That is the name of the Volcano that is causing so much havoc in our travels home. But I need to document from the beginning. We started the week after Easter nicely - we left for Malaga, Spain on April 11 for a much needed vacation to sunny weather. We had this trip planned for a long time and we heard such great things about Malaga/Marbella and the Marriott Resort here.
Funny how best laid plans can go awry...
Our place was terrific - 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, washer dryer, beach, pools, kids club, fitness room - we forgot to ask for some sun! We just assumed being in the South of Spain it would be nice - granted it might be cool since it isn't quite summer but we didn't expect Thunder and Lightening Storms!
Warning - this is more for me to remember and document so sorry if it is really boring! Oh and I forgot my camera cord on vacation so I have to wait until I get back for some photos!!
The first day we just tried to get our barrings and enjoy the resort - we sent the boys into the kids club for some fun and games (I'm sure Chandler was so excited) but hey, they had Playstation, Wii - what else could boys want!
We found the market - found the giant sized chess set can you say lifesaver? - , both indoor pools (one for adults only - funny Mike & I never found time to enjoy it!) outdoor pools, playground, ping pong tables. We had a great time after dinner playing chess on the giant board as a family - it started with Ian & Chandler playing each other, but then Mike tried to help Ian - so of course I couldn't let Chandler not have any help! We won in the end - but I'm sure the game lasted an extra half hour because we were really working on our strategy!
The second day we decided to try to figure out how to get to Selwo Aventura Estepona - it was an animal adventure park. Actually before we left there was an Artesian Fair at the Marriott - we were lucky we didn't have to go off-site for our art market! We got a couple skirts for the girls and a cloth purse for mom, bargain only €5.
The adventure park was really fun you had to ride all of these giant jeeps to get around the park. One of the highlights was the Inidana Jones Bridge - it was just as wobbly! They had all kinds of animals and it wasn't all that crowded as the kids in Spain were back to school.
Wednesday we took a couple taxis and went into Old Town Marbella - sometimes on vacation it is hard for the Cranes to get going before 11 - so here we have to hurry to see anything because of Siesta Time which is about 2-5 so everything closes. We went to the Plaza de los Naranjos - Orange Tree Square - lots of shops, lots of churches and lots of restaurants. Pretty pricey but worth going to see. We had a nice lunch there - yummy seafood but the kids got Spaghetti - didn't seem very Spanish to me! When we came home Tyler and I went to a Paella cooking demonstration back here at the hotel. Yummmy!
Thursday we arranged for a private tourguide to drive us to Ronda - if you ever come here and stay at the Marriott - Francisco is your man! Of course when we started that was the day it started to rain pretty hard - the other days so far had just been overcast and not that warm. We had to go through the mountains and the rain and fog were so thick! Normally you could see into Africa from up there but we weren't that lucky. At least for that portion of the trip - once we got to the other side - blue skies!! It was beautiful in the valley.
Ronda is a little town of about 10K I think Francisco said - it really is only open during the day for the few hours the tourists come in by the bus loads - it is because it has the oldest bull ring in Spain. This town is built on a rock basically that was split by water hundreds if not thousands of years ago - the 2 bridges in the town are unbelievable. We were lucky because the weather held for us while we were there - it was so pretty and really what you think of when you think of a Spanish town.
For lunch Francisco took us to one of the 'White Villages' on the hill - it reminded me of The Magnificent Seven (except in Spain) where the whole town is painted white and only about 200 people live in each town. Lunch was great and what you would expect in a little spanish town - choices were 1st - salad with tuna, seafood soup, chicken bouillon, 2nd - beef in sauce, pork, swordfish - dessert - flan or a big juicy orange. I was impressed - my boys picked the seafood soup or swordfish! And they loved it....
More tomorrow.....
This peacock was following the photographers around - it was so funny it was in true peacock fashion - hey look at me!
Chandler's new girlfriend
A real Roadrunner!
Ronda is the place with the oldest Bull Ring in Spain - there are 2 bridges that bring people in & out of town as the town is basically build on a gorge... it was beautiful.... what I thought was really funny were all of the French Tourists.. every time I turned around there was a guide describing things in French
Down below the old bridge
