Trip summary & Photos from March 2006

[Polly]

Hello everyone!

My brother and I went with a tour group of about 50 (this trip was hosted by one of the television stations I work with) to Marbella, on the Costa del Sol March 4-11: What a lovely little town!

Having grown up in Southern California, we were both quite interested to see how very similar the Spanish/ Mediterranian coastline is to the California / Pacific coast. Including the names of some of the small villages and towns located between Malaga and Marabella.... Let's see, there was Montrose, and - oh yes! La Canada - the same as the town I was born in ;) This made us feel right at home:D

After several lengthy delays getting to our destination, (due to a series of unfortunate circumstances with Iberia Air), we arrived at the Hotel Gran Melia Don Pepe, located right above the Marbella boardwalk (which is constructed of beautiful marble by the way - not cheap concrete slabs!)

We 'hit the ground running' as they say , and never stopped for 6 full days. Exhausting - but invigorating, too. Tours with the group every day -- functions / dinners every night - Frankly, I needed to get back to work in order to recuperate from my holidlay!

Some of the highlights of our visit included a day trip to the small Andalusian mountain/fishing village of Mijas (where I found a wonderful bargain on Spanish saffron!), a day exploring in Ronda (complete with bullring walk-through) A night at Taberna del Alabardero Playa, where we made our own paella, an evening in 'exclusivo' Puerto Banus (very expensive), and two additional excursians to Gibraltar and Tangier (Morocco).

While all the food was very, very good ( I especially appreciated the wonderful breakfasts at our hotel with Spanish tortilla, smoked salmon, fresh fruits and a fantastic cheese flight every morning) - I would have to say our two most exceptional meals for the week were at unexpected locations: On the second night, baby brother and I ventured out to the local casino for a little black jack, and stopped in their restaurant for a surprisingly good (and inexpensive) dinner of broiled lamb chops with asparagus and olive tapanade. A few nights later, we took a taxi to the Plaza de los Naranjos and wandered around until we found a lovely little bar (attached to a restaurant) serving a stunning variety of tapas. this was La Pesquera in Plaza Victoria (just off Orange square)

Also - in the time that we stayed in Marbella, we were able to take several walks up the promenade boardwalk, and on the second time through, discovered a tram that will take you on a riding tour up into the higher part of the old town for just 5 euro, each.

The weather was cooler in the early part of the week - but much warmer as the week wore on. Up to around 70 or 75 feirenheight, I would guess. Infact, true to the advice I received (thank you, Marina) - we were able to take several siesta's right on the beach, though the water was far too cold this time of year to do anything but dip our toes in.

Oh yes -- my brother speaks no Spanish, but I do - a little, and so I brushed up on the basics for about 2 months before taking our trip. Everywhere we went, of course the people who work in the service sector spoke English, but as I preferred to at least try to converse in Spanish, they were gracious and put up with my child-like vocabulary and strange syntax. Acutally I do belive they appreciated the effort -- especially the taxi drivers, and my masseause at our hotel (who spoke no English at all, and was very kind - very complimentary of my pronunciation - that earned her a big tip! ;D)


Thanks to Ben and Marina for their wonderful advice during their write-in program in February - you answered all my questions, and more!

I will now attach a few photos from our trip!

Polly
Wisconsin, USA

[Polly]

And some Scenery from Gibraltar & Tangier!

The Spanish/Gibraltar boarder, our friend, Lynn K. conversing with a Barbary Ape, a municipal builting in the new part of Tangier, and looking back towards Spain from old Tangier

[Polly]

And a few more:
The 1-ton-gun at Gibraltar, & Snake Charmers in Tangier

I couldn't get some of the others to load.

[Ben]

Wow! What a trip, sounds like you had a really great time. Thanks a lot for taking the time to post and for adding the photos. How did you find the Moroccan experience?

[Polly]

Hi Ben,

Morocco is an easy 1 hour ride by ferry across the straights - but I would not reccomend trying to find your way around alone - at least not the first time or two, as it would be difficult to get around, and you would miss so much, or not realize what you were missing.

We were very fortunate to have not only a wonderful Spanish Guide,(Ramon) but also our Moroccan guide (Muhummad) was a very informative and straight forward Berber gentleman, who, it is very apparent, loves his job.

We were in a group of about 20 on this excursion and it was a very fast day -- we were taken by tour bus through the new part of Tangier, through the countryside (with a visit to Hercules Cave and the ruins at the northernmost point of Africa) then into Old Tangier - where the Kasbah and the Souk are. There was plenty of security around - although I dont think many in the group realized just how much security we had - mostly in the Souk, where the vendors tend to be agressive -- of course no more agressive than the salesmen at the carpet shop we were taken to. the various rugs were beautiful - and beautifully crafted, but I was not prepared to take out a loan just to own one! Not unless I could fly it home, anyway ;)

While much of our time there was genuine - of course some of the experinces we had are generally staged for tourists:
The snake charmers, the dromedary rides & photo ops - all just for the experience of saying I rode a dromedary in Africa. That's fine. A little "forced" for my taste, but many of the others got a charge out of it.

We of course had a wonderful luncheon at a restaurant near the marketplace - with the best cous-cous I've ever had. All in all, it was definately worth the time and the money (about 140 US / 105 EU) for an all-inclusive day.

Polly

[Ben]

That's a pretty good price I'd say for everything you did. I went many years ago and found it quite oppressive - too much attention from people trying to get us to stay in their hotels etc, but would love to go back there now. Look out for a Notes from Marrakesh episode one day!