First Impressions of Costa del Sol

We, that is my friend Tina and another of her friend's Anna (whom I had only met once) arrived at Malaga airport around 6pm (Sally if you read this no upgrade we did try but we were probably too scruffy) . The view flying over the mountains (Sierra Nevada) was magnificent. It was dark as we left the arrival hall to find a taxi, we began to worry when the driver who spoke no English (OK we don't speak Spanish so shouldn't criticise a person in his own country we later learned this is often used as a ploy to rip off tourists). You can imagine our apprehension when he didn't seem to understand where we wanted to go but we seemed head in the right direction from what we could see on the road signs. I won't dwell on the speed but white knuckle ride comes to mind.

However, when the driver finally took an exit road supposedly leading to the Grangefield Oasis Club that's when the real problem started as he couldn't find it and we drove round and around in circles. He asked several locals and a group of local taxi drivers who gave instructions and still we didn't arrive at our destination. He took us to several other clubs but not the one we were looking for. You can imagine we were getting concerned about the cost, was this genuine or a con. After a good half hour (over an hour after leaving Malaga) of driving around and getting back to where we started we decided to get a local taxi. We paid up 45 euro so not too bad we got in a local taxi and he took us straight to the door in 5 mins. and without knowing it we had passed the end of the road several times. We were ripped off this time 8 euro for what we learned later should have been 5 and I gave him a tip, still we were just relieved to get there.

The up side was that we were given a much larger appartment than we had expected, we ended up with three bedrooms and two bathrooms which was very comfortable as we didn't have to toss a coin for who shared a bedroom. This is balcony view of our first floor appartment taken from below.

The morning after we arrived I was up bright and early taking in the views from the balcony. I soon found out that the water I had heard was not pouring rain but a charming little pool which was home to several ducks.




Once the other two had surfaced we explored the complex and found the two outdoor pools. The temperature was around 20c and quite warm in the sun but not warm enough to swim outdoors.




The pools are not very large and I would imagine they would be very crowded in the summer but there were plenty of loungers for sunbathing at this time of the year.






We spent the first day planning trips (more about those later in the week) and we took a leisurely walk around the neighbourhood.





The roads are very steep and many appartments and villas are for sale and many are half completed. As you can see we did see some really pretty bouganvillia.

We also stopped off at a bar on the golf course for a litle refreshment. I discovered a taste for Sangria which makes a very pleasant drink. I shall have to experiment with some recipes now I'm home.