Our first day in Madrid!

We were up bright and early today to head to Madrid.  Our ride showed up at 6am, at this time in the morning it only took about 40 minutes to get to the Malaga train station.

Our train departed at 730 . We have a nice ride through the Spanish countryside, and a little nap time.
We arrived in Madrid at about 1045 am and hopped in a cab to our hotel.

We are staying at our first Starwood property ! The beautiful Westin Palace Madrid.  It is in a great location and is really nice.  They did not have a room ready when we arrived so we checked  our bags and off we went  to explore.  First stop was a little snack!

 

Believe it or not , and I know most of you will not, I did not do a lot of research or planning for
Madrid.  I did have some information on some sights, Madrid in 2 days, etc.


We walked to Puerto del Sol. Which is a square where kilometer 0 is, the exact center of Madrid. There is a plaque that everyone takes a photo next to.  There are lots of shops and street performers. We continued walking to Plaza Mayor and saw they were setting up for a show. We would return for the show later.

We went into the Mercado market which was amazing! All kinds of little tapas style food from different vendor that you walk around and buy and enjoy ,Even drinks ! This would also get a 2nd visit later.

We continued to roam around and ended up at the basilica and the palace.  We did go into the basilica but decided not to go into the palace so we took a few photos and headed back to plaza Mayor.  We decided to be tourists, which we are and sit in the square for a drink.

We ,I mean I did a little shopping on the way back to the hotel.  Got a few really cute things in Desigual.  Saw a light coat I liked but they did not have my size but she checked another store and one close by had it ! So off on the hunt we went.  We did find the store and they had the jacket and yes I did buy it! It is soooo cute!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped  at a Tapas bar for some snacks.  It was a very cool tapas bar where you order a beer and you get little snacks to go along with it.  You throw your paper on the floor,  place is crazy busy and really cheap!

Now it was definitely siesta time .

The show we wanted to see at Plaza Mayor started at 1000 so we decided we would head out about 8pm, have some dinner and then go to the show.

For dinner we went back to the Mercado market .  We found a spot to stand got a glass of wine and then took turn to head off and bting snacks back! We had oysters, mini burgers, mini crab burger , ravioli, some meat, caviar  with cheese. I think that was everything , it was great!

We headed over to Plaza Mayor for the show.  Since it is Plaza mayor 's 400 th Birthday they are doing all kinds of special shows.  This one was a film of clips showing the history of the square as well as clips form movies that have been filmed in the square .  The film was accompanied by a full orchestra.  It lasted about an hour and was very cool.

Then off to bed for another day of exploring!

Good night!

Happy Anniversary to us! 10 Years 7-7-17

Good morning!

We started another day with breakfast in the terrace ! We could tell that today was going to be hot which was perfect for our beach day.

After breakfast we got a cab and headed to Puente Romano which is a very very nice high end resort. The have some chairs on the beach or what they would call a beach club.. We rented a few chairs for the day and they set them up with towels and and our day of relaxation began.

We took a walk along the boardwalk to check out some of the other beach clubs and resort .. we were in a very nice area.

After a little more relaxing we headed to the Sea Grill for our 130 reservation.  We had an amazing seafood buffet.  Although it was called a seafood buffet there was much much more!  We started at the A huge salad bar wth all kinds of toppings.  We then moved on to the seafood buffet .. Lobster, oysters, prawns , delicious! Then it was onto meats.. a little steak and lamb which they cook to order and plated beautifully.  Then of course dessert! We tried a little bit of everything and finished up our bottle of wine and back to the beach to relax some more...

Our lunch spot

A little more of our view

Wayne's 2nd plate..

Meat and fish cooked to order!

Prawns , lobster and oysters..

Of course paella

We headed to take a dip in the pool and then back to our hotel.. of course for a siesta and get our packing done for our early departure in the morning.

Tonight we had dinner reservations at Paco Jimenez.. It is located right in the center of old town.  We arrived at 8 pm and had the restaurant to ourselves until about 830.  All the tables didn't fill up until about 930.. 8pm is very early for dinner here in Spain.. but since we had to be up at 530 for our 6am
ride to Malaga for the train to Madrid we did not want to be out too late.

Our meal was delicious.  They offered a beet gazpacho to start which was very different and delicious! !We started with fois gras.. then Wayne had a Duck confit which was presented beautifully, I had a rich creamy crab in a pastry tulip.  Delicious... there was a few tables away that we could not help but eavesdrop on.. they were very difficult from the moment they walked in.. she ordered the lemon chicken and sent it back and the women who ran and owns the restaurant was very concerned .. it is a small family business and her husband is the chef , they take great pride in the food they serve.. I could not hear what her complaint was but I did hear her tell them that she was going to have to put this on Facebook and TripAdvisor ... we had no complaints and we  were sure to let the owner and and staff know that we enjoyed our meal..

Beet gazpacho 

Duck confit 

Cram in a tulip pastry 

The back to the hotel.. to a nice surprise! A bottle of champagne from the stafff for our anniversary.,  since we had to get up so early we decided to take the bottle with us and save it for when we could enjoy it..

off to bed... another great day !
Happy Anniversary to us!

A day at sea..

We started to with breakfast again on the roof top terrace..we had a different table today.  We have seen very few other guests but everyone ina while we catchy a glimps of someone..there are only 7 rooms here and I think at most times moser staff than guests.


Today we spent most of the day on a 42 ' sailing yacht.  We boarded about 945am..in weather that looked a little iffy..there were a few raindrops falling but the water was calm..it hardly ever rain here! Gerlinda met us when we arrived.  She is from Belgium and here working for the summer.  She just graduated from high school where she studied all kinds of maritime rules and regulations.  She need to get so many hours on a boat to get fully certified.

Peter our captain for the day arrived a few minutes later with the rest of the days passengers. There were 5 other all from GB.  We are meeting a lot of people from Great Britain..it is just a quick 2 hour flight for them so many of them vacation here.  He did mention that he has has a lot of guests from the US recently ...some good deals going on with airfare.

The water was very calm and the wind was pretty low so we were not able to out the sails up for a while.. it at one point the wind did finally pick up and the sails went up and the engine went off.  Gerlinda told us that the bonus they get each week depend on how little gas they use..I guess a good way to make sure they are sailing whenever possible..which is what most people want.  Peter was a true sailor and has travelled and sailed all over the world.  He has been here in Marbella for 2 years.

After the wind died down we went into Puerto Banus where we sailed past all of the super yachts...they were pretty amazing..we heard the Ivanka and Tiffany Trump are both here this week.

We had some more wine and beer as we headed back to old town Marbella...we walked two of our new friends into old town so they could explore the town.  They are staying about 25 minutes away.

Of course it was siesta time..we are definitely getting used to this...we wandered around and found a nice little place for dinner called Marbella Patio..we enjoyed a nice dinner, and bottle of wine.

We wandered around and came across a concert in the square..we saw the last two songs..at one  point a man go put in front of the crowd yelling something..then jumped on stage and grabbed the mic and started yelling...it was not part of the show..security quickly escorted ( escorted is probably too nice of a word..he did not want to get off stage) him off the stage and they did not look very happy...interesting though they did not make him Leave..he sat down on a bench in the back of the area.


We finished our night with a little gelato and off to bed..another day in the books..

A day in Ronda

For today I have arranged a tour guide/ escort to take us to Ronda, which is a beautiful mountain top town about an hour inland.  Our driver arrived about 915 am a little early..we have become accustomed to sleeping in
as much as we can..we finished breakfast on our roof terrace and headed off to Ronda.

We arrived in Ronda and parked at a beautiful hotel where we could use the facilities and where the driver knows the staff.

Then it was off to explore.

Our first stop was a church which house cloistered nuns..our guided rang the bells and spoke to the nuns through the wall..was given some instructions and then a key was passed out to us.  We went into a little room where the hand of Saint Teresa of Avila is kept..this is definitely a sight we would not have found on our own!

Then is was on to an amazing  meat and  cheese shop.  Jamon ranged from 12€ per kilo to
65€ per kilo.  We were treated to taste one that was about 55€ per kilo and it was delicious.  Unlike
anything I have ever tasted.  The pigs eat acorns which give them a very distinct flavor and natural oil.  They longer they eat acorns the better the flavor and the higher the price! The oil from the Meat and the acorns stays in your mouth long after you eat the piece of meat..delicious!

We then headed to walk along and see some amazing views...there is an old and a "new" bridge in Ronda the new bridge is 300 years old..the old section of the city is very very old and was previously inhabited by arabs.

Our views while taking a break for an afternoon cocktail..

We visited  the old bull ring, said to be one of the oldest and largest in the world.  Although there may be one  larger .  It was a great audio tour that gave a lot of insight to the
world of the bull fight.

We continued onto some amazing views of the old bridge and stopped for a drink soaking in the view.  Our next stop was an old monastery with some more breathtaking views.  I guess if you choose to live in a monastery you might as well have a beautiful view!

We wandered around some more of the town and now that our guided, Fernando, had gotten to know us a little more, we decided that we did not need to go to the upscale place with a view but rather went to a local tapas place that he frequents.  We have some tapas that we maybe would not have chosen and everything was delicious!


We had a great day with Fernando! He is quite the world traveler and we highly recommended Peru or. Costa  Rico for his next trip..he is thinking hewill probably go to Columbia..but they are also both on his list ..

We headed back to our hotel for a little siesta.

We could definitely get used to siesta time!

About 8 pm we headed out for dinner and tonight was A very light snack of some tapas and wine In the  Square of the town..and the off to bed.

Tonight's entertainment

On to our next Destination! July 4th

Today we are headed to Marbella!   Our flight was at 915 so we said our good byes and headed to get a taxi about 7am.  Checked in and found a spot to grab a quick breakfast at the airport and on to our flight.  We few Vueling airlines.  I guess I would kind of compare it to spirit... the seats were soooo tight.. somehow we needed up with a middle and window seat which I never pick. I not sure how that happened.  Wayne was not happy with his window seat. There was really no space between our knees and the seats in front of us..

We pretty much slept the whole flight, which was about 2 hours, so I guess it could have been worse. We arrived in Malaga and claimed our luggage and exited the airport to a nice gentleman waiting with a sign with our name.  We walked to his very nice Mercedes for  our ride to Marbella.  I proceeded to sleep for most of the hour ride. It is amazing how much we have slept so far on our vacation!

We arrived at the Hotel  Claude Marbella which is in the center of the old town. It is just 7 rooms and we have booked the Franchescha suite. The receptionist let us know that she could have our rooms ready in about 10 minutes so we walked around to checked everything out in the hotel and then relaxed in the lobby.

After we dropped off our luggage and changed we decided to head to Puerto Banus which is a very nice port where the very rich and famous hang out, andam oretty sure we saw lots of rich but no one fa our , atleastnoone thatwe recognized.   We took and taxi over and strolled along the waterfront checking out all the amazing cars and boats...we had lunch where we had a great spot to people watch and a perfect view of the port and waterfront.


After lunch we strolled some more along the high end shops, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Burberry etc etc...and then walked past the beach area.  We decided to take the catamaran boat back to old town.  It was a nice ride with a sangria ..much better than the taxi!


Back at the hotel it was siesta time!  We could definitely get used to the Spanish lifestyle ..to bad we still have to work for a living...

After our siesta we headed out at about 8 pm to find some dinner .  We got back to the hotel about 11pm and were ready for bed...


Tomorrow we are off to Ronda for a day Tour!

Pictures are giving me a problem..I will add them as soon as I can..