Hotel Bahia Malaga Málaga

After days at sea we had a short stop in Malaga before docking the next day back in Savona. I have decided that I am not crazy about the days at sea. Even though I really enjoyed all the ports, I don't think I would do anther big curise. The fact that there were only small number of people who spoke enlgish on the ship was interesting. So wanted to speak another language .. any lanaugage. Even when I told the Germans I did nto speak Germann they kept talking!

Let´s see, the following things just about sum up Puerto Banus (near Marbella in the South of Spain):

- clear blue skies
- chirping birds
- wicked hotel with awesome pool
- chic boutiques
- restaurants, cafes and bars
- golfer´s paradise
- casino

Aahh... just what was needed for Contiki recovery!

I spent a lot of time lazing by the pool reading, whilst Mark was off either at the Casino ...

... ham, and beef. She said it was very traditional and that you mix it all up and dip your bread on it. It was so good. It reminded me of Thanksgiving. Then tonight the ISA group had a dinner at a restaurant (they rented it out) it was so good. Wine, salad, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, gravy, cranberry type sauce, and some kind of meat. We later found out that the meat was turkey with stuffing. It was really good. I can't remember ...

... of almost 200 of his works

... hacking and coughing going on by a few people in our car, it was a wonderful train trip (we referred to our car as the sick bay).

We spent the next week in the beautiful village of Frigliana, Spain (about 40 miles east of Malaga). We took a bus to the coastal city of Nerja and then a 10 minute bus ride into the hills of Frigiliana. Frigiliana is known as Las Villas de las tres culturas or the city of three cultures ...

... Alex, Maria, Juan, and two friends from an intercambio) were all super proud of me. No pasa nada!

Afterwards we went to a bar where they played a lot of older Spanish songs…very good and upbeat even though some were from the 60’s. Also, after I left the bathroom in the bar I saw Maria standing waiting for the girls bathroom and she called me over. She had met a girl from Jaen in the line and I talked a little bit to ...

... about the Catholic religion (as he calls it) and is keeping us up to date with what is happening and why. On Good Friday we were in Seville and a few of us decided to join in the night festivities. We walked down to near the Cathedral to see one of the Easter processions. We had about half an hour to wait and the area became jam packed. For the first 20 minutes or so of the procession there were men wearing black ...

... were air-conditioned tents set up and places decorated and cleared in the streets for many thousands of people to dance and celebrate. We even had to leave the port by the fishing pier entrance because the normal customs gate was closed. On the beach, there was a large stage with lighting set up and barricaded off because at midnight that night, there would be lots of fireworks in the harbor and a huge rock concert with a teen idol ...

... for! Additionally to that we had to pay the wholeprice to our hostel we booked in Barcelona for that night without even spending a split second in it! But that was not the worst, waiting for 9 hours was the **** part we swopped places many times and from time to time i headed out for little missions like finding the next Supermarket ...

... am hoping to relax a little before I head back and I am looking forward to my return. It has been interesting to hear the myths about the US while on my travels, most of them are pretty funny, some are true, but most are not. A lot of criticism about Bush and I cannot defend him because I agree with them. I really look forward to and English speaking country. I think I´ll learn Spanish when I get back. Looking forward to coming home. Ciao,