On Thursday, April 12, we sadly said our goodbye to our new friends Stuart and Susie. Stu is a former soccer player. He was also a coach and is currently a talent scout for the South Hampton England Football Club and gave me one of the official team warm up jerseys as a parting gift. Very cool!! We were sad to go as we'd so enjoyed our stay but it was time to move on.
We had been in the Malaga area for five days but had not actually visited that city so we aimed for city center for some exploring. It was a busy weekday, though, and no parking could be found so we got a glimpse of the city from the car and decided to head north along the coast as planned. The first stop was a bakery for a mid morning snack followed by a stroll along the beach in Nerja. Nerja is one of many picturesque seaside villages along the coast but there were some really unique geological formations. They looked like small river rocks had been cast into concrete to form really big boulders but we think they were formed by nature. They were quite impressive.
Our planned destination for that evening was Almeria where we thought we had booked our lodging but when we arrived there and tried to find our hotel, we soon learned that in Spain it is common for cities and provinces to have the same name and that we had actually booked lodging in Roquetas Del Mar in the Almeria province. Needless to say, we were a bit confused and were not quite sure where to go as we thought the city was actually the street and kept getting wrong directions from our GPS so we had to resort to the old fashioned method of asking for directions which is not as easy at it might seem when you're in a foreign country where many folks don't speak your language. Fortunately, I know just a little bit of Spanish and, with only two attempts, we were on our way to our reserved destination about 30 minutes back in the direction we had come from.
When we first arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves at a semi luxury resort since we had only paid $33 for the room which is often just a bunk in a hostal in Europe. Our room was actually a small apartment w/ kitchen, living room, and separate bed and bath just a few blocks from the beach. After a long day in the car, I wanted to go for a run along the boardwalk. When I got back I told Brenda that I felt like a minority in the community as it appeared that the minimum age of the population was "great grand parent." At first she assumed I was exaggerating (who, me?) but soon concurred as we returned from dinner to find our hotel hopping with bingo playing and dancing lessons with music by Dr. Prune and the Geriatrics! Ha ha. The funniest part was that it was about 11:30pm and we were exhausted but the "young at heart" seniors were full of vim and vigor and had really just begun their party. Although we hadn't planned this stop, we now have made note of a potentially hip and very affordable retirement spot in the South of Spain that we may consider for our retirement but it will probably be at least 30 more years before we become "mature" enough to live there :)
We had been in the Malaga area for five days but had not actually visited that city so we aimed for city center for some exploring. It was a busy weekday, though, and no parking could be found so we got a glimpse of the city from the car and decided to head north along the coast as planned. The first stop was a bakery for a mid morning snack followed by a stroll along the beach in Nerja. Nerja is one of many picturesque seaside villages along the coast but there were some really unique geological formations. They looked like small river rocks had been cast into concrete to form really big boulders but we think they were formed by nature. They were quite impressive.
Our planned destination for that evening was Almeria where we thought we had booked our lodging but when we arrived there and tried to find our hotel, we soon learned that in Spain it is common for cities and provinces to have the same name and that we had actually booked lodging in Roquetas Del Mar in the Almeria province. Needless to say, we were a bit confused and were not quite sure where to go as we thought the city was actually the street and kept getting wrong directions from our GPS so we had to resort to the old fashioned method of asking for directions which is not as easy at it might seem when you're in a foreign country where many folks don't speak your language. Fortunately, I know just a little bit of Spanish and, with only two attempts, we were on our way to our reserved destination about 30 minutes back in the direction we had come from.
When we first arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves at a semi luxury resort since we had only paid $33 for the room which is often just a bunk in a hostal in Europe. Our room was actually a small apartment w/ kitchen, living room, and separate bed and bath just a few blocks from the beach. After a long day in the car, I wanted to go for a run along the boardwalk. When I got back I told Brenda that I felt like a minority in the community as it appeared that the minimum age of the population was "great grand parent." At first she assumed I was exaggerating (who, me?) but soon concurred as we returned from dinner to find our hotel hopping with bingo playing and dancing lessons with music by Dr. Prune and the Geriatrics! Ha ha. The funniest part was that it was about 11:30pm and we were exhausted but the "young at heart" seniors were full of vim and vigor and had really just begun their party. Although we hadn't planned this stop, we now have made note of a potentially hip and very affordable retirement spot in the South of Spain that we may consider for our retirement but it will probably be at least 30 more years before we become "mature" enough to live there :)
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