Marbella, Spain - May 2006

Well, since Marriott offered me a nice weekend in their Marbella resort for a competîtive price, I thought I'd bring my good friend Misha with me...and there we went from May 4th to May 7th...Sun, cabrio and beach....A perfect spring getaway.
The first day started very early: the cab was more than 20 minutes in advance in front of my door...which compensated for our plane being somewhat late in Madrid later that day. Once in Malaga Airport, we decided to upgrade the car from a Clio toward a BMW. That one ended up being very dirty...We got a free upgrade for a Peugeot 307 CC, which had some sort of radio/CD player problem...After some time, we finally got our cabrio and off we were to Marbella...
Arrived on site, I handled the check-in while Misha took pics of a neighbouring car which he thought scratched the right door or OUR CABRIO...After all, not much to see...Parked the car (very tiny space to get through this garage by the way), got ourselves excited when entering the appartment (100 sq.m luxury) and off to the swimming pool for Misha...Later on, went to dinner in the resort's fine restaurant (Paella...) and for a drink at Charlie's (10 euros the Vodka Red Bull....not every day).
On Friday (we arrived on a thursday...logically), we decided to head for Gibraltar, the GB colony in southern Spain. We enjoyed the ride and tried to sneak into Gibraltar...Misha needed a Visa so he had to stay out and I cowarldy did leave him alone while rapidly touring the center, taking pics and buying postcards).

I'd love to go back there just for the cheap Armani costumes I saw...We drove back to the hotel, enjoyed the Sun and finally went out for dinner in Marbella. We parked the car at least 17 blocks away from where we were supposed to go but it was a nice walk. The restaurant we went to (restaurant Buenaventura in Marbella) is located on the Church's square...We both ordered the gastronomie menu (we were lucky to get this 75 euros voucher from Marriott...otherwise...). I had three words: Oh my god! Delicious food, nice ambiance, nice waiters and awesome food again...Remember that duck Misha??? and that wine? and the cake at the end? and the tomato soup/juice at the beginning (we now know how to eat it!)? Here is the menu: Buenaventura appetizers ; Duck Foie with creamy Goat cheese and mango ; "Porra" from Antequera with quails eggs and tuna fish ; Baked turbot with season vegetables and citrus reduction ; Magret of Duck with vegetables and stewed apple compote ; Sorbete de fruta de la pasión ; "Tocino de Cielo" with raspberry mousse

On day 3, we had this presentation from Marriott about their Timeshare system. Rita was our commercial representative. Nice girl from Portugal...almost bought it...still think I'll buy it...have to think more...:) Went back to the hotel with our driver Terry who showed us the Beverly-Hills like area of Puerto Banús. Had another end of the afternoon to the beach but the weather got cold later...went for dinner and a nice last-evening ice cream next to the swimming pool...Nice idea by the way Misha...:)
Day 4 was the last day in Marbella for us. We checked out after a nice breakfast and headed toward Marbella and its beach. Had a drink over there, enjoyed the sun and the view and finally drove back to Malaga airport.
At 22:00 we were in Amsterdam. Got my train to The Hague pretty soon while Misha had to take the bus back to Utrecht to catch his train...Very nice vacation...something to do more often:)



All pics from this trip can be seen here