Time to move a short way down the coast to Benalmadena and meet up with the family for a week in the beautiful Villa Una Maria. We were here nine years ago and have all been looking forward to getting back. So on Sunday morning Shane and I pack up and head for the train station.
It’s an easy train journey but the station is a fair way up the hill from the villa. We have a while before check in so we sit at a cafe and have some breakfast. I do love the toast with tomato sauce.
While sitting outside watching the world go by some men on horses pass and it looks like they are ready to party….
When the bulls arrive we realise it’s a full on parade…. Not sure what they’re celebrating but we have a front row seat for the whole thing.
There are lots of horses and lots of bulls so as you’d imagine there is poo! A large one in particular “laid” right in front of us!!! The onlookers are laughing and the people walking in the parade are trying to avoid it, there’s a lot of nudging and side stepping. But one of the Spanish cowboys (let’s just call them that!) decides it would be a good idea to dance in it… no joking he jumps in it like lord of the dance and it flies up and hits some women in their beautiful dresses… funny for us to watch but I’d have killed him! This is what remained…
We watch the whole parade and the clean up that happens immediately after the last cart goes by – it’s pretty impressive. Having lingered long enough over brekkie we head out into some drizzly rain and head down to the hill to the villa. It’s just as I remembered it and the caretaker is the same English guy (Lee) from last time. We get settled and wait for the others to arrive.
First to arrive is the big brother with girlfriend Jenny, and my sister Linda with my very cool nephew (watch out fashion influencers!) Matthew.
They head out for lunch and after familiarising ourselves with the Casa we go for a walk and paddle our feet in the ocean. It’s officially the Alboran sea which is the western most portion of the Mediterranean… there you go!
Back at the Casa we await the arrival of the bus with the rest of the gang…. There’s great excitement when they arrive – Ma and Da, Ange and Emily (now 10 but only a toddler when we were here last), the full complement of Wards (Deb, Pat, Vicky and Laura), Con and Maja and the youngest newest addition to the family “baba” Anya 😍
The villa is essentially two 5-bed houses attached as one so there’s a kitchen and living area on both sides and two huge basements – one with a ping pong table and the other with a pool table…. Handy if the sun gets too hot or if it rains! The owners leave a welcome pack which includes milk, biscuits, teabags, wine and beer. The pool action kicks off immediately!
Everyone is settled in and ready to head out for some dinner….
For dinner I have black squid ink rice and it’s different to the one in Malaga but just as tasty. Shane has a beautiful tuna dish and we pair it with the hosue Verdejo – delish!
We’ve split into smaller groups for dinner and then all meet for a drink on the front afterwards.
Some of the gang go on to another bar for some music and dancing. [Now those of you how know us O’Dohertys know who the party animals are and who the ringleader is right!] I’ll say no more!
The next few days are all kind of mixed together… I was too busy to be keeping track but suffice to say there was a lot of pool action, hanging around, messing, eating and drinking!!!! Here a few snaps to give a flavour….
There’s a lot of pool time to be had which includes a lot of jumping in…and yes that includes jumping in by me!!!
Emily’s swimming is amazing. She is jumping in the deep end, swimming, diving, doing tumbles and headstands … she’s like a fish and must be exhausted every evening after so much pool action.
It’s hard to have such a large group eat together every night in a restaurant so some nights we’ve been splitting up to suit everyone’s different tastes – we do manage to get everyone out for the obligatory holiday Chinese. Lots of glamour for the nights out….
It’s a lovely walk along the marina and you can walk all the way to Toremelinos. It’s great to come back home and jump in the pool. It’s sunny until 8/9pm so it’s easy for it to all of a sudden be very late after some downtime in the evening. Early or late there’s always some messing going on at the pool!
More delicious dinners tonight…
One of the hotels has a singer on that we check out… she’s delighted with us cause we’re singing and dancing among some very stiff ole foggies!!
One of the mornings we walk the opposite way along the coastline to where we would normally walk. We’re kind of at the end of Benalmádena but there’s another really pretty piece of coastline that we explore. You can’t avoid the steep steps down to the beach but it’s very quiet and has some nice romantic looking cafes on the waters edge.
Tonight we’re going to have a bbq so Shane, Mama and I hit the Mercadona (you gotta love the Mercadona) to get the groceries. We have oceans of burgers, sausages, steak, chorizo, veg for skewers and 3 full fresh fish – I think there’ll be enough!
There are two bbq’s – one on each side of the garden. Shane as chief chef enlists Pat as chief helper and burger flipper!
A song from Milly Mac!
Some of us are a bit knackered after last nights shenanigans so we’re having a slow morning. Eventually I manage to get my act together and We meet Mike and Jen for a swim in the sea and a beautiful lunch. The white sangria is delicious.
Lucky for me the water is calm so I’m happy to join in and we go for a dip….. the water really is gorgeous
Everyone rallys for an evening on the town and even hit a karaoke bar (full disclosure, Shane and I don’t make it, we’re lightweights!). In fairness it was a big day for me swimming in the sea but seriously I don’t know how my family do it….. no bother to them to be out til 3am… I’m happy to hear all the stories the next morning.
Today Shane and I book a Bolt (Uber is here too but Bolt seems be the most popular) and we go to Mijas. It’s up in the hills and really is gorgeous
We get a map from the tourist information and follow it to see all the places of interest.
I insist on going into the museum of tiny things (leaving himself to have a coffee).. it’s the oddest place. You view tiny pieces of art and “stuff” through lenses…. Mental!
The views and white washed buildings along the narrow streets are very picturesque. There must be rules about the plant pots.
We stop for a wee tapa in a very old school locals bar….
Then after a little more exploring we decide it’s gonna be paella for lunch.we haven’t had it yet and it doesn’t disappoint.
More pool fun back at the villa…..
Tonight we take the folks to one of the fish restaurants on the front to have fish cooked in the coals.
As we’re sitting there some of the rest of the gang arrive and can’t get a table as it’s jammers everywhere so they go next-door.
Apparently today is a big holiday here – the feast of San Juan – it’s like St. Patrick’s day. Mad busy with music and parties on the beach plus fireworks.
On our last day there are trips to Malaga and souvenir shopping to be done. There are tattoos and hair braids to be sorted so everyone is busy.
Shane and I take the bus with destination Stupa and head to Benalmádena pueblo (old town). It’s gorgeous… I definitely haven’t been here before. It’s much further away than just at the top of the hill. The views are fab out across the coastline.
The little streets are so picturesque, not unlike Mijas yesterday and the views out toward Fuengirola are stunning
It’s roasting so we sit in the shade outside a really cute cafe for our final lunch.
We’ve left it til the last minute but we want to get a family photo before the sun goes down… it’s hard to get everyone in the one place at the same time so unfortunately we are missing Con, Maja and Anya…. But here’s the rest of us!
What a great bunch and a brilliant holiday ….. Adios Espagna!!
odohertyelaine 