Lazying Around at the Beachfront Hotel

6:30am today. Yup. I simply cannot adopt this late lifestyle. The funny part is that our hotel is clearly for the English and British as we made our way to the hotel breakfast and found that there were already a dozen people there. We found our morning people!

The hotel breakfast was a plethora of stations with a French station with baguettes and croissants, then an English station with beans and mushrooms, then American cereal, yogurt, and granola. The omelette station was a breath of fresh air with the opportunity for fried eggs. And lastly, an Italian station of sliced meats and cheeses. The ever important espresso machine was fantastic and made perfectly brewed cafe con leche (and my added hot cocoa mix made it even better). Yes, I bring powdered cocoa mix to make my coffee a mocha. ❤️ 

Em had a migraine this morning and the poor girl was sick a few times before even wanting to look at food. Such is the curse of my side of the family. Headaches. Luckily, she was feeling better after some excedrin.

We’ve been wondering where the Mediterranean starts and ends so we found a map. There are a few Seas along the coast but it seems like it’s all the Med.

So a quick 55 minute south west took us to our next town of Benalmádena. Our first stop was a cool castle that isn’t really a castle. Castillo Monumento Colomares began in 1987 when a guy decided to make a tourist spot. We thought it was pretty cool and totally worth the 3 Euros to enter. It was designed with the intention of telling the story of America. It’s a tribute to Christopher Columbus and the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria. The boats in the castle were all named. Some parts you could climb up into, and other areas were gated off. It was a cool place to explore. 

It was certainly worth the 30 minute stop and the parking was easy and right outside. Benalmádena is another beach town and driving in it reminded us of San Diego or La Jolla. 

We checked into our two bedroom Sahara Resort and quickly grabbed a small lunch at a local eatery called the “Meeting Place.” The best thing we ate was the pizza and the fruit salad. Oh, and the cappuccino Todd said was delicious. When in Rome!

After the grub, we walked back and started some laundry, which is pretty good considering today is day…nine? Traveling in winter means you need layers because it’s 50 in the morning but 65 during the day. It’s warm in the sun but cools off quick if you’re walking in the shade. 

A few games of Yahtzee later, Em was the big winner and Jacob now knows a new game. We lazied around playing games and fiddling on our phones before our next night out. 

We checked out the Bil-Bil Castle which has “an Arab style construction, with red plaster on the outside and decorated with tiles and bas-reliefs that follow the exquisite Nasrid tradition.” It was built in 1927 for a wealthy family and acquired by the city later in the 80’s. It’s now an Instagram photo spot. https://www.andalucia.org/es/turismo-cultural-castillo-de-bil-bil

Just a cool place and right on the beach which allowed for some of us to dip our toes in the ocean. You want to be able to say you touched the Mediterranean with your feet right? 

We took a stroll to find dinner and decided on a Chinese/Thai/Japanese place. The reviews of google seemed okay and there were people eating there, so we tried it out!

That shrimp platter was sizzling and steaming. I wish you could see the live photo. And guess what, Chinese food on the coast of Spain - GOOD! We all enjoyed everything and many at the table tried orange duck which was Jacob’s dinner choice. 

Dessert was…sangria and M&M’s back at the condo! I am the kind of traveler who never wants to be stuck without food, so I travel with instant packs of oatmeal, my own Splenda, biscotti, and even a big bag of M&M’s. And they came in handy tonight! That liter of sangria was purchased at the Supermercado here at the resort for 2.25 euros. Yes. That’s like $2.50. Wth people! I don’t understand how cheap food is here. Even eating out is cheaper plus the tip is included (well mostly - there is a 10% tax included at many restaurants now that wasn’t there when we visited in 2017/18). 

We are playing Phase 10 and planning for an early morning as we drive to the far west coast of Spain tomorrow and check out Cádiz!

Only 7,958 steps today 😊 

You might be wondering why we visited all of these coastal towns and why we only spent a day or two in each. Well, Todd and I watch this tv show called Mediterranean Life and we’ve seen lots of ex-pats choose to live in the sunny south of Spain. The cost of living in cheap and it’s a popular destination for ex-pats. We were intrigued by the beautiful beaches and the wonderful weather and that’s what brought us here! We’ve learned a lot about the area!