Tuesday, 19th December -- Fuengirola and Benalmadena

Today Mike experienced his first Spanish Market in a city just down the coast from where we were, called Fuengirola. There was definitely not as much bartering as South America, but it was still really cheap and random. This is one of the most popular markets in the area and you could find anything from purses, to clothes, fruit, candy, nativity scenes, and of course the ever popular fake dog poo. We had lots of fun walking through the aisles and looking at all there was to offer.
Stacey, if you're reading this, we found your Christmas present for next year here... and no, its not fake dog poo. :)

After walking through the market for a couple of hours we were famished, so we decided to look for a Spanish restaurant. Who thought finding a Spanish restaurant in Spain would be so hard!! We found Mexican, American, British, Irish, German, Dutch, Italian, etc. Until, when we had almost given up hope, we finally found little restaurant called Ivan's, and no, it wasn't Russian. It was a wonderful restaurant run by a very friendly Spanish couple (you might say duh, but there were a lot of British family run restaurants). We had the most amazing paella there. I cannot remember if I have ever had it before, but it was Mike's first try and we both loved it. The only thing that kinda of irked us was the fact that in Spain the heads of the shrimp are still on when you receive the dish. I let Mike eat all of them.

A view of the coast and mountains behind off the pier in Fuengirola. The weather was spectacular and clear everyday except Saturday, and then we left the coast. I went wading in the Mediterranean, but it was a little chilly. But at least I can say that I went into the Mediterranean!

We then took the train over to Benalmadena and poked through the main park there. It was a typical park with all the flowers and plants, but there were tons of animals roaming about. There were peacocks, chickens, all sorts of ducks, rabbits, emus, swans, geese, and turtles. Also, they had various flora and fauna sectioned off throughout the park, such as the cacti area. There were lots of chickens roaming around the park, and of course, they followed us hoping for food. But we thought that this guy was pretty looking.

Benalmadena is right next to Torremolinos, so we decided after we walked through the park that we would just walk back to the hotel. Well, what we didn't account for is that we started on the very west end of Benalmadena and our hotel was on the very east end of Torremolinos. So, according to Google Maps we walked about 8 miles down the coast. And that doesn't even included the 1.5 mile walk to the train station in the morning nor us walking all over Fuengirola! By the end of dinner we were ready for bed, and only managed to stay awake until about 9:30 that night. But the next day we were going to Tangier, Morocco, so it was probably a good thing.

This is the Castle BilBil on the Benalmadena coast. People either hate it or love it, and Mike and I thought it was great. It is very Moorish in its architectural style, and by looking at it we never would have guessed it was it was built in the 1930's. It is the city's cultural centre, so there are lots of exhibitions and events there, but unfortunately it was closed for the holiday season.

All over the Costa del Sol the sidewalks had beautiful artwork on them such as this one. Even in one of the little towns that wasn't as touristy, there still were wonderful sidewalks made all out of rocks. I now have lots of ideas for the future! With all my rocks, I am sure that we will be able to make great walkways through a future yard. Mike is already excited about this project!!

A fountain in Benalmadena

This is the marina in Benalmadena. It is pretty large, and of course had massive boats in it. The apartments in the background were all very gated. Its a pretty ritzy part of town, and of course according to the resort reps the best clubbing in town. It even boasts to have a restaurant owned by Antonio Banderas and all sorts of Hollywood stars have been spotted there. But since we went during the tourist off season there was, unfortunately, no chance of seeing Antonio.