Day 9

Sad to say, this is the final day at the Playa Andaluza.  Our plans were to spend the final day relaxing before the long trip home.  We had debated doing a day trip to Morocco, but we would have been gone from sunrise until late at night, and that did not seem to be a good way to spend our final day.  We felt like we had had many long, full days of sightseeing and we just did not have enough days to do all the things that we could have – maybe next trip.  Jeff and I ate our last lunch at La Vela Azul (yes, the 4^th lunch there) and said our goodbyes to the owner and the waitress we had seen each time.  We spent the entire day at the pool and beach, and Pat and Jeff played their final games of ping pong (that had been an ongoing competition through the week).

For dinner, we returned to the village of Benahavis one more time and ate at El Castillo, a restaurant that is located in the remains of a Moorish defense castle built in the 11^th century.  Our waitress Pernilla, who is also one of the owners, is originally from Sweden and is quite a character.  She is constantly bantering with the diners in her loud Swedish accent and is constantly joking about something, her loud, distinctive laugh is heard throughout the restaurant.  She advertises her cuisine as Scandinavian-Spanish fusion, and has very unique tapas dishes.  Our other waiter was Anton, a former engineer from Finland who is now making a go of the restaurant business.  We sat outside under a beautiful clear evening sky (LATE, of course, but remember sunset is at 10 PM) and took turns remembering our favorite and least-favorite moments of our trip. 

 We drove down the mountain for the last time and headed for home to pack.  In order to make our morning flight, we have to be out the door in the AM at 6:30, but still are only managing to get into bed at 1 AM.  Hopefully, we will get some sleep on the flights home – from Malaga to Paris to Atlanta to Greenville.  And I love to fly...not!  It has been an adventure, and we hope you have enjoyed sharing it with us through this blog.  Looking forward to seeing you all in the USA, flying home on the 4^th of July. 

All praise to our God for His incredible, varied creation. And for this opportunity we had to see a new part of the world that He has made, this time with our travel companions of Jenny and Pat.  Special thanks to Pat, who did all of the driving during our 1,600 Km (1,000 mi.) road trip and Jeff and Jenny for navigating.  And to Jeff for getting the translating right MOST of the time.  And to Deb, who provided background information and planning for all the stops, as well as commentary along the way.

Buenas noches, y’all.