Day 24 - Tuesday 4 October Benalmadena – Malaga – Zurich - Amsterdam 25 degrees

We sleep in late and don’t head off to breakfast until 9.30, the temperature is 25 degrees. It is very quiet and most of the restaurants are closed. We find one that is open and have a lovely breakfast and coffees. One last round of shopping and then we pack and are ready to go by 11.30. First step is our pick up at 12.30, we take the bags down by 12.15 and settle in to wait with fingers crossed. Our shuttle arrives and we all breathe a sigh of relief. Step one accomplished.  Smooth ride to the airport and we have a 30 minute wait for check in to open. Check in smoothly and no overweight luggage – Karen is sooo relieved. Step 2 accomplished. We have a 90 minute wait until boarding so we grab a bite to eat and relax.

So far so good. Flight from Malaga to Zurich left on time and arrived early and we are at the terminal by 6 pm. Our next flight to Amsterdam has a 8.35 pm departure – plenty of time. Step 3 accomplished. Flight to Amsterdam leaves on time and we land at 9.45 pm and have a 10 minute wait until we get to the gate. Another 10 minute walk to get to the luggage carousel. All our luggage arrives at the same time. Can’t believe it!! We head outside to find the bus to the Novotel. Have no idea where it might be. We continue walking past the cab rank and see a van with Novotel Hotel on it, check with the driver and he shows us where the bus is. Walk across the road and board the bus.  We are the third drop off, check in to the hotel, pick up a few heinekens and were done. Step 4 accomplished. After the difficulties of our last flights, this has gone very smoothly.  Rooms at the Novotel are old, but spacious and comfortable and everyone is happy.

Day 23 Monday 3 October Benalmadena 31 degrees

Again we get up just before 8 am and head off for a walk. It is 19 degrees and surprisingly dark. The sun does not rise until 8.30, not something we are used to, but it is a beautiful sunrise.  After breakfast we all head out on the hop on hop off bus and get off at the park. It is a very nice park with lots of animals including, ducks, hens, roosters, geese, swans, rabbits, cats and tortoises.  Not really exotic but pleasant enough. We have a relaxing walk around the park and then get back on the bus. Our next stop is at the base of the mountain for a cable ride to the top of Calamorro Mountain. The cable car ride is fantastic, spectacular views on the way up and down. You can see right around both coastlines and they have all high rise holiday apartments as far as you can see.  There is a haze which reduces visibility but it is still spectacular. At the top there is a bird show which includes a vulture, eagle, falcon, hawk and condor.

It is a great show particularly when the eagle dives at the “fox”. We then head back down to catch the bus  and head back to our apartment for a late lunch and a couple of beers before we start to pack. I contact our pick up service and confirm where we will be waiting.

We head off for our final dinner around 7.45 pm. Only a few people out, but there seems to be a lot of staff. Place our orders and the girls have sangria again, which is even better than the last time!!  As we get to our main meal, the restaurant is filling up. It appears people don’t eat before 9 pm, too late for us. We have a coffee back at the apartment and hit the sack around 10.45. Tomorrow we head home.

Day 22 - Sunday 2 October Benalmadena 30 degrees

We all have a good night’s sleep despite its being quite warm. We wake up around 8 am and Ann and I go for a walk and get back after 9 am.  It was a lovely walk along the beach promenade and we both feel better for it even though it was 26 degrees.

We spend a very relaxing morning and Ross finds his pin number and gets his Vodafone sim card working, so we are back on the internet! We have lunch at Burger King on the beach. We then decide to take the hop on hop off bus. The ticket is for 48 hours so we can use it tomorrow as well. The ride is very informative and we find some good spots to visit tomorrow. After our bus ride  we decide it is happy hour! After 4 bottles (not stubbies), a large packet of chips, 5 bottles of red wine, 6 pizzas (never send Ross and Luggy for take away again), and ½ an ice cream cake we hit the sack about 10 pm. There were lots of incriminating photos taken, but it was a great night!!!!

Day 20 - Saturday 1 October Benalmadena  30 degrees

We get up around 8.30 and Ross is already up getting live updates from the AFL website. It is ¾ time and Geelong have a 3 point lead. Ross is nervous, but it soon becomes clear Geelong is going to run away with it.  After breakfast Ann and I go off to find an internet café and email home as we can’t get it to work from Ross’s Ipad. We then all meet up and go off to book our Gibraltar trip. The first couple of agencies are either closed or can’t help. We eventually find one and there are only three places left for Monday – no real surprise considering our start here. We’ll just have to spend the rest of our holiday relaxing around the marina with beautiful sunny skies and nice warm days!

We have dinner at a Spanish restaurant not far from our apartment. We try the Paella – very tasty and filling. Once again are food babies continue to feast. The girls again try the sangria and like this better and knock off two jugs. We then relax back at the apartment and find some CDs – sounds of the 60’s, A lovely warm night sitting outside on our balcony. Not many photos today, must have done a lot of relaxing!!

Day 19 Friday 30 September Zurich to Malaga to Benalmadena  31 degrees

After a great nights sleep everyone is feeling a little better.  It looks like another beautiful sunny day. We take bets on when the luggage will arrive. The range is from 10.30 to 2.30. We can’t really go anywhere as we have to be here when the luggage arrives. The luggage eventually arrives at 1.40 and Karen is the winner with 1.45.. It must be Karen’s birthday – oh wait – it is!!!  A big celebration is planned. Everyone is feeling a lot more relaxed now.

After unpacking and a bite of lunch Ann and I go for a walk along the breakwater and have a paddle in the Mediterranean. The harbour looks very busy but scenic with the mountains as a backdrop.  We have a couple of drinks - happy hour - and head off to dinner. There are plenty of choices along the marina and we settle on a Mexican restaurant called Amigos which seems fitting. The girls have sangria which they liked very much. The meal was very good and after dinner we head back for Ice Cream Cake to celebrate Karen’s birthday. We all feel very full.

Day 18 - Thursday 29 September Zurich to Malaga to Benalmadena  31 degrees

Wake up early at 5 am and get on the first shuttle to the airport. We are sitting at the gate waiting to board at 6.30 am. We take off a few minutes late, but we have beautiful views of the Swiss Alps as we fly to Madrid. As we near Madrid the captain announces we are in a holding pattern.  Start to stress a bit as we have a tight time in which to transfer to our Malaga flight. After 10 to 15 minutes we are cleared to land. We land about 9.30 am but then have a 10 minute taxi to the gate. Our flight to Malaga is at 10.39. We have a brisk walk to our departure gate  and arrive well in time. Have a snooze on the flight and we arrive on time at 11.45.  As we wait for our bags we are approached by staff and informed our luggage missed the flight and wont be arriving until tomorrow. What else can go wrong!!! We suck it up complete the relevant forms and make sure our driver is waiting to take us to Benalmadena.  I contact  the apartment agent  to let him know we are on our way. As we arrive at the Marina our driver cannot find the address, It is very confusing and I ring the agent again and are told it is opposite the cab rank. We find it and everything is OK.

The apartment while old is still a good size and has great views over the marina. We now have to venture out to buy clothes and toiletries as we only have what we are wearing.  Hopefully the luggage will arrive tomorrow! We settle in and have a few well deserved beers in the 30 degree heat. The beers went down so well we had to restock! We send Ross and Luggy out for pizzas  and have an early night.

Day 17 - Wednesday 28 Sept Depart Amsterdam      

Today we leave the Pearl and head off for the second leg of travels to Spain. Scenic has been fantastic, the cruise exceptional, the food and wine, the guides cannot be faulted. While not cheap you really do get what you paid for. Scenic has organised a bus for us and others to go to the airport. It is an early start with a 7 am departure. We arrive at the airport at 7.45 am and it is extremely busy. All are carry on baggage are thoroughly checked.

We are due to board  at 9.45 am and we have a tight 55 min break to change at Zurich for our flight to Malaga. Shit starts to happen. We don’t board until 10 am and we are seated in the second last row. The plane heads out from the gate at 10.35 and we are 12^th in the line up for take off! We then get held up before landing, no chance of picking up our connecting flight. All due to early fog at Amsterdam affecting incoming flights.  We are told we have been rebooked and to go to the transfer desk. No more flights to Malaga today! We have been rebooked on a 7.15 am flight tomorrow to Madrid and then 10.15 to Malaga. We have been booked into accommodation at the Hilton and 2 meal vouchers per person for 20 swiss franc each – about $18 per meal. Boarding time is 6.30 am which means we have to get up at 5.00 am to get  a shuttle to the airport departing at 5.30 am. I ring Spain and advise them of the changes for our pick up and accommodation. After arrival at the Hilton we have lunch, a few beers and an afternoon nap.  We also take a walk into the village and it is quite pleasant with a lovely countryside. We have an early buffet dinner and an early night.