We just wrapped up two weeks in sunny Marbella, relaxing (well, the girls and I relaxed, while Baba worked remotely like the good student he is). We were staying in La Mairena, a quiet hilltop area that’s technically Marbella, but more like “Marbella-adjacent”, if you drive 6km straight up a winding mountain road while hanging on for dear life.
Let’s just say, as someone who now avoids roller coasters and gets a little twitchy on curvy roads (check out my post on Taormina), this drive got to me every time. Baba let me know that each time he went around a curve he could see my hand death-gripping my thigh.
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| Sunrise from our balcony view |
That said, our apartment was gorgeous. Insane views, a beautiful pool, and the kind of sunrises and sunsets that make you say “Wow” out loud. But, and for me, this is a big but, it’s in the absolute middle of nowhere. No sidewalks. No coffee shops. No charming bakeries to wander into. Definitely no grocery stores to buy random things (literally my favorite thing to do while traveling), gone. Oh, and instead of coyotes (our usual suburban wildlife at home), this neighborhood has wild boars. Yep. One of the neighbors feeds them nightly, apples and cucumbers, no less, and they show up like clockwork. Spain’s version of raccoons, but on a much BIGGER scale. Apparently there is no need to be scared as they are “nice.”
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| Nightly visitor |
Most mornings we escaped to the beach, where the Mediterranean was beautiful and absolutely freezing. Still, that didn’t stop us from jumping the waves and often getting slammed to the sandy sea floor. It was usually just Baba, O, and me out there while Spanish Abuelas in sun hats (sometimes also topless!) offered unsolicited warnings not to go too deep.
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| Beach Babes |
Afternoons were for pool hangs. Since the sun doesn’t set until 10 p.m., we often found ourselves still swimming after 7, drying off just in time for dinner. Speaking of dinner, after weeks of carb-loading through Italy (see earlier posts for my pizza heaven), we decided it was time for a little food reset, and a way to save our pennies and cook at home. We even celebrated O’s birthday with a homemade chocolate cake and salted caramel ganache. Fun fact: this apartment had zero baking tools. No scale, no measuring cups. I used a teacup and pure guesswork for every ingredient. And somehow…it worked! (Now I know: the travel essential I can’t live without, it’s not my CeraVe Eye Cream, it’s my baking scale!)
Outside of all this “relaxing,” we did manage a few little day trips to Coín, Málaga, and Fuengirola, just enough exploring to feel like we were being cultured before heading back to our hilltop hideout. Mostly, we focused on perfecting our tans, responsibly, of course (SPF 50+ every time!).
Another summer adventure in the books! Stay tuned for more adventures in the future!
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| Visiting Alcazaba in Malaga |
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| Playgrounding in Coín |
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