Amazing Morocco – Day 15

Málaga – the beginning
Day 1 - Leaving SpainDay 2 - ChefchaouenDay 3 - FesDay 4 - Er RachidiaDay 5 - MerzougaDay 6 - Tinghir
Day 7 - Aït BenhaddouDay 8 - MarrakeshDay 9 - More MarrakeshDay 10 - Cascades (Ouzoud)Day 11 - IfraneDay 12 - Tarifa
Day 13 - MálagaDay 14 - TorremolinosDay 15 - Torremolinos-1Day 16 - Torremolinos-2Day 17 - Caminito del Rei

May 19th – Sunday
Torremolinos

The hotel was a good choice. It was quiet and comfortable. There were so many little “nice touches” that stood out: a blackout curtain that covered the window that made up the entire wall (and the view!), built in cables for charging various electronics, a comfy couch, a large and modern bathroom. I had searched so many different towns and hotels before picking this one, and felt the responsibility that my choice would be judged by everyone else in my group. I was glad that at least I was happy with it!

Coffee was the first order for business, and we found a nice Dutch place just a short way down the boardwalk from our hotel.

Dan matched the interior!

After the coffee and a little pastry (both of which were good and satisfied everyone), we headed back up the coast, towards the headlands where we had turned around the previous day. But this time I had a goal: there was a feral cat colony there! Kitties!

Another sandcastle

One cool character

The cats all seemed content, but not terribly social. Reading the sign made me feel better, knowing how they were cared for and were on a TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) program, as evidenced by the occasionally snipped ear I saw.

We walked passed the cats and around the headlands; we had reached the boardwalk that was at the bottom of the black and white steps we had descended yesterday. Ah HA! Now the geography of the town / boardwalk / hotel was better laid out in my mind.

Private beaches – you pay 7-10€ to have access to the chairs and umbrellas

A fun sculpture

There were many sandcastles

We had wandered along the boardwalk, and then made the return journey “inland”, a street or two back from the waterfront. If you read any of the link I put in yesterday’s post about the Costa del Sol, you might have noticed the comments about how many of the older, stately buildings had been torn down in the rush to commercialize the town. This really hit home when we stumbled upon Casa de los Navajas, one of the few remaining relics of earlier days.

Casa de los Navajas

It didn’t take long to look through the few open rooms that were available for public viewing. The details of the home were amazing, and I regret that so many comparable buildings fell to make way for the cold and uninteresting boxes that are so common now.

After leaving the Navajas, we headed back to the hotel for some more down time. It really is nice when you can break up your day with a convenient stop in your room. Too many times when I’m traveling it feels like “go go go!” because once you leave the hotel in the morning, you don’t return until the evening. Taking a break really made the time more enjoyable. We used this down time in our room, and again sitting by the pool. It was Sunday, so there were still quite a few people staying at the hotel, and many of them were relaxing in the sunshine. I still don’t understand how people can DO that!

We met up with Ron and Sue for the an afternoon stroll. Actually, we thought that we’d get a midday meal. Breakfast was a long time ago, and dinner was a long time away. We looked up Ristorante Ciao and it had good reviews and was near the hotel. It turned out to be “ok”, but I don’t think that it deserved the reviews that it had.

After our meal, we walked back to Benalmádena (this was a 2 km walk, just for reference) to see some more of it. There was a large marina and all of us have a level of interest in boats and wanted to check

Green flag on the lifeguard stand – good conditions!

As we admired the sailboats moored in the marina, I noticed something in the distance at the far seawall: it looked like a large Mississippi River paddle wheel! But if that’s what it was, what on earth was it doing here, on the Spanish Costa del Sol, on the other side of the Atlantic? We walked over for a closer look.

The Willow was not in great shape

That’s quite a bit of decking under water

When I got back to the room I looked up the history of the ship. It was really quite fascinating, and I can recommend these two links:

The history of the Willow

The future of the Willow

With that, we circled back to the mainland and then eventually back to the hotel. It really was a lazy day and I enjoyed reading by the pool some more, enjoying the ever-present breeze that came off of the sea.

Nice paint scheme on the local police car

Day 16