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Post by btereniaf on Aug 21, 2020 9:02:59 GMT
So pleased you are enjoying your family holiday Robert! We loved the Bioparc and spent quite a while there watching the different displays (to get our money's worth!) Well worth a visit. I see NI has had some pretty awful weather to contend with.
And as for the cleaning......it has to be done Robert! I'm the bleach queen of Benal!
FF. Glad you received your refund. We had 3 flights booked from Southend, Sept, Oct and Nov and we've managed to transfer all of them to Gatwick at no extra cost. Fingers crossed they all operate. Due to fly out on the 1st with easyJet. Our grandson is currently in Benal and "having the best holiday". He said he is really impressed with the hygiene regs and feels safe and confident.
Norman and Mary, good to hear from you but sorry to hear about Mary's health issues. We have Benal friends who have been advised not to travel and they are relieved that their GP takes such an interest in them. They normally go out 4 times a year so are really missing our little bit of Paradise.
Weather in Essex is rubbish and I will be a tad miffed if cricket in Southampton is affected again!
Keep safe and well dear friends.
Fond regards,
BT.
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Post by robert on Aug 22, 2020 8:52:32 GMT
Friday was market day but we gave it a miss and decided to have a beach day instead. Packed the car up with everything except the kitchen sink ( note to self, need a bigger car) and off we went.
Got parked behind Ruben's at the Windmill roundabout and encamped on the beach in front of Brit corner. Everyone was well distanced even though it was very busy. The Lifeguards were on constant patrol as was the odd lucky lucky man. Jacob seemed happy to both play in the sand and the sea.
We had lunch in KC Sunshine bar which was quite nice although it takes a while to read all those menus.
We left the beach around 4.30pm as we were expecting another delivery at the apartment ( New mattresses for the single beds)
After a few drinks on the terrace we wandered over to our clubhouse and at 11pm were sitting outside having tapas y vino. 🤣
I haven't noticed people abide by the new smoking laws so far. Spanish families were smoking as normal in their family or friend groups in our Clubhouse and the same at the restaurants on the paseo earlier although I think the Sunshine bar had a sign up about it.
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Post by rosebush on Aug 22, 2020 13:59:05 GMT
Robert must be so nice for you to see little Jacob running around the beach, its a good job there are a few of you to keep watch, they move so fast at his age 
Shame the smokers are not keeping to the rules, and I expect bar owners don't like telling them too, for fear of losing custom, it needs a few fines handed out to get message across, any measure is worth a try, whatever rules were put in place during and after lockdown, we adhered to, in the hope of Covid being kept in check and Benal surviving, but with figures still rising and folks staying away, flights getting cancelled things are looking bleak 
Its nice to have a club house on site for vino & tapas then stroll back to your appt, think we would do that far to often
B.T pleased your Grandson is having a good time, and he is happy with all safety measures out there, hope your flight for the 1st goes to plan, cannot wait for your reports, all the travel logs keep me going, I can walk in your footsteps 
Norman great to hear from you hope Marys health issues are being dealt with and she's keeping well..xx
F.F so great to read you got a full refund!! hope you get to book more flights, we are due out next Feb to May if all's well over there..
Take care..xx
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Post by robert on Aug 23, 2020 14:01:35 GMT
Sat saw us drive up to Mijas Pueblo. Parked in the multi storey car park for €1 ( for as long as you like)
A quick visit to the donkeys which were all standing under cover and being hosed down. There were no punters around today so they were mostly getting a day off. There is a sign at the Buro taxi rank now telling us the history of the donkeys, what weight they can carry, how many water breaks they get and how they are cared for etc etc.
The horse carriages were all queued up in the shade under the trees in the square.
We called into Pampa Tablas y Tapas for lunch. Staff very friendly and obviously glad to see us. Food was beautiful, however tapas portions were small and way over priced.
We had a walk through the village. I've never seen the place so empty, not even the locals were out and I'd say at least half of the restaurants in the upper streets were closed.
We called into one of our favourites, The Aroma Cafe and Secret Garden for a drink. They have extended the garden further at the rear and it was lovely to relax for an hour and enjoy it before heading back to Benalmádena. We got home around 8pm and I cooked some chicken on the BBQ for a late tea. It was extremely hot today ( which may partially explain the lack of people in Mijas) and we were exhausted so it was an early night.
Sunday morning was cleaning AGAIN!!!
Terraces, floors, windows, doors 😭then off to the pool for the day.
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Post by robert on Aug 25, 2020 8:04:15 GMT
In the evening we popped down into Arroyo and went to Plaza, Pueblo sol or Plaza, Adolfo Suárez as it's known now.
The reason being that there is a new children's park right at the end of it and there's a bar right beside it. Handy or what? It's a Spanish bar with a strange name " Let it Beer" We spent the evening there sharing some tapas. The food was good, especially the burger 🤣 and the owners were earer to please so we stayed all evening.
It's definately back to four in a taxi 😂
Monday morning was spend going to get a cylinder of gas and a bag of compost and then attending to all the plants, flowerbeds and irrigation system.
In the afternoon we got a bus to the Pueblo and called at the Bull Bar for lunch but unfortunately Pam has had to close the kitchen due to lack of customers so we had a liquid lunch instead. Not a wise decision in the heat. Called at Parador for food. We haven't been there for a while and although it was busy the food wasn't the best so I doubt we'll be eating there again for a while. Most of the other customers were having cañas and Tapas. The pizzas were OK and they seemed to have a good take away trade. We finished the evening with a gin Bar Coral.
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Post by rosebush on Aug 25, 2020 12:22:29 GMT
Robert don't know how you are staying so busy in the heat as for cleaning... mention Jacob needs a walk, soon as you see the dusters coming out  We love the little bars in Plaza Pueblo Sol the 'Let it beer' used to be Ardisson's which we used, then they moved to the Gamonal, and it was a sort of fast food place for a while, so was really pleased to wander up there and see it in Spanish hands, and the red wine is nice at €2, also Bar Pueblo Sol do nice tapas Mom & Son run it, wine nice in there too Didn't get chance to try the new bar the one with pretty flowers in the windows, can you remember if its still there?. The little park in the Plaza is new but during March-May it was all taped off due to Covid, so pleased its in use now, and the black railings are good for keeping kiddies safe from road, still think the flower pots belong back on Ave Constitution though! Just heard Sanchez is making a speech right now about Covid situation out there, if you hear anything will you post.. Enjoy the rest of your stay..x B.T we are still in Kent, were coming home on Sunday, but g/children talked us into staying until Thurs, they all go down to Bath then for 3nights, G/daughter wants to see Bath University its on her list for next year, they have another hotel booked down there for watersports  ...we have fine rain at the moment but its warm and we get sunshine for tomorrow..hopefully, not long now for your next Benal visit hope all goes well..xx |
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Post by robert on Aug 28, 2020 15:52:47 GMT
Tues was a pool day with a BBQ in the afternoon. Then a bus to the front and a dander along to the Sky bar in Las, Arenas. It was quiet at 8pm when we arrived but was pretty busy by 9pm.
Then onto the paseo. The fish restaurants were packed again with very little social distancing.
We e ventually made it to the marina where we stopped at 11pm for a drink. Some places were a little nuughty but most places seemed to adhere to the new time regulations and by 1.15pm most people were on the way home and places were closing up.
Wed was another visit to the beach and lunch in the Mariner's Tavern. The beach was fairly crowded but I noticed a lot of people walking along with no masks. But apart from Lifeguards there didn't seem to be anybody around to enforce the rules.
Thatcevening we went to Ocampo in Arroyo for dinner. It was a pleasant evening and we got a table outside. The staff were attentive and friendly, the food was excellent and the wine flowed.
We finished off with a coffee and Baileys in Antonios.
Thursday was packing up day. We had an early departure on Friday so there was a lot to do today. Everyone was sent to the pool and we got stuck in. Cleaning, washing and numerous trips to the store room.
For our last evening we went to Arroyo and had a mixture of tapas and main dishes at the Fountain Bistro. The food was again excellent and although the Bistro wasn't busy the other bars / restaurants were packed with mostly Spanish clientele.
We didn't get to Torre, Málaga or Plaza, Mayor but still found more than enough to do over our two week break.
Our taxi picked us up at 9am this morning and we arrived home in Belfast 30mins ahead of schedule. There were about 50 people on our Easyjet flight. Málaga Airport vwas almost deserted with no queues anywhere apart from Burger King 🤣.
I had completed the passenger locator forms ( which take a heck of a lot longer than the Spanish App) and had downloaded them to my mobile. At customs we were only asked if we had completed the forms. We didn't have to show or scan them so obviously those people who are not playing by the rules will not have to do their two week quarantine
which is pretty annoying.
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Post by btereniaf on Aug 31, 2020 10:40:37 GMT
Thank you for your travelogue Robert! So pleased you and your family had such a good time. You sounded so busy and will put me to shame! So far so good for our flight manyana, although did book into a lounge which has been cancelled. Grandson's partner was poorly six days after their return . She's had the Covid test and thankfully it is negative. They can take the bars off the windows! Robert, I know what mean about those health forms. When we returned to Heathrow late July no one was interested and loads of people hadn't bothered to complete them .
I hope everyone is keeping well.
Fond regards to all.
BT
Rosebush....hope Kent weather was better than Essex!! Central heating on in August! Unheard of!!🤣🤣
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Post by rosebush on Sept 1, 2020 20:31:38 GMT
Nice to hear you are home safe & sound Robert, hope all's well with quarantine, not nice to do, and from what you say bet a lot not doing it  we didn't have to do quarantine but due to our age we did.. During your 2 weeks you certainly got out and about even in the heat, sounds like Jacob had a great time too.. We miss when home not being able to just walk to a coffee shop, or tapas bar, or walk along a seaside path, even our nearest nice park we need the car, so at least being in Benal you do get to walk a lot I'm expecting now home you are keeping up with the cleaning duties, no escaping by saying Jacob needs a walk hope however Jacob lives nearby so after quarantine you get to see him a lot, they do grow up really quickly.. B.T hope you arrived safely and on time, i expect you have had a walk in the Benal sunshine and hopefully tasted the vino looking forward to your posts..xx N.B We have the central heating on as i type, but B.T bet you have the aircon on!! Kent weather was very kind to us only 2 days wind & rain kept us in..x |
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...we have fine rain at the moment but its warm and we get sunshine for tomorrow..hopefully, not long now for your next Benal visit hope all goes well..xx
we didn't have to do quarantine but due to our age we did..