Hello, Marbella! Or rather, Marriott Vacation Club Right Outside of Marbella.
Our drive from Sevilla was fairly uneventful. The kids slept for most of it, which meant we kept saying, “Wow, I wish Linus was awake to see those wind turbines!” Dad accidentally took a wrong turn, but that meant we got to see different towns than we expected. And then we arrived, picked up some essentials like oranges and flan, and set about getting to know our new home. In this case, it meant checking out the beach at the end of the sidewalk.
Mina’s focus, again, was the cats. The were at least half a dozen in residence, mostly hanging out near the restaurants and pools. They were well-fed and didn’t need to tolerate her advances.
I keep saying that Mina reminds me of Jenny. How classic Jenny is this photo?!
The next day, we were all still a bit tired from the drive, so we decided to check out Marbella. Last time Yen and I only went there one evening to watch a flamenco show, so it was all new. Here’s our little World Traveler hanging out on the streets once again. Cool, calm, and wondering when he gets chocolate ice cream.
We arrived rather early in the morning (at least by Spanish standards – 9am!). I believe I mentioned in the Sevilla post that Spain is an hour ahead of Portugal. That means the sun is fully up by about 8am. So considering that you were probably out having dinner until 10pm, you’re definitely not out and about for early morning shopping. We had the streets entirely to ourselves for a couple of hours.
Again with the GQ poses!
I must admit that Linus and Mina were teeny terrors during this outing. Maybe it was the effect of sitting in the car so long the day before, but they were determined to run everywhere. Most of the streets were either pedestrian-only or had so little traffic that there wasn’t danger. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t a basketcase.
We accidentally stumbled across the place where we’d seen the flamenco show 6 years ago. We liked this little Santa trying to break into the house next door.
More tiles – this time as a helpful city map.
I actually managed to lose 4 pounds on this trip. Probably from carrying 35 pounds on my shoulders. Linus kept insisting that I carry him – it had to be me and it had to be on my shoulders! I suppose it’s good for me?
Our walk circled around an old Moorish castle. I’m not sure you can actually go in, but it was nice to view it from different angles, and especially to see how they’ve incorporated it into newer buildings.
Grandma and Grandpa enjoying the flora. Poor Grandpa. We came home to subzero temperatures, which he really doesn’t like. I think he’s trying to figure out whether he can retire to Portugal.
More bells! Linus was careful about spotting all of them so he could keep an eye on them. “I don’t like it when they sound!” he says.
Not sure Mina actually recognized this sculpture as a horse. They were too busy picking up pennies (cents?!) off the ground to toss into the water.
Not pictured: our failed attempt to get Moroccan food for lunch. We found a place with very high ratings, but they didn’t open for lunch until 1:30! We made our way to Lidl and had lunch back at the ranch. I guess being flexible is good? On to the next adventure!