We are in Estepona, Costa Del Sol, having a lovely week’s holiday with our eldest daughter, Lucy, and our, just as gorgeous, first grand daughter
We were up at 5am to get to Gatwick for a 925 flight with British Airways. It’s been over 30 years since we’ve flown with a baby, and I’d forgotten quite how much rammel it is necessary to take with you. Luckily, BA, is extremely generous with travelling baby allowances and we had no issue with a car seat, a travel pushchair, toys, clothes, sterilising kits, sleep sacks, over crib monitor, white noise machine…… plus luggage for 3 adults!!!! It was good to see the back of it all at check in. Lucy and I dealt with that while Bob parked the car.
Luckily Lucy is a BA Gold member and she has access to the first class lounge and can take one guest, so she, baby and I went in there (we got priority lane through security too) and scoffed full English breakfast (well… not baby) while Bob parked and then came back and enjoyed breakfast in one of the airside restaurants.
We were able to pre-board first which was a boon because the flight was 100% full and we were almost at the back. Lucy has a Joolz Aer 2 travel stroller which folds to go into the overhead locker. It’s such a boon. Very recommended. The flight was smooth and we landed in Malaga about 20 minutes late.
We were rather dreading what we would find. The EU has just activated full use of its biometric entry system and the reports through the testing/implementation phase have been horrendous – 4 hours queues and missed flights. Our hearts sank when we came up the gangway from the plane and the line started almost immediately stretching out around a corner and to imagined infinity and beyond! We queued for about 5 minutes and then Lucy decided to go ahead and see if there was a family line. She came back and gave us the nod. We’d been told to go ahead to the Manual Passport Check area which had lines only about 5 deep. We were soon through having had our biometric photos and fingerprints taken (not baby).
When Bob and I had booked the holiday, it was just for us two, and also the hire car. When we got to the Hertz desk and the clerk saw our party and luggage, he was adamant we wouldn’t fit in the car we’d ordered. So we had to upgrade to a Renault small SUV which cost us another £170. I must admit though, it is a very comfortable ride and super modern. Bob had to read the manual to work out the automatic gear lever and starter mechanism. Took us about an hour to get to our resort, Marriott Playa Andaluza, on the coast to the north of Estepona town.
It’s a timeshare resort that we swapped our week into and we have never stayed at it before although we have stayed a few times at its sister resort, Marriott Marbella Beach, just north of Marbella. It’s a lovely resort, beautifully landscaped, and we have a 2 bed/2 bath apartment with full kitchen. By the time we got there we were pretty exhausted. Being a Sunday most shops were shut but Bob and I ran out to a small supermarket about 10 minutes drive away which was open, to get groceries for dinner and breakfast.
Dinner was late and not my best ever effort to be honest but the red wine helped and we all had a very good night’s sleep. Beds are super comfy.
This morning we awoke to blue skies and sunny temperatures rising to about 21C. After a gentle start of breakfast and play with the baby, we headed down to Estepona late morning. We parked in an underground car park in the Old Town near to the Plaza de la Flores. Wandered through the colourful lanes packed with shops and little restaurants. It really is charming. After a bit of shopping, we settled down at exactly the same restaurant where we had dinner last time we were here, Madu Bar Fusion. Had a delicious lunch of small plates and interesting salads. The croquetas were very good, spinach filo parcels with walnuts and blue cheese, grilled vegetables with goats cheese…. it was lovely to sit outside under the orange trees to eat.
After lunch we walked to the sea promenade a few streets away and walked along by the sea for a while. The beach was pretty empty but there were a few brave souls in the water and sunbathers on the beach. The sun is definitely strong enough to sunbathe. Lucy and Baby BT bought new sunhats.
There was a very clear view of Gibraltar . We wandered round some more and ended up having coffee and ice cream in the flower square. Yum.
Stopped at Carrefour on the way home to pick up supplies for the week. Got some lovely meat and rioja at just over £2 a bottle on sale. Came home and had our own tapas feast and some of the wine. It was really good. A perfect first day.