View out to sea from The Stupa at Benalmadena
Marsha, Astral-Asterix, Silver Surfer, Little Fink (weird floating witch child) and Mr Fink (Mrs Fink safely behind the camera).
Our Spanish holiday was perfect (apart from Mr Fink's food poisoning). We started out on Saturday morning with some local 'colour'. A local Finkleton resident had had too much sun and decided this was the day to stand on the roof of the garages and shout at policemen. They shut the road and fire engines, ambulances and local chavs got a good morning's entertainment. Marsha arrived with her tiger skin luggage and we broke through the cordon and headed for the airport. As we wandered through the airport, Marsha's dad, Bambi - who had dropped us off, sent a message "Got lost on way out, went up a one way road at the airport". We were stopped at baggage check in by the attendant who asked if we had permission to take Marsha out of the country? Luckily we had thought this might happen and produced a signed note to say we did have permission - I thanked the guy for checking - very reassuring. The flight passed uneventfully, Mr Fink and I busily boning up on our Spanish language, the girls listening to music and complaining about poppy ears.
We arrived in good spirits and Grandad Silver Surfer picked us up from Malaga airport (next to the San Miguel factory, you can't miss it!)
Sunday The Fink clan headed for the beach, had a quick dip and then were summoned up to The Drunken Sailor for a sumptuous English Sunday Dinner, served by Rose and Dave. We met some lovely friends, Terry and Lou, Maureen and George and a host of others - mostly Cockneys! After dinner we explored the beautiful Marina at Benalmadena (pronounced Benal-madn-a, only tourists call it Benal-ma-deena apparently). In the evening we put the girls to bed and had a game of poker - we decided the winner at the end of the week would collect the pot.
Monday we headed for the beach again. I showed Marsha how to snorkel and we headed off, saw sea-cucumbers, black spiny sea-urchins, hermit crabs galore, sea bream, sea bass, little fish and jelly fish (I got stung on the leg by a little one!). Unfortunately I spent a little too long in the water and burned my back. (typical, I'd been nagging the kids and Mr Fink all day to be careful in the sun - Grandad burned his tum too).
Tuesday we took the girls to the SeaLife centre, Little Fink had got info that her Blue Peter badge would get her into the centre free. Bravely I pushed Mr Fink to the front of the queue and waited for him to explain that in his pidgin Spanish.. He did very well. In the afternoon we went for dinner and i had my dream meal - we had 2 enormous plates of seafood and fish, langoustines, clams, mussels, huge prawns, fried baby squid (the girls were eating them like sweets!) calamari all delicious and fresh, with garlic sauce and salad. Hmmmm my favourite.
Wednesday we went to Mijas up in the mountains and were entertained by flamenco dancers in the town square, explored the bull ring, walked around the town and saw beautiful vistas, we had Spanish tapas at a little cafe. All was lovely. The famous Mijas donkey taxis were around but to our English animal-loving eyes, they didn't seem very happy.
Thursday we called on Terry and Lou to borrow their pool as Nanny and Grandad's pool had not been safety checked by the council and was closed. The pool was lovely, the grass green and sumptuous. The girls really enjoyed themselves, playing dolphin and dolphin trainer for hours. There were only 3 other people around so we pretty much had it to ourselves. At dinner that night, Grandad cooked a lovely paella, delicious. We had word from Marsha's parents, The Glums via text message that they were at the Ritz enjoying dinner!
Friday we went to Aqualand at Torremolinos (if you go, remember to print off £3 off vouchers before you go or get them from shops before you go) it was terrific. It is a theme park with rides but everything is water related and done in your swimming cozzy. Armed with hats and shirts to protect us from the sun (you can tell English people a mile off, they are all bright red and burned to a crisp) we went on the rides. I ventured on the black hole (a tube ride in the pitch black, 2 to a dinghy!) with Marsha and ended up upside down with grazed knees in the pool at the end! The others went on all manner of things, 80ft vertical drops (Mr Fink) twister slides (Little Fink, Marsha) and we all went on the Crazy Lanes, 4 lanes of slide, into a deep pool at the end, it looked quite high but otherwise not too scary. How wrong could I be? We sat down, I crossed my feet and my arms across my chest and set off. I went like a rocket on the film of water under me. I hit the pool at the bottom at a hundred miles an hour. The leg of my swimming costume usually residing in the crook of my leg had migrated 12 inches and was firmly buried under my armpit. i was not wearing a thong which was splitting me in half. this wasn't the worst part - the delicate among you should look away now. I realised the I had hit the water so fast that it had defied gravity and entered places water should never go with out medical supervision. Gravity was now reclaiming it's hold and I needed a toilet fast! we renamed the ride, The Double Enema.
Saturday Mr Fink was unwell so I took the girls with Nanny and Grandad to the Marina for some present shopping, a go on the bungees and a last meal at The Drunken Sailor, we were serenaded by Reuben and his Spanish guitar at the table and everything was lovely.
We packed our things, paid Grandad his poker winnings and headed back to the airport and home to a chilly night and a rainy rest of the week. Spain never seemed so far away. A beautiful place, full of kind and patient people, gorgeous scenery and terrific food and culture. We can't wait to return. Thank you Nanny and Grandad xxx
