Today was our last day in Spain. Our trip has gone by quickly but I know the children have had a good time. They have liked the things we are doing and have really been such good travelers. This morning we went and took a tram to the top of the mountain above Benalmadena. It wasn't a super clear day, but as it was our last day and I thought the kids would like it, we went. They did like it. As you travel up the mountain, you can see the city below, yards with pools, people getting smaller and smaller, and then a really great view out over the sea. You go up and up and jostle a bit over rollers, and after about ten minutes, come to the top of the mountain.
I had forgotten how windy it is at the top (Kent hadn't), and so we weren't well prepared for the chilly air. There are paths you can hike along and we took one to an overlook. The children fought over who would be the leader, but eventually worked out taking turns. It was fun to be so high up and try to spot things way down below.
Our tram car.
I'm not sure about any of these landscape shots.
None is tremendous.
They were mostly taken from a little hut on the edge of the mountain,
the roof of which is seen in this picture I took on the way back down.
Although it wasn't really super warm, this being out last day in Spain, we went to the beach again. The children seemed largely impervious to the cold, and had a great time. Kent and I did too. I think we all really like the beach, and quite frankly, I wish we lived closer to the ocean so we could enjoy it a bit more frequently. We did go over to a rocky area that creates little tide pools to poke around and see what we could see. I saw a couple small fish darting in and out of plants, but they blended in so well, you can't see them in the pictures. No crabs, no sea urchins, no sea cucumbers. But lots of interesting bits of shell and sea glass.
Blythe's legs are covered in sand.
Blythe is covering up my legs so they will be as sandy as hers.
Kent skipping rocks.
As we were sitting on the beach, some Chinese people came by completely covered up and carrying huge camera with big lenses. They were taking pictures of the rocks and water and surrounding buildings and then they started taking pictures of our children. They weren't even being subtle about it. They were just snapping away as the children played in the sand and water. I pointed them out to Kent and expressed a bit of concern. So Kent hailed them in Chinese and struck up a conversation. The Chinese were amazed. I speak no Chinese so I didn't participate, but from their reaction it was obvious that they said, "Hey! There's a white guy on the beach in Spain that speaks Chinese!" There were several of them, and as each approached, the first one said, "Look! A white guy speaking Chinese!" They were traveling quite extensively, doing their photography, and since they were there, I had one of them take a family picture for us. Christmas card perhaps? I doubt it.
A happy family on the beach.
On this last day, we had dinner with Andree, of course. It was wonderful to be able to see her again, to visit and laugh and enjoy our time together. She is aged, turning 85 later this year. She is in good shape, but does have some health issues that trouble her. As it has been thirteen years since the last time I saw her, I'm not sure we will meet again in this life. I feel so fortunate that we were able to be with her, that she got to meet our kids, and that she was so generous as to invite us to stay. I really value and appreciate our association.
After dinner with Andree, we returned to the apartment to pack. While it is never a treat to pack, I found it easier to put everything together to go to France than I did to come on the trip. I didn't have to sort through all our clothes trying to figure out what to take, I knew we had to put everything back in the suitcase to go. We tried to get to bed at a decent hour because our flight to France left at 7:00am, so we had to be up around 5:00 to get dressed, have a bite to eat, and catch our cab. We said "adios" to Spain, leaving with wonderful memories and a desire to return. Maybe someday.
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