Mar Azul Resort Estepona

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 ...

... many of us who finished off our bottles over the course of the night. I ended up staying up pretty late talking to a Kiwi, Craig.

Other comments I have. The tents are quite nice and they look VERY durable which is particularly important. We divided into cook crews and I somehow ended up on two. Weird, the North American group (me plus my Canadians) put me on theirs and Pete and Craig thought I was going to be with them. I decided to stay with ...

This is by far the most beautiful city I have visited in Spain! Ronda is where the first bullfight took place and is home to the oldest bullring in Spain. The other students and I started out the day listening to one of our professors give a speech about the history of bullfighting, very interesting but after three hours I was ready to see Ronda. We then went to the bullring and had the opportunity to go inside where the fights take place. It was a feeling like no ...

... the cable car ride to the top of the mountain. Just outside of the lift building, was a set of tour vans, they were another way to go to the top. They offer a tour of the complete top of the Rock from the Pillars of Hercules to St. Michaels Cave on pass the Ape Den and out to the Great Siege Tunnels. We accepted the tour and with three other couples from the ship, we began our adventure on the Rock of Gibraltar. It was a small white van that held nine people including the driver ...

... up the rock. This driving was so bothersome to me that I had to stare at Jennifer for part of it as right before the very end, we had to cross this area where there was a shear drop on both sides of the rode. However, I managed and we got out to meet some of the monkeys. It was harrowing for me with the views, but I took what pictures I could of the views and then pretty much grabbed onto the rock for dear life. The monkeys were everywhere - on the ...

... warm sunshine. . Sadly my time was short here - I was returning to the UK for a 50th birthday party . Guy a veteran St Anton skier had booked the mighty Gunner from the St Anton Piccadily bar to play - I was keen to catch up with him and get some tips for finding a good place. Plus I wanted to see my ski friends Jane and co from the Lakes one more time before I left... So on Friday I headed out from Malaga on an Easy jet flight back to Manchester...

... mij ineens dat ik het adres van de jeugdherberg waar we gereserveerd hadden niet had opgeschreven. LOEMP, jawel! Het was ondertussen ook al pikkendonker, dus we vonden het echt niet. Nergens stond er een bordje met 'albergue' = jeugdherberg op. Dus wij het gaan vragen, maar doordat het allemaal eenrichtingsstraten waren en we constant verkeerd reden, hebben we het wel 10 keer opnieuw moeten gaan vragen. Uiteindelijk reden we in de verkeerde richting een straat in, toen ...

... live concerts (I imagine when they can get enough tourists to buy into it). The cave was spacious but so-so as far as caves go. The one thing I noticed was that there were a million tourists in groups there all with a Mickey Mouse sticker on. Sure enough, upon exiting we noticed that a Disney cruise line had arrived at the Gibraltar port overnight. God help us all. The person at the main gate had indicated that that O'Hare's battery wasn't open, but it was ...

... I knew of it was quite believable. Apparently Hitler wanted to bomb and then invade Gibralter by sea, but was convinced by his admirals that it simply could not be done, that the defences of The Rock were impenetrable. But enough history, there's climbing to do, and monkeys to see. Once we'd passed the "border" and found a park, which is no mean feat in Gibraltar, we set out for the rock. Frugality triumphed over sloth, so we scorned the cable car and decided to ...

One day after class someone a friend asked me if I wanted to go to the rock of Gilbralter before we went to Marbella. I didn't really think about it, just said, see the rock, sure. As I travelel on the eight hour night bus to a southern port where we could walk to the rock, I thought to myself....why am I going all this way to ...