Adios Espana!

Update - I got out of Spain just in time to miss the airport strike that has left the airports closed!  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/04/spanish-airport-strike-state-emergency - Wow!  I had no idea!

Anyhow - here is my blog about successfully enjoying the end of our stay in Spain :)

Digame – I love how a lot of people in Spain answer their phones “Talk to me”.  Diga-you - our last day in Spain we spent west of Malaga on a SUNNY beach – talk about leaving on a high note!  While it was by no means warm water, we started off with a dip in the Meditteranean – brrrrr – but in a good way J  Vickie enjoyed it so much she went in a second time later in the day.  She is definitely an Irish lass now – even us Canucks don’t soak in that temperature for too long J  We had fun taking photos in the water, re-enacting photos from a trip to another cold water body – an icy glacial lake on the Icefields Parkway in Alberta 10+ years ago, and adding to Vickie’s handstand gallery.  After a stroll on the beach and a ‘beach-side workout’ – apparently Malaga’s is not the only one - we found a lovely little beachside hangout.  This was a real treat b/c it is low season and it’s not exactly warm – so a lot of the places are all closed up until high season returns.  The owner was very friendly and her and her son took great care of us – I enjoyed a banana milkshake and pina colada with my pizza (came out of a toaster oven but was delicious!) while Vickie enjoyed her 2.50 Euro Spanish bottle of wine :)  We played scrabble (I managed to squeak out a win – you know me, I do like to win!) and just enjoyed the day.  Was lovely!  Just what we needed to cap off our wonderful trip!

Waking up to sunshine!



Getting in the Mediterranean - HOLA!





Vickie - queen of the headstands



I figured I better do one too - copycat am I!



There was a tractor fixing the beach from storm damage!




Exercising at the beach - shake those hips!




Playing scrabble on the beach :)



A navy ship - protecting Spanish waters?

As the sun was fading we decided to head back to Malaga – as recommended by Reyko, our helpful Barcelona-loving front desk guy at the hotel.  We were delighted to leave the area we were in b/c even in low season it felt super touristy- they served dinner starting well before 8:30 – so you knew you weren’t in local Spain ;)  And our hotel was a bit of a strange time warp too!  

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

Big bull up on the hill along the Costa del Sol - bullfighting anyone?


Upon arrival back in Malaga we stopped at the train station and did some SERIOUS SHOPPING (lots of great shopping right in the station).  First we dropped off some of our bags in a locker – not sure how many kilos Vickie's weighed but it was definitely overweight – must have been all those oranges she was waiting to make juice with that she had me carry for her ;)  - We were joking that perhaps her bag was going to need to go on a diet before arrival at the airport today!  We were pretty excited at a sale – although it turned out it wasn’t quite as we  thought - translation! – but we still spent lots of Euros and were pleased with our Christmas purchases.  Somehow I managed to get everything into my bag (I’m even muleing random things like Granola and oat milk for Vickie when she comes to Sweden in 3 weeks-trying to help her bag weight situation ;)

Making our bocadillo - mmmmmarveilloso

Jamon!



Vickie and our stack of packages!



So after 3 hours of shopping – including stopping for a bocadello – where they literally carved the meat off of the pig leg for us – it was back to the Hotel California.  After getting packed we decided to make the most of our last night and headed down to the City Center to enjoy the LIGHTS – oh the lights – they are absolutely stunning!!!!  It felt so festive and we really didn’t want to leave!  We got back to the hotel at 2 am and then after some packing and giggles a Sesame Street fashion show and some quality skyping for me, it was time to go to bed – well really it was time to get up – I think I had 1 hour of sleep last night as I was wired!  

Can you tell me how to get - how to get to Sesame street (?calle) :) - 4 am deliriousness?!

My favorite lights on Paseo del Parque - General Torrijo - WOW!



 



In the city center - more lights!

A video of the lights from Paseo del Parque - nativity scene and all!



WOW - okay so it's using a lot of energy - but it's muy bonita!

So many beautiful Christmas trees!

Vickie and the lights in one of the many plazas



Our phones were running on 'movistar' so we felt very movistar like ;)



There was momentary panic this morning when I saw two missed calls from Vickie when I was at the airport – turns out she couldn’t find her wallet and thought I had it – luckily it was in her jacket pocket.  That would have been quite the adventure – AVENTURA was definitely the theme of our trip.  And my AVENTURA continued on the way home - ended up getting motion sick and paid the price in Stockholm (barfilicious! NOT!) and then in Umea my bag was no where to be found - moral of the story as the SAS employee said "TOO MANY FLIGHTS" - I couldn't agree more!  But 17 hours after leaving the hotel I was finally at home in Umea - sick and bagless but happy to be home!  I feel much better today with a full nights sleep and news that my bag will arrive soon - in time for my 4 pm laundry slot -phew :)  By that time it will be dark as midnight - ahhh Sweden!

Oh and one more thing from our trip that caught my eye.  The green traffic men are cool in Berlin, but the the green man traffic light is ever so clever in Spain – he even speeds up when the light is going to change to warn you – andale andale!   Alas I wasn’t thinking and turned my camera sideways so lean on over – but you still get the idea :)   

Walking & running man - tilt your head to the left!

Vamos!

USE ME - and great recycling options too!