When my friend Becky Ryan hit London a week early, we planned a quick flight down to Malaga to see a couple of people and to spend some time with the gorgeous Alice and Sally.
After staying up at Gatwick overnight, we awoke early and Becky dressed, ready for spain - complete with sandals! - only to find that the British weather was true to form and VERY unpredictable!

2 inches of snow!? Bring on Spain!”

Puerto Banus was fantastic! We loved the sunshine, the beaches out of season and the shops. Chilling by the marina and eating seafood along the front….the beautiful designer shops….delightful! Only having a handful of words at my disposal, Becky’s Spanish helped immensely when Alice (fluent!) wasn’t around.

The beach at Puerto Banus out of season…. still lovely!

After spending a few days doing business, we took time out and visited Orange Square and found a great restaurant in the old quarter of Malaga which was arranged like an arabic bedouin tent, complete with pipe and cushions.

Becky demonstrates how to use the pipe…

Marie tries but hygiene takes over…”do i have to smoke this thing? You never know who might have had their mouth around this - ew!”

Coupled with a very nice bottle of Tempranillo we had a great time catching up and, needless to say, we had fun with our surroundings, too. This started to cement an idea we had been bandying about for a few days….
Visiting a small, traditional mountain village one evening after work for tapas and wine was delightful, too. Time with Sally, Alice, Becky and Mike was amazing and fun and was had by all.

The next morning dawned along with preparations to hit North Africa for the day……