Andalucia Day2 : Benalmadena Costa and Pueblo

Assalam..it's December. Only few days before a brand new year. Sangat cepat tahun ini. Jangankan saya, anyone that has been following my blog juga memerhatikan pembesaran Aariz kan? Sometimes, I feel glad ada juga yang follow my humble blog ini. Ok that was just...a sincere thought. Anyway, let's continue on my second day. Maaflah gambar banyak sangat, like I said, I read my blog to refresh my memories =)

Andalucia is in the south of Spain, with Seville as its capital city, along with popular provinces like Cordoba, Granada, Malaga .. I think I once wrote about a king who loved poems in Seville, Alhambra that I've mentioned many times ..banyak kali sangat macam pernah pegi. So you know how much I wanted to go to Andalucia. And we make it real this time, though we've skipped Cordoba and Seville. I know it's such a shame not to go to Cordoba for its famous Mezquita (masjid lama, if you ever watch Suria di Codoba on astro) but due to time and cost constraint we only picked Malaga and Granada.

Haa bila ada maps barulah sedap nak cerita. Now, a little info, Costa del Sol is coastal towns along the Mediterranean coastline in Malaga. Costa del Sol means 'Sunny Coast' and yes it is. Never get tired of the blue sky. In Malaga, we stayed in Benalmadena. I could have choose Torremolinos (my husband suka ulang2 'Torremolinos" hehe), Torrox, or maybe Mijas but after many good reviews for Benalmadena Costa, I finally made my decision. And I wasn't wrong. I never looking forward to a beach this much until I finally in love with Benalmadena costa.

from our balcony, funny that we were the only  'young couple' yang ada...semua couple tua..tapi romantic kan ?

Aariz was happily discovering sand (and seashells), I just let him, he never got the chance plus the beach is well maintained and clean sand. We both were adoring the scenery..jernihnya, siap ada ikan di gigi air.

Kalau nak diikutkan hati, nak saja duk sini sampai petang but I have Benalmadena Pueblo in my itinerary. Pueblo means small town/ or village. But I could say it as a typical Spanish neigbourhood. Dengar orang bercakap2 rasa macam dalam telenovela. The ladies? Oh semua cantik2 =)

The Benalmadena Pueblo is located high upon the pueblo hills..So another fantastic scenery we got there. SubhanAllah yang menciptakan semua ini! In Benalmadena Pueblo is hidden what one may call the andalusian charms having kept the authentic pace of old times without being influenced by the rapid development, as I read. So what we've discovered,

the famous statue of a girl known as La Nina at the Plaza Espana

 houses, side by side

restaurante and cafes adalah secomel ini

If you could recall my photos from previos post, Marbella, tak banyak beza. Still maintaining they white building identity but for me Benalmadena is more for ordinary people, not so prestigious like Marbella.

It was hard to find halal restaurant, but luckily found one at Playa Santa Ana just a stone's throw away from our hotel. You must know that the north Morocco (Africa) is only neighbor on the south Spain (Andalucia), so the Moroccons juga ada kat sini, like the waiter at the restaurant where we had our late lunch. He gave us free tapas hehe..tapas is anything appetizer. We had Paella, the one that looks like nasi goreng, and roman style sotong (sotong goreng tepunglah). Mungkin saya kurang bernasib baik kerana mendapat Paella yang kureng sedap hehe..alhamdulillah rezeki hari itu =)

After lunch we went to Paseo de la isla..another marina in Benalmadena

Ok till next entry, Alhambra..hehe finally I can write about my own Alhambra visit =)

Andalucia Day 1 : Marbella

I'm smiling, reminiscing Spain (Andalucia) as I'm typing this entry. I miss Costa del Sol with all of my heart, thanks hubby for the videos =) If only I could share with you but obviously they need to be edited to shorter version hehe. Well, the weather was at its good, Andalucia has a picturisque surrounding....hills and beaches. A great balcony, I must say. Very perfect that photos will never do it justice.

Anyway, let's start from our first day. The flight to Malaga by Ryanair was at 6:50am, we did an early bedtime sebab kesian Aariz nanti penat. But my cheecky boy steady je..as always lah Aariz. The flight took approx 2 hrs ++. Sebenarnya, I still fear of flying terutamanya part departure and landing, but the beautiful landscape made by a near beach Malaga airport left me awe struck. Ohhh tak sabar2, sedikit berdebar juga ada.

The weather was a bliss. We didn't need jackets...selesa sangat. Boots put aside, I just wore thin cardigan. Aariz seemed so happy without clothes weigh on him. I was expected to see a sign with my husband's name  on it by the care hire staff, but nothing like that has happened. So we called them haha. I'm strongly recommend you to hire a car in here. We got a manual car (left-hand drive tau), a baby seat and gps navi with full tank petrol at EURO90.

I'm usually an itinerary kind of traveler, had printed out sheets of excel files (believe me!) or 'buku travel' kalau my husband cakap. We had Marbella on the first page, with Oldtown and Puerto Banus as the locations to go. I purposely chose Oldtown because I wanted some romantic gateway. Yes, Oldtown was absolutely charming, white washed streets, chic boutiques and cafes side by side, square and fountains and I loved the balconies overflowing with flowers. So we parked our car at Marisquera La Pesquera restaurant basement at Plaza Victoria and let ourselves lost in the Casco Historico (the name of the Oldtown on map)

We had our late lunch at a restaurante named Medium Rare, the food was expensive in here. I think Marbella is a place for rich people to hang out..even a parking ticket for 2 hours costs us 8Euro T_T Tapi takpelah, bukan selalu...orang kata, nak tengok2 kan. Sean Connery used to lived in here..  there's a plaza named Antonio Banderas. Many times I told myself, I'm in south Spain weehuuu!

Yes orange trees pretty much everywhere, they line the streets and flourish tapi macam orang tak kisah.. We still curious about it.

More photos..

Sorrylah banyak sangat gambar...Sharing is caring hehe.

After Oldtown we went to Puerto Banus, a marina located at the southwest of Marbella. Another playground for the rich and famous. Tapi ramai je tourist like us kat sini..tho sometimes rasa alien sikit orang tengok2 probably because I'm wearing scarf/tudung.

After Marbella, we went to our hotel in Benalmadena. I made an early reservation for this hotel to secure our room and best discounted price from http://www.lateroom.com/ . We got a studio apartment at Sunset Beach Club hotel. Two thumbs up for its cleanliness and full kitchen utensil. Satisfaction throughout our 3 days stay in this hotel. Our room was overlooking the pool and beach..hmmm.. rindunya..

Ok jangan penat tengok gambar ye..I'll continue on our second day ... a visit to Benalmadena Pueblo, a spanish village.

goodbye Catalonia

Spent the last 5 days in Andalucia, and done Barceloning. We are so ready to come back home...but surely gonna miss the fantastic weather and climate in Spain...

 the beautiful Costa del Sol

Puerto Banus, Marbella

near Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

wait for my update!

Cambridge : punting on the river Cam

After lunchtime, we continued our day in Cambridge at the Backs. It is the area where the colleges of Uni of Cambrige back on to the river Cam. It is a very practical way to explore all of the colleges by punting on the river. Initially, I thought to purchase the ticket online (to reserve the seat), rupanya lagi murah beli terus and negotiable. So we got our ticket at 18pounds for two (most website price is 12pounds /pp)

Well there's nothing like punting on a river overlooking the beautiful landscape of Cambridge. Other than a leisure purpose, punting is like a quick way for us to learn the history of Cambridge. Sebab the chauffeur ceritakan every how and why about the colleges as our punt passing thru the buildings.

Yes some people might choose to walk through the Backs but it's pretty difficult because the walkway is separated by bridges.

As seen, my husband was fascinated by the Mathematical bridge. He liked it because of its mathematical explanation. Aariz pula masa ni sibuk cari duck-duck =)

and bird-bird

the mathematical bridge

the bridge of Sighs

the 'sighs' of those pre-exam student, as simply claimed by the myth. ye, masuk akal dan kretif namanya.

And more of Cambridge stories..like, the rival between Trinity and St. John, the multi huge Cambridge library sampai ada student simpan dadah! And the latest was Trinity (the wealthiest) bought London O2 concert arena for MJ's welcoming concert...

And the punting last for 45ish minutes.

The end, for Cambridge =)

get my walk on (more this year)

I haven't complete my Cambridge travelogue, and I have my Bath story on hold. On next week we'll fly away to somewhere warmer ; south Spain! I still struggle with my itinerary, try to squeeze everything in 5 days.

Meanwhile, .. this Bath!

 Pulteney bridge, on the river Avon

 the Royal Crescent

can you believe this is a neighbourhood, how does it feel to  live in here?

the Roman Great Bath