Our Spain Experience: Torremolinos, Morocco, and Gibraltar Among a Few

So, due to the fact that we did not have a stable internet connection in Spain, the blog has been neglected and not kept up to date. That being said, we've returned to England, and now I feel the need to post some timely information on this website for all our family and friends.

We left for Spain last Thursday (October 18th) - after staying up all night in Gatwick airport, we were finally in the air around 6am and arrived in Spain to a balmy 26 degrees later that morning. We checked into our resort, only to discover that we had been assigned an incorrect room (a view of a busy street instead of the sea view that we had requested) -- so after some arguing and persuading with the front staff, we were assigned our new room with the sea view. The resort was also supposed to be all inclusive, but, we soon realized that our travel agent mislead us because no drinks of any sort (from Coke to any type of alcohol) were covered in our full-board arrangement. This was a disappointment, but, we tried to put it behind us and enjoy our break. The resort itself was in very convienient location -- very close to the main shopping areas in Torremolinos, and less than 5 minutes from the beach, where we spent a lot of time. All in all, the resort wasn't that bad - but, if I were going back to that area again, I would choose another resort.

While in Spain, we decided to take a couple of day trips to different regions by booking with local travel agents. The first of these day trips was to Tangers, Morocco, Africa -- so we offically stepped on another continent! Tangers was interesting -- a lot of building taking place, but many areas looked very poor and run down. The street vendors were VERY aggressive -- they kept in your face, and chased you through the streets until you finally went into another building or decided to buy something off of them. We did have a traditional Moroccan meal at a fancy restaurant and it was quite good. So, the day was long, and perhaps not as good as we would have liked, but we can now officially say we were in Morocco and Africa.

Another day trip we did during our vacation was the Rock of Gibraltar, which is essentially a huge piece of rock connected to Spain by a thin strip of land. What's interesting about Gibraltar is that it is offically a territory of Britain -- complete with the British Pound, all the shops, and everything else British. Gibraltar is a duty free island, which means the shops all sell things VERY cheap, including booze and tobacco (i.e. we bought a litre of Lamb's for 4 British pounds). Gibraltor also had a lot of cool tourist attractions -- there are wild monkeys that live at the top of the rock, and tunnels in the rock itself that were made by the British to defend against the Spainish and Germans during the war. Many other cool things as well, but it was raining during our visit, so it was difficult to enjoy the day. We were quite happy with the Gibraltar trip, and would definitely conisder going back there again at some point (for the shopping, if nothing else!).

That's all we'll write for now -- more pictures tomorrow, and perhaps we will add more to this post.

Vacation Time in Torremolinos, Spain.

Sunset in Torremolinos.



















Ryan on the beach.

Kelly on the beach.

A beautiful day at the beach.

























The Promenade along the main beach. A beautiful area for shopping and dining.

One of the many shopping areas along the main beach












Photos taken from our balcony...

Dinner and Fiddler on the Roof

Tonight we ventured into London for our first theatre experience -- although the show we did end up watching was not what we originally intended to see. Our goal was to see either The Lion King or Wicked -- however, no tickets being available for either of those shows, we decided to take our chances on Fiddler on the Roof.

What could I say about this production? It was amazing! Fiddler on the roof is a musical performance, and this one didn't disapoint at all. Kelly and I were both extremely happy with the play, and we decided to go all out and have dinner and a theatre experience. So, after getting off the tube, we dined at an Italian restaurant in Leicester Square and then walked down to the Savoy Theatre on the Strand - just a minute away from the Thames River. It was wonderful -- the food, the music, the stage, and the seats, which weren't that expensive at all. Overall a great night, and much better than Friday night (I'm sure Kelly would also agree with that).

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the theatre, but we took some pictures from the outside and just in Trafalgar Square in London as well. Since it's 1am here now, and I'm beat, I think we'll wait until tomorrow morning to put up pictures.

Until then,

Ryan and Kelly

Work, Vacation, and All Other Things English

Well, it has been a busy week to say the least -- both Kelly and I have, in fact, worked non-stop during the past two weeks! It has not been all work however -- this past week, we officially booked our trip for half-term break, and decided to take an all-inclusive vacation to the Las Palamos resort in southern Spain for one week. We leave on Thursday (the 18th) and return on the following Thursday (25th) and will no doubt enjoy the barely-under-30s temperature, 25 degree water, and FREE food and booze for the entire week! We'll be taking lots of pictures, so expect to see some of those on this blog as well.

Now, for a quirky little feature, we present some of the interesting things we have encountered in England since arriving here. We'll put a couple of interesting things on here, and sort them by category:

Sayings

a) "You al'right?" -- Apparently this just means hello, but, EVERYONE says it to you in the school. Very popular saying....we still haven't got it completely.

b) "He's taking the micky out of me!" -- Popular one with the kids in the classroom, apparently means that someone is taking the 'piss' out of you - by annoying, teasing, or just being a plain old nusiance. Expect to hear this one at least 5-6 times a day.

Foods (we've run into some interesting ones over here)

a) Rashers -- British version of bacon, you can get either the full-back or 'streaky' variety. We personally prefer the streaky.

b) Bakewells -- A delicious dessert....like a tart filled with goodness (probably fat/calories) and topped with a cherry. Must try with tea!

c) Sticky Toffee Pudding -- Again...delicious...words cannot explain! Must try with coffee.

Anyhows -- there is SO much more we could write and tell you about, but, safe to say you need a dictionary for some of the things they say!

We're hoping to head into London shortly, pick up theatre tickets, and see a show. If we do manage to get tickets, pictures will hopefully follow soon thereafter.

Until next time!

Ryan and Kelly