Two weeks ago Mr C and I flew out to Spain to surprise our best friends who had booked a week away. With Spain being our second home and all that we couldn't let them be there without us. We didn't tell anyone as we didn't want to let the cat out the bag. You don't know how hard it was not being able to tweet, or post airport selfies on Insta and Facebook, ha ha.
It's quite a long post this one, but don't worry mostly photos and not too many words!
We stopped in an area called La Carihuela this time, situated between Torremolinos and Benalmadena on the Costa Del Sol. The area's quite cosmopolitan with fabulous restaurants and beach bars and we know the area very well indeed. We found a great little boutique hotel on Booking.com and it turned out to be a brilliant find and being slightly out of season was kind on the pennies too. I'll do a separate review on the hotel.
We arrived around lunch time and went straight to the hotel to unpack, after popping my hotel slippers on of course! We were then desperate to go and find Sarah and John. The funny thing is I got a message as I got off the plane from Sarah saying their hotel was lovely, it was so peaceful and they were spending the day relaxing by the pool. Ha, "yeah until we get there' were the words Mr C and I blurted out at the same time with a laugh!
We did indeed spot them relaxing by their pool and casually walked by saying "hola". Sarah would have totally screamed the place down had she not been struck dumb with shock and rooted to her sun bed! It was so bloody funny, it didn't take her long to find her voice and squealing with delight she got the drinks in and the holiday began. Pleased we were there was an understatement.
We were only there for five days so chilled by the pool at our boutique hotel as the pool area was perfect and most of the time we were the only ones there.
Ice cold jacuzzi. Just what you need when it's a scorcher. We were so lucky with the weather, the temperatures were so high for April, it was only set to be like that for the week we were there and then it was cooling down again to the regular temperature for that time of year. Lucky or what?
Bikini and beach cover up are both from Primark.
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Spot the lobster cooling off!!!!
We had breakfast included at the hotel, only continental though, so one morning we opted to go out for brekkie. I love going out early in the morning when everywhere's just waking up and coming to life.
After strolling for a bit we stopped at a restaurant called PURE on the promenade. I can't tell you how ultra modern this place is and I want all the acrylic furniture. The front is more bistro style facing out to the beach and then they have the main restaurant to the back. If you ever go to La Carihuela you have to promise me you'll eat here.
We ordered eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. Perfect fuel for the day ahead. You need to be energised for all that lounging around doing nothing.
We also had lazy beach days..........
Where of course we had to continuously celebrate just being there!
You will never beat a selfie with that blue sky and palm trees as your background.
Oh and you also can't beat eating fish and chips right on the beach. Best eaten using your fingers.
Washed down with an ice cold cerveza.
Most evenings we went out for a short stroll to find food. We took jackets as in April it gets a bit cooler still when the sun goes down and it can get a bit windy especially along the promenade.
One delightful place to mention is El Gato, on the promenade as you head towards Torremolinos.
So pretty with pink people watching seats and blankets.
The food is outstanding here, although it looks slightly odd in the snaps but the lighting was constantly changing colour from pink to blue to green, nightmare for a blogger!
No, they're not mice on the plate, they're salted green chilli peppers.
Evenings were regularly finished off with a coffee and a brandy in a glass the size of your head that you only pay peanuts for.
I wanted to throw this shot in of the guys with Alex, our friend who we've known for years. He owns a bar in the centre of Torremolinos and is the nicest gentleman you could wish to meet. The bar is called Sam's, and if you're there make sure you go for a drink or two. We can't let a year go by without popping to see Alex and his partner Tone even if it is short and sweet.
As I said at the beginning Carihuela is sandwiched between Torremolinos and Benalmadena, and you can stroll along the promenade to both. Benalmadena has a stunning large marina surrounded by lots of bars, shops and restaurants. Worth a visit but in the summer months it's very busy by day and night. We love to stroll at night time (with an ice cream) when it's all lit up.
Have you visited this area of Spain before?
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