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May. 4th, 2009
Our Trip to Spain
May. 4th, 2009 08:30 pmWe took a trip to Spain last week to look at a timeshare. My friend Steve has one, and he suggested to Marriott that we might be interested too. So we decided to go from last Sunday and return on Wednesday. It was surprisingly cheap (2 bedrooms for €250 for four days, three nights), and our only obligation was to attend a presentation on buying a timeshare.
We flew Aer Lingus from Gatwick, and I must say that, for a "budget" airline, their service was first-rate. We checked-in online and printed out our boarding passes, and got on the plane without a hitch. We took Thameslink down from London Bridge and got there in plenty of time.
The airport in Málaga was dull and dreary, I'm afraid. It looked like they hadn't bothered to change a lightbulb since Franco was alive, and the signage, in both English and Spanish, was wordy without being at the same time informative. We found the bus stop for Marbella Bus Station (Portillo Buses—I wonder if our former Defense Minister is a relation) and took a cab from the bus station to the resort.
I must say, it's nice to live as the other half lives for a few days. The apartments were in small blocks, four floors of flats, two to a landing and two landings on each floor. When we got into the flat, it was stunning. There were two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, utility room, and a balcony. I would love to just buy it and live there all year long. There are pictures; see below.
The first night we went to the supermarket on site and bought a pizza, some salad, and some drinks. The one problem with the site is that, if you don't have a car or can't drive, you feel kind of stuck and at the mercy of the cab drivers (who were all nice, of course). There are local amenities to which you can walk, but we didn't go as our time was so short.
On Monday we decided to go to Old Marbella, which is at the centre of the town. A €20 cab ride later, we were there. All the shops (except for the cafés) were shut for siesta, but we managed to get some nice pictures of the mountains (and ourselves), the old city walls, and a couple of chapels. We had previously had a burger at one of the outdoor restaurants at Marriott, and I was happy to see that the Spaniards, at least, didn't mind serving you a medium-cooked burger.
Tuesday we went for the dreaded sales interview. It wasn't too bad: I hadn't known a lot about the kind of time share that Marriott sells. Basically, it's not just a week-llong share in one property; it's a share that can be traded, sold, bartered, used for other properties and the like. I thought it would be a good deal, but HWMBO vetoed it on the basis that as I'm not currently working we couldn't afford it. Oh well. We got a €75 voucher for meals, which we used in one of the restaurants. HWMBO ate a lot of seafood, but I had a steak, which was medium, just as the burger on Monday had been. With a glass of wine each we got out of there for about €65. In the afternoon HWMBO went for a swim, while I checked out the "internet café". The computer I drew wasn't very expensive, but there was no connection to the printer that I could see, so we couldn't print out the boarding passes for the return trip. I discovered that we'd won £72 in the EuroMillions lottery; nice to know, and had I known before I suppose I might have used it as a bargaining chip during the sales interview (with HWMBO, of course). I had about 400 emails since Sunday morning.
Wednesday we basically checked out, then went to Málaga Airport. Unfortunately, the information we were given for the buses was incorrect, so we caught a very early bus and ended up sitting in the airport for 4 hours. What a pain! HWMBO was decidedly chilly for a while. The departures area is as dingy as the arrivals area, and there is only one food outlet there. Once you get through security, the selection is better but the prices are higher. The flight was uneventful and we ended up getting on a train that stopped at the Elephant and Castle, rather than one that went to London Bridge. What a great end to the trip.
I've uploaded my pictures to Flickr so if you're interested, please feel free to browse.
We flew Aer Lingus from Gatwick, and I must say that, for a "budget" airline, their service was first-rate. We checked-in online and printed out our boarding passes, and got on the plane without a hitch. We took Thameslink down from London Bridge and got there in plenty of time.
The airport in Málaga was dull and dreary, I'm afraid. It looked like they hadn't bothered to change a lightbulb since Franco was alive, and the signage, in both English and Spanish, was wordy without being at the same time informative. We found the bus stop for Marbella Bus Station (Portillo Buses—I wonder if our former Defense Minister is a relation) and took a cab from the bus station to the resort.
I must say, it's nice to live as the other half lives for a few days. The apartments were in small blocks, four floors of flats, two to a landing and two landings on each floor. When we got into the flat, it was stunning. There were two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, utility room, and a balcony. I would love to just buy it and live there all year long. There are pictures; see below.
The first night we went to the supermarket on site and bought a pizza, some salad, and some drinks. The one problem with the site is that, if you don't have a car or can't drive, you feel kind of stuck and at the mercy of the cab drivers (who were all nice, of course). There are local amenities to which you can walk, but we didn't go as our time was so short.
On Monday we decided to go to Old Marbella, which is at the centre of the town. A €20 cab ride later, we were there. All the shops (except for the cafés) were shut for siesta, but we managed to get some nice pictures of the mountains (and ourselves), the old city walls, and a couple of chapels. We had previously had a burger at one of the outdoor restaurants at Marriott, and I was happy to see that the Spaniards, at least, didn't mind serving you a medium-cooked burger.
Tuesday we went for the dreaded sales interview. It wasn't too bad: I hadn't known a lot about the kind of time share that Marriott sells. Basically, it's not just a week-llong share in one property; it's a share that can be traded, sold, bartered, used for other properties and the like. I thought it would be a good deal, but HWMBO vetoed it on the basis that as I'm not currently working we couldn't afford it. Oh well. We got a €75 voucher for meals, which we used in one of the restaurants. HWMBO ate a lot of seafood, but I had a steak, which was medium, just as the burger on Monday had been. With a glass of wine each we got out of there for about €65. In the afternoon HWMBO went for a swim, while I checked out the "internet café". The computer I drew wasn't very expensive, but there was no connection to the printer that I could see, so we couldn't print out the boarding passes for the return trip. I discovered that we'd won £72 in the EuroMillions lottery; nice to know, and had I known before I suppose I might have used it as a bargaining chip during the sales interview (with HWMBO, of course). I had about 400 emails since Sunday morning.
Wednesday we basically checked out, then went to Málaga Airport. Unfortunately, the information we were given for the buses was incorrect, so we caught a very early bus and ended up sitting in the airport for 4 hours. What a pain! HWMBO was decidedly chilly for a while. The departures area is as dingy as the arrivals area, and there is only one food outlet there. Once you get through security, the selection is better but the prices are higher. The flight was uneventful and we ended up getting on a train that stopped at the Elephant and Castle, rather than one that went to London Bridge. What a great end to the trip.
I've uploaded my pictures to Flickr so if you're interested, please feel free to browse.