I don't no where to start... These past two weeks have been full of amazing things! We've seen so much and there are so many photos that I don't even no how to arrange them into a logical stream. First of all, I had my special someone here for a two week holiday, and it was wonderful! So many things are easier when there are two adults taking care of everything. Secondly, I bought a moped, which was also easier with a person who knows a bit more about those things than I do... Thank you, Toni <3 Now it will be so much easier to go on picnics around the nearby hills and we'll see so much more! Just imagine the two of us, me and Saimi, driving around on our red Yamaha, having all these adventures together! We are so lucky! :)
On the first weekend of Toni's holiday we went to a restaurant called Tipitapa. I forgot to take photos of the tapas we had, but they were so delicious that I think I was more into eating than paying attention to anything else. At least I remembered to take a few photos of the desserts, which were as delicious as the tapas. Tiramisu for me, ice cream for Saimi, crema catalana for Toni.
Three nights a week they have these talented flamenco dancers there to perform, and we were thoroughly entertained! The restaurant wasn't too expensive, the food was great and the performance cost only 5€/person, so I would gladly recommend this place! You just have to reserve a table beforehand.
On that same day, in the morning, Saimi had a school trip to a park called Parque de la bateria in Montemar Alta. It is a short train ride away from Fuengirola. By the way, public transport is quite cheap here, one way ticket is only a bit over 2€ by train, and the bus fair is just 1,15€. In the park the teachers took the children to play together and do some group activities, and during that time me and Toni had time to walk around the park and also see the beach of Montemar Alta. Here are some photos we took there, the park is totally worth seeing!
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| Zumo de naranja, ñam ñam! |
I've been trying to capture the small things here, and I wish that sometimes I could bottle some scents from the flowers they have here. Just look at these!
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| We walk under this tree every day. These flowers look like little bells. |
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| A bit icky, but also beautiful! |
Last weekend our local area had a small celebration and we went to see what was going on. They organized some dance performances, music, street food, stand up, and other entertainment for the people, and children had some special fun as well, I heard that there was a foam party one night!
We missed the foam party because we went to see a medieval market place on top of a castle hill in the centre of Fuengirola. Unfortunately I don't have any photos from there, but to be honest, I didn't really think that the medieval thing was very well arranged. We only walked around for a while and came to the conclusion that we'd rather just go home than spend any more time in that crowd. It seemed that people just went there to buy overpriced stuff, eat some overpriced food and drink some overpriced sangria.
One day we went to Miramar shopping mall again, and this time there was a man selling caps. Saimi already had one that has her name on it, which I bought for her in Mallorca last year. It is so convenient! People learn her name very quickly and it's easy to tell apart from all the other caps in the school. However, we had noticed that it would soon be time to at least wash it, which could damage the cap, or just get rid of it. And then we saw this man in Miramar, and were able to buy a new one!! :)
We also went by Dunkin Coffee, where we ate some donuts the last time we were there with our friends. This time we only took this photo!
In the area we live in there are a few schools. This school yard looks nice, but I was left wondering if these paintings would be as good looking in Finland after a few years of snow and ice on top of them. Plus, I wonder if the students really are happy and motivated just with these pictures, without any swings etc. Or don't they have time between lessons to go out and really get the extra energy out as well? But, I have also noticed that no one uses the playgrounds here until quite late in the evening, and it makes sense. All the swings and slides are dangerous, because they are burning hot during the day! Maybe that is the reason they don't have them on the school yard either.
Oh, and can you remember my outburst with recycling? Well, I found this! Here they have these containers where people can deposit their used cooking oil! I don't think I've seen these in Finland.
On the second weekend of Toni's holiday we decided to make a day trip to Benalmádena. We took a bus from the train station and found our way to Mariposa Park. It was just lovely!! The first thing that happened there was me getting a new friend. We spent about two hours just marvelling all these beautiful flowers and butterflies. They also had some fish, birds and a few animals there as well. I hope these photos will give you a glimpse of what we saw!
Just look at these colours!! Can you see the butterflies in these two pictures? :)
The moth on the left is the biggest in the world. About 30cm wide...
Some of the flowers were just weird...
The blue butterflies were my favourite. There were so many of them and they were so pretty, flying around and trying to find a mate. It looked like dancing.
This fella was just taking his time, crossing the pathway. He left funny footprints. :)
Up on the balcony we found this interesting lizard guy, who shook his head and walked around, puffing his cheeks and making weird noises. Either he was telling us not to come any closer, or he found one of us very attractive and was trying to get their attention.
Oh, and next to Benalmádena train station there were these nice looking trees. They look like little bonzai trees in their colourful plant pots, but they were actual size trees.
After Mariposa Park we hopped on a bus again and rode to Mijas pueblo. It is a charming little village just above Fuengirola. If you ever visit Fuengirola and start wondering where all the Asian tourists are, I can let you know that you can find all of them in Mijas. The bus took us there by a very exciting road beside the hillside, a very narrow and curvy road, to be exact. We had a nice (and a bit overpriced) meal there and walked along these picturesque streets, enjoying the atmosphere and the most delicious ice cream we've had here so far.
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| You can also take a ride on a horse carriage in Mijas. If you are the one sitting on the carriage, you don't have to be afraid of getting hit by them and trying to squeeze yourself into the doorways to get out of the way... |
The last evening before Toni had to leave for Finland again, we did something that I'd been planning for a long time. We went to IKEA! :) I needed to buy new pillows and a couple of mats and some towels, so we hopped on the train and stopped at Plaza Mayor. We also got some rye knack bread and Marabou chocolate... :) I don't miss much, but rye bread is one of the things I AM missing from Finland, actually. Salmiakki is another. So, people who are reading my blog, if you really want to surprise us, you can send us some! ;) (We also could buy some from the Finnish stores here, but they usually have quite ridiculous prices for stuff that are imported here from Finland...)
Now Toni is back in Finland, and me and Saimi are again back to our daily rhythm, just the two of us. Well, a bit new rhythm, thanks to the new Yamaha D'elight we have now. ;) Today after school we had a quick snack and headed for Miramar again, this time it took us about 15 minutes to get there. (Can you remember the bus ride we took one time, 1 hour 15 minutes...??) It was so nice to drive through the centre, absorbing the busy atmosphere and different stores, restaurants, parks, buildings, sights and people around us! In Miramar we found what we were looking for and drove back, just as quickly and nicely! Next Saturday we will make a trip to Mijas again. Maybe next time I will post some photos from our scooter adventures! :)
