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Post by robert on Aug 14, 2020 16:01:34 GMT
Well we decided to go for it.
Everything went smoothly and only 38 people on the aircraft.
One puzzling thing was the QR codes. On the plane we were told that we needed to have a printed code or we had to complete a form on board. I had the QR codes on my mobile and I had printed them as well so we were OK but quite a few others obviously hadn't as they took the forms to fill out. The stewardess then collected all the forms just before we landed. I noticed she handed the completed forms to a member of ground staff at the aircraft door on arrival.
We proceeded through customs and them to the health check where we simply scanned the bar codes and everything was OK. We had to do a " nappy change on arrival so we got held up a bit and didn't see anyone else scan their codes so I don't know how the people who completed the forms on the plane got through.
Anyway 25 mins from landing we had luggage collected and were in the taxi.
We arrived at our apartment just before 3pm. Got settled in later that evening caught a bus to Arroyo.for something to eat. Ended up in Bar Torreon in Plaza de la Tribuna. It wasn't packed but it was reasonably busy.
Thursday was tidy the flower beds day and we had a new sofa delivered. A quick visit to the garage to arrange a service then a short visit from a neighbour ( it' s allowed).
That evening we drove to the park for a walk around. Had something to eat in the Auditorium bar. The park was quite busy with families out for an evening walk.You're still not allowed on the grass so the Zebra is getting a rest 🤣.
Today was food shopping day. Called in both Lidl and Mercadona to stock up. Hand sanitizer in position at the front door but neither were strict about wearing gloves.
Wearing a mask isn't as bad as I thought it would be in this heat it's remembering to always have one with me that I'm struggling with. Give it a few days.
Pool this afternoon and an evening on the terrace is planned for later.
More later.
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Post by btereniaf on Aug 16, 2020 8:01:53 GMT
Hi Robert and Family,
So pleased you decided to "go for it"!
The Health Forms situation is very strange..........we did everything according to the rules going out and back, and stuck to the 2 weeks quarantine. Daughter and family returned after 16 (fabulous) days and didn't complete anything and were never asked.
Surprised about the gloves in supermarkets! In our local supermarket and Supersol we had to wear plastic bags over our hands!!! I think hand sanitiser should be enough.........all that plastic in landfill, alongside millions of face masks! I found wearing a cotton bandanna more comfortable than the masks. Kept it in the fridge!!
Robert, hope you and your family have a fantastic and relaxing holiday! Enjoy!
Fond regards,
BT.
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Post by robert on Aug 16, 2020 8:13:46 GMT
BBQ and drinks on the terrace followed the pool day.
I had a walk around the development early Sat morning before breakfast. Then some cleaning before heading out for the day.
We walked down into Av Las Palmeras and made our way to Weatherspains for lunch. Everything was cooked from frozen and prices have increased slightly. I guess it must be pretty difficult for bars/ restaurants to guage what quantities they need at the moment. The food was still good and the drinks were cold.
From there we went down onto the paseo and let our grandson run on the sand and paddle in the sea. It was a holiday so the Spanish were out in force and there were queues for the fish restaurants at the Windmill.
Beaches were busy, much busier on the Fuengirola side of Bil Bil, but still plenty of beds available at 3pm. Some of the entry points to the beach are still taped off and we didn't see any of the " beach enforcement" officers at all.
Also hardly any lucky lucky men on the paseo but did see a few on the sand.
We ended up in Saints and Sinners in Plaza Ole for a few drinks before heading up towards Arroyo.
I've seen a lot of Facebook posts about bar La Fiesta on Av Telefonica so we called in. Marko was very welcoming, drinks were cheap, €1.50 for a pint of Mahou, but food was dissapointing.
From there it was up to Bonanza, Square where there were a few people about but not packed. We finished the night in bar Ibensa. Two gins, mixers and a speciality coffee were €15.
Then up to the taxi rank. I sent my my wife daughter and grandchild off in a taxi whilst I waited on a second one. The first taxi left went about 100 yards then turned back and the driver invited me to sit in the front. I though it was only 3 max in a taxi with only the driver in the front. Maybe he was just being nice. Anyway I didn't mind giving an extra tip.
Lie in tomorrow 🤣🤣🤣.
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Post by rosebush on Aug 16, 2020 11:31:05 GMT
Robert so pleased you are on your family holiday  great you found spot on beach without problem, lots of Spanish will be heading home today after their 2 week stay, so if others do not follow sadly it will be quieter, when we left 4 weeks ago it was ticking over just about, but feel for all bar owners, and so hope they make it over the Winter.. We had coffee in Fiesta bar, told him we liked it strong and hot, not what we got, instead we got warmish very milky drink, so not been back! Your taxi driver sounded a very nice guy, bless him.. Hope the sun continues to shine and you all have a fab time.. Looking forward to reading info on your walkabouts..  B.T we ended up having to wear plastic bags when using Mas, one day no bags in container, hubby enquired if they had them at tills, none there so he was told to go back to the door area and just use sanitizer, personally i think this is much better than the gloves IF its monitored, but of course not enough staff in there to do that, we found the best store was Merc by swimming baths, they had a guard on door all day, which gave him a job and kept customers safe..x Hope you are both well and your daughter and family are too..x |
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Post by fiddlefingers on Aug 16, 2020 12:38:53 GMT
A couple of weeks ago we decided to cancel our September/October visit and cancelled our accommodation I was unable to get through to Easyjet to cancel our flights. I filled out an online form requesting a refund of the tax we had paid as I thought there was no way we would get a full refund on the flight. Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Easyjet saying they were cancelling their flights to Málaga on the date we were going. I've now filled in the relevant form to get a full refund as we don't know when we will be going again and their flights for September/October 2021 haven't been released yet. Hopefully, we'll get the full refund that we weren't expecting.
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Post by btereniaf on Aug 17, 2020 8:44:08 GMT
Hi all!
FF, which airport were you flying from please? Our daughter was due to fly from Southend on the 2nd Sept and her flight has been cancelled. We are due to fly from Southend on the first and now getting anxious. We are due to go to the Town Hall to pay some pretty hefty bills............
Robert, keep your travelogue going please! I love it!You go to many of our favourite venues!!
Enjoy and keep safe!
Fond regards to all,
BT.
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Post by fiddlefingers on Aug 17, 2020 10:48:15 GMT
We were due to fly from Glasgow BT. The flight is usually full so I was a little surprised that it was cancelled this early.
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Post by btereniaf on Aug 17, 2020 16:22:28 GMT
Thanks for your quick response FF!!
So many flights are virtually empty because of quarantine. Not worth flying out with 30 odd passengers on board.
Our Sept 1st flight just been cancelled......................😒😒😒😒😒
BT.
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Post by btereniaf on Aug 18, 2020 8:15:58 GMT
Transferred our flights from/to Gatwick! Oh joy!!!! Apparently easyJet has closed 3 hubs temporarily, Southend, Stansted and Newcastle.
How are you and the family Robert?
I saw some photos on Facebook this morning of a deserted Fuengirola at lunch time yesterday. The new smoking ban is going to be the final nail in the coffin for lots of small bars and restaurants.
Rosebush, are you in Kent for your August trip yet?? Did you swim there??
Where are other people taking their August trips?? I'd love to hear from you!
Take care all,
BT.
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Post by robert on Aug 18, 2020 8:19:08 GMT
Sorry to hear about people's flights being cancelled. I believe Easyjet have cancelled September flights from Newcastle, some from Stanstead and are pulling out of Southend completely.
Sunday was a chill day around the pool with lunch on the terrace followed by, a visit to the park and then some friends over for drinks.
Monday we popped into Arroyo to purchase two new mattresses then lunch at Le Parque. Service was a bit weird in that the waitress only brought one meal at a time with almost a five minute wait between each one ( and it was only sandwiches). Seemed to be one person serving and three in the kitchen. It was still very nice and tables were wiped down as soon as anyone got up to leave. The people either side of us were obviously unaware of the new smoking law as we were definately not 2mtrs apart probably not even 1mtr.
The new laws state that all nightclubs / disco bars must remained closed and all other venues must close at 1pm with last entry being midnight. There are other rumours going around that drinks only bars must close but I have not seen that in writing anywhere. Also smoking in public places is not allowed unless there is a 2 mtrs distance between the smoker and other people. People are getting worked up about that but I honestly don't see it making any difference as I doubt it will be enforced properly.
Called into Supersol in Arroyo for a few items. Gloves were available but wearing them was not enforced.
Pool for a few hours in the late afternoon, early evening and then burgers for tea. The temp is 30 + during the day so it exhausting in the heat. This last three nights it has been extremely windy but it's usually calm again by morning. The gardeners are out in force this morning from 08.15 with strimmers, blowers and lawnmowers going flat out so no chance of a lie in. However the sun is out and we have clear blue skies so looks like another hot day ahead.
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Post by rosebush on Aug 19, 2020 13:14:49 GMT
Robert i never enjoyed our early morning wake up by the gardener it was always a very noisy lawn mower!! Hope winds stay calmer now out there, our friends are staying in Pisces on 7th floor and said the winds were horrible  they come home on Friday.. Our other friend (79yrs old) is staying out there as long as she can, she's enjoying her freedom being out & about on her scooter, at home she just stays in, she is a smoker and mentioned lots of bars now have a smokers only table situated 2mts away from other tables, only one smoker at a time can sit there, its a way of keeping customers but not many bars have large terraces to put separate table? The Bonanza Bar can stay open with live entertainment as they have a food licence so don't think Capones can open? but laws are changing each week, how on earth Benal can police everything is beyond me  I see its still hot out there so enjoy the sunshine Robert with your family, and BT so pleased you have replacement flights, shame you have to travel up to Gatwick though, which airline are you using? I'm reading on F.B lots of flight cancellation for this month and next, a Ryanair flight landed yesterday with just 9 passengers!! how can they keep that up, just hoping one airline can pick up all tourists wanting to travel, so making the flights viable, never thought things would get this bad.. F.F hope you get full refund for your flights, will you post if you receive it... We still have plans to make our Spring trip to Benal, but will wait until end of year to see how things progress out there, so hope airlines keep going.. Looking forward to your next posting Robert, and yours B.T when you are out there.. Take care..xx |
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Post by robert on Aug 19, 2020 13:58:55 GMT
These one and a half year olds are hard work 🤣. We decided to go to Bioparc today to keep him amused but he fell asleep in the car on the way so we took the opportunity to grab a quick bite to eat whilst we had peace.
For those of you who haven't been to Bioparc yet it's a small zoo right in the centre of Fuengirola.it's kind of open plan and there are very few cages except perhaps for the birds. You can tell a lot of work has gone into trying to create as natural an environment as possible for the animals with lots of water features and fauna. Gate price was €21.10 per adult but you can pick up discount vouchers around the resort. I think Rubens is also €2 cheaper.
There is a cafe/ restaurant inside and we spent a pleasant couple of hours in the zoo.
Called at Yorkshire Linen ( Dunnes was closed) for a few items on the way home followed by Iceland for our youngest daughters favourite cheesecakes 🤣. I think we've done more food shopping so far than on any other trip.
Back to Benal, quick change and bus into Arroyo to Olivers for dinner. A few shared starters to start with followed by pork, pigs cheeks, Spanish sausage,peppers, eggs and chips and of course beer, wine and sangria. An excellent meal. Greg was busy but obviously not as busy as usual and we didn't book. Got the last bus home and ended the evening with a gin on the terrace.
Today was a cleaning day, I can't understand why we need to do so much cleaning. I bailed out with Jacob for a long walk and then the afternoon was spent at the pool.
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Post by fiddlefingers on Aug 19, 2020 17:56:27 GMT
Received a full refund from Easyjet. I was also surprised to receive a voucher for the airport parking for our cancelled Easter trip. At the time they said that we weren't due a refund as we had taken the cheaper option which meant any cancellations were done without a refund. The e-mail today said they had just noticed we should have been given a voucher and that they were just catching up with all the problems. Better late than never :-)
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elliott
Full Member
just to see if i have registered right.
Posts: 61
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Post by elliott on Aug 20, 2020 12:28:23 GMT
hi all
nice to read all the reports, make us feel jealous. not much hope for the near future of coming out, mary is still back and forth to the local hospital and has been advised not to travel. miss benal a lot but pleased to keep up to date by all your reports. keep safe all of you.
norman and mary.
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Post by robert on Aug 21, 2020 7:19:55 GMT
Glad to hear you got a full refund FF. Put it by for a future trip 🤣. Also good to hear from Norman. I hope Mary keeps well.
Wednesday evening was spent on the terrace. The BBQ was hot and the drinks were cold.
Thursday morning we popped in to Fuengirola to get the car serviced. Whilst we were waiting we went for a walk into town. Visited the indoor Market but not really a lot in there now, mostly meat and fish. The Scottish butcher is still there.
A quick stop at Yorkshire Linen and Aldi on the way home. Lots of new apartments being built at Aldi.
Late afternoon we got the bus to Yucas for drinks. Absolutely packed solid and no one complaining about the prices ( €4 a pint) Amazing difference between it and Bonanza Square.
Then back to La Terraza beside the Balmoral for dinner with friends.
Again amazing food and nice staff eager to please.
Taxi home and it's definately back to 4 in a taxi. ( no screens in this one).
Millionaire cheesecake and ice cream on the terrace to finish the evening.
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great you found spot on beach without problem, lots of Spanish will be heading home today after their 2 week stay, so if others do not follow sadly it will be quieter, when we left 4 weeks ago it was ticking over just about, but feel for all bar owners, and so hope they make it over the Winter..
they come home on Friday..
