Andalucia 2008
Day One: 8th October
Weather: Sunny and warm, but not roasting!
Route: A stroll along the seafront in Marbella
We arrived at the Townhouse Hotel late last night from Malaga airport, and had one hell of a job finding it. But eventually we tracked it down to the edge of the old town, and ate in the local restaurant at 22:30 – a pretty normal time for the Spanish. The day started bright and sunny and we went for a quick stroll along the seafront. From the old town we passed through the fountains of Paseo de la alameda, where all the locals were taking a siesta sat around on the park benches jawing away to each other. The fountains had a lovely cooling effect on the air. There are lots of tropical plants to be seen growing well in the Mediterranean climate and well watered by the spray off the fountains.
The square beyond this contained several Salvadore Dali sculptures in bronze, and judging by the shiny spots on them they are very tactile. As expected from Dali they are weirdly wonderful and very impressive. I wondered how many would pass these by in the height of summer and not even pass a glance to them.
Beyond this square is the waterfront that stretches away to Puerto Banus and all the expensive yachts in the harbour there. We joined the masses promenading along the seafront, with an odd mixture of tourists, locals, power walkers, and Russian damsels dolled up to the eyeballs – presumably on the look out for another meal ticket. It was an interesting people watching walk of a few miles there and back but not really my cup of tea.
Bringing home the catch of the day
Strolling along the prom Back into the old town of Marbella was a little more interesting through the maze of narrow streets. There are lots of shops to peruse as you stroll along and plenty of restaurants in the squares. The main square at the Plaza Los Naranjos was lined with restaurants and unfortunately the one we had chosen offered lousy bad mannered service. But as we were already seated and the food was on it’s way we stayed. We tried to be as rude back but couldn’t quite match the quality served up by the waiter – but I did enjoy telling him where he could stick his tip though! We spent the rest of the day up on the roof terrace of the Townhouse Hotel, the Spanish equivalent of a B&B and very comfortable. They have an honesty bar on the terrace to help yourself from, and a small bar in the lobby. Breakfast was a serve yourself buffet that could be taken up to the roof terrace weather permitting.
The view from the roof terrace – it is all lit up at night
The Townhouse lobby, a peaceful cool retreat
The local bistro named Maestro was a short walk away and the food and service was great value. It is run by an Englishman – Leslie Stevenson, who made us very welcome and actually fitted us in alongside a wedding party one night. It was our anniversary and the bride and groom very generously supplied us with some bubbly, several times over. The toast was ‘to many tall Estonian children’ – the groom was of very short Chilean stature – but a grand night out was had by all. We also ate at ZoiZoi in the old town one night – good food, but the neighbouring tables were a little too close for comfort. The only problem we had with staying at the Townhouse was parking. It is at a premium around the old town and I had to drive a good 10 minute walk away to secure a space, and the Spanish are very inventive at parking their cars Otherwise it was an overnight park in the underground parking at an expensive 18 euros!! The car hire was cheap for the 8 days at SixT, but you have to pay for a full tank of petrol. This wasn’t a problem as we did lots of driving around anyway. But we enjoyed our 4 night stay at quite reasonable rates.