Spain - Marbella Day 0 - The Flight to Spain and Our First Few Hours in Marbella

Our flight from Atlanta to NY-JFK was delayed and then delayed again, and again...apparently because of too much flight traffic in New York. However, the attendant said to stay close to the gate because the status could change at any time and might be sooner than the published time. So, we ended up sitting there watching Wolf Blitzer on CNN go on and on and on and on and on about how any minute now, Barak Obama would be making an announcement to disclose his VP choice.



Leslie was on a separate flight departing from a gate at the other end of the concourse, but came by to meet us while we waited.


And she took a picture of us...



We finally boarded, but because the plane was big, it took about 45 minutes for everyone to get on board. The people on this flight were especially annoying. No one seemed to understand which seat was the window seat vs. the aisle seat. Apparently, the picture on the luggage rack was not descriptive enough. There were a couple of business men from Texas who spent the extra waiting time in the bar near the gate. They were a riot, and reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where George works with some guys from the Texas Rangers and every sentence ended with, "you sons of bitches," or, "Those Bastards," said in the deepest Texas southern drawl you can imagine. The were just as colorful.

Finally, the door was closed and there we sat for about 30 minutes with no explanation. I was worried because the tropical storm over Florida was sending a band of rain and heavy winds into Atlanta, and I kept thinking the winds might pick up and keep us from taking off.

Finally, the captain announced there was now too much traffic in Atlanta, and we were waiting in line to get to the runway. This would have been no issue, except we had to connect in NY for our plane to Spain and because of all the delays, we didn't think we'd make the connection.

All our careful planning and making sure our layover in NY would be long enough to handle inevitable delays were proving to be not carefully planned enough!

We did eventually take off, and the flight was good. The flight crew, however, had no information about any connecting flights or what gates to go to. They kept saying, "We're sorry for the delays, and thanks for your patience." I wasn't very patient at that point. We finally landed and taxied for what seemed like forever, but finally got to our gate. So, after a few tense moments as we waited for the plane door to open and the other people to file off the plane we made our way up the ramp to the airport. There was no gate agent, as promised, but the next flight crew for the plane was waiting together in a group near the back of the gate. I asked them what gate this was and where the gate for our next flight was and whether we had enough time to get there. To our surprise, they told us they were the crew for the flight to Malaga and this was the gate! Our original plane is the same plane flying to Spain - we were already there! Whew!!

So, after the uneventful 8 hour flight to Malaga, we made our way quickly through the line to get our passport stamp. We then waited for Leslie, who was to arrive about 1/2 hour after us. While waiting, Candice snapped a shot of me...


We thought the translation for Exit in Spain was humorous - "Way Out"



We took a bus to Marbella for only 4.52 Euros, which was much less than taking a taxi at 60 Euro. The bus was nice and clean, and it took about 40 minutes direct from Malaga. My parents picked us up at the bus station. We had to make a quick stop at the super market as it was on the way back to the resort. Here, the supermarket is inside a very large mall and is kind of like a super WalMart with clothes, electronics and toys on one side and groceries on the other. Here are some collages of pictures taken inside the market:







The peanut butter had a funny description, "Crammed with Peanuts"



Shaved ham (Jamon) is as popular in Spain as coffee is in America! So much so, that you can get it anywhere - even in the supermarket.



And the prices range from roughly 10 Euro per kilo to over 100 Euro per kilo:



Of course, you can buy the whole leg if you want:



Or just shave some for yourself:



Finally, we made it to the resort. We were exhausted! We took a quick walk around the grounds and snapped a few photos.







It's beautiful! The water was a little cool, but not too bad.

Of course, this one was a very important find!



After our walk, I took a quick power nap. Kevin, Amy, Sara, Emily, and Clair arrived and we all went out to dinner at one of the resort's restaurants. The menu was not typical Spanish - probably more British than anything. The waiter kind of left us alone after serving our meals, so we ended up sitting there and talking for an hour or so and didn't get back to the rooms until 11:30. Just in time for a long sleep!