centre and find a restaurant for our anniversary dinner.

We've eaten quite a lot more than we usually do on a Sunday so maybe some tapa and a beer?

The complex has wifi that only works in reception and a shaded area outside, although if the notebook was setup in the hall near the front door it could pick up a signal.

Anniversary Evening

Walk down to the beach again. Ended up in an heladeria and pizzeria.

The "El Classico" game was on tv and it wouldn't be right to watch, would it? In the end the the decision was taken for us as every bar with the game on the screens was packed and seats out of view were plentiful.

In the end pasta and a pizza with a beer was our 12th anniversary dinner.

Monday

Monday. Yep. Usually the worst day of the week. Not this week.

Bit of lie in and then late breakfast in the scorching sun on the balcony. Big news is that the resort wifi now works in the loo and hallway. Yeehah.

Out for lunch and another fish place on the beach front at Casa Paco.

No chips!! Nice salad and boquerones. Claire opting for Mar y Tierra.... In typical Paul style I managed to get a sharp bread crust to slice my inner lip and it bled for half an hour. Even an helado didn't have any effect.

After that another walk to find the Super Sol supermarket open. We have dinner in tonight and a beer or two ..

Tuesday

Another late get up. Relaxation. We're here on holiday to get off the treadmill for a week. It will pass all too quickly and before we know it we'll be back at work. Shit how I will have the Monday morning blues!

We read for a while. The Kindles getting a fair old bashing.

Our trip today was to Torremolinos. Okay, La Colina is part of Torremolinos but up in the north east corner.

It was only one stop on the train but saved Claire's hip and foot a lot of pain. Maybe the choice of an apartment with public transport and no car was a little misguided.

In the end we had a walk round, lunch consisted of a Serrano ham bocadillo then some more walking looking in food shops for stuff to make a tuna salad. It took three shops to get what we needed for a few "at home" dinners. I much prefer eating lunch out to dinner!

Tomorrow it's back to the train for a day in Malaga.

Fog or mist?

We woke up and the sea mist was back. The view from the apartment balcony is a bit of a stretch to the sea but everything is hidden by the blanket of cold looking mist.

The plan today is to go into Malaga for a wander. It's not far on the train, maybe five stops, plus gives us an idea on the trip to the airport on Saturday.

The cooler weather seems to have calmed down the parakeets. They have taken to the area very well and fly about in often large groups. The squawk they make does sound pretty horrible. Even rooks and crows make a more pleasant sound.

Hopefully it will warm up and the sun will burn through.

The train ride into Màlaga was pretty painless. The train was full until the airport stop. A mere ten minutes from La Colina.

We had a walk into the old market to look at the different produce; fish, meat and vegetables. Most recognisable but not in the small sizes that UK supermarkets seem to be making us believe we want. Uniform and unblemished? Not here. Natural and all shapes and sizes.

Then round to a cafe we have visited before, Casa Aranda, for churros and chocolate. Superb.

Then it was a long walk around the old part of the city and along the Alameda gardens, sitting to take some shade. No sign of the early morning mist here.

Once again, the parakeets kept up their constant squabbling. The seem very social birds. One will arrive and the squabbling starts.

Lunch at Taperia Anate near the port was pretty good. Calamares Combinado; squid rings with fries and salad.

The train back is quite simple. At least the train only goes one way!

Thursday? It must be Fuengirola!

Another late morning. Hey! We are on holiday!!!

The reason was the mozzie hunt that we were both on about 3am. I awoke with a pain in my foot that felt like I had been scalded with hot water. The pain climbed up my legs almost to my knees. On inspection we could see the red bite marks. Witch hazel to the wounds and it got better.

Then we went on the hunt and located the bastard. Missed it the first time but then it was caught. Whop! It's amazing how much blood they can hold. Down the bog now.

So after breakfast we had another Kindle session and then went to the station and today we went to Fuengirola.

We know the town quite well as we have been many times but even so we found a fountain we had never seen before.

The station at Fuengirola is more to the western end of the town. Easy to find and not far from the beach.

We had lunch, calamares for Claire and calamaritos for me.

A walk along the seafront where we saw the statue of the topless girl. Have no idea why she is there as I couldn't find the plate to tell me!

Another shopping spree followed, food not luxury! Then back to the station for the train home.

After dinner it's TV. The one night I didn't apply copious amounts of this stuff and I was rewarded with a 3am mosquito hunt.

It seems to work but I got complacent and paid the price. The little bastard that bit my foot and both ankles left me feeling I had stepped in boiling water.

It's been dead and flushed for 20 hours. Time to roll-on. If anyone out there that reads this post knows anything about Johnson's "Off!" please let me know. This stuff is good, but "Off!" is simply the king of the jungle.

Friday

Got the train to Fuengirola again. Very hot. Had a walk about half of the 7kms seafront and opted for the shade of Jabega for lunch. Sausage egg and chips!

Next stop? Shade for a kindle session.

Jabega was so good we stayed a whole two hours sitting in the sun. A cortado and a discussion about how we order coffee in England later and we were off back to the station.

Another kindle session followed! It's nice to be able to sit and read. In normal life there are many other things to do.

Dinner was in the restaurant under the apartment by the pool. A bit slow but the food was good. The sangria even better. Should sleep well tonight.

What better way to end the night than England thrashing San Marino in the football?

Saturday - Last view of La Colina

The last view as we sat waiting for the train to the airport.

La Colina Station

Last view of La Colina

Although the ticket said T2 it was actually T3.

Queues long as expected as it seems Monarch have one set of check in desks that take all flights....

Turned out okay in the end, although it was very cramped on the plane. Monarch cram nine seats across the body of the plane making for narrow aisles and even narrower seats with little or no leg room.