Marbellisima

              After that crazy Wednesday, I spent Thursday morning organizing cash take-outs and bus tickets for the bestweekendever. I was headed to Gibraltar, where I’d always wanted to go, for as long as I knew this British colony connecting the East and West existed. I dragged Meital and Elizabeth with me for the journey (they were totally down. It wasn’t so much dragging. But I’m really, really weirdly into Gibraltar. And now beyond obsessed, but keep reading!)

At the bus station, we met adorable and lost Ben from Melbourne (MelBen) who looked like he hadn’t showered in a few years. It’s always cool to run into other travelers, typically far more ‘rugged’ than yours truly, and hear about their adventures to live vicariously through them. I like showering too much to sleep outside and I’m too organized to not know how my next meal is being paid for or where I’ll be next week. 

             Ten minute stop in beautiful Ronda (I didn’t get off the bus.) and then we finished the journey off through the mountains of southern Spain, with a sunset to full moon transition as we hit the coastline and arrived in Marbella. This Mediterranean minitropolis is home to odious amounts of wealth and luxury, famous for mafia activity and summer nightlife. Pretty dead since a huge crime-ring bust and the end of summer.

Beach on November 11. Remind me why I'm leaving in a month?

               If you’d like to read about the hostel, check in the other post below this one. This account is dedicated to food and fun.

               After arriving, these three musketeers were STARVING. But eight is too early to eat actual dinner so we wandered through the entire old city of Marbella (took fifteen whole minutes), and then grabbed some alleyway tapas. SO GOOD – one of the only open places, Meital had (what we belive to be) tripe. Don't mean to yuck your yum, but YUCK! I had the best fried cod tapa I’ve had in Spain (and keeping kosher, I eat a ton of cod). Then we had a fancy dinner complete with bottle of wine and the most-dedicated service I’ve had in Europe. They actually paid attention to us for once!

The second night, we stumbled on a jazzy pizzeria (there must be a hundred in Marbella. This one just was open and close) and I split an enormous vegetarian pizza with Meital. The bruschetta appetizer was an excellent addition to a high-class dinner and we could not anticipate another second of hunger. I probably would have eaten a tablecloth and Elizabeth, a fork.

View from the hostel. Illinois, why are you so flat?

When we got back to the hostel, we were greeted by a half-drunk Scot who was running the bar quite freely and offered us ‘farewell drinks.’ Not one to turn down some tap and talk, we chatted for a while and you can read all about that absurdity in the post entitled “Hostel: Not the Movie”

               Saturday was spent exploring the ‘city.’ That meant sleeping late, grabbing some fruit at the market, and heading to the beach to enjoy some Mediterranean sunshine mid-November.  We continued our tour through a sculpture garden, an art gallery, a cathedral (with chandeliers!), and an ancient castle. I could not have asked for a lovelier morning. We then grabbed some sandwich goods and I enjoyed the remainder of my turkey, some mayo from the hostel owners, and sliced apple on a fresh baguette. Yum. Yum. Yum. We ate on the terrace, looking off into the mountains we would soon head over to go home.

Jews were here. And now it's a cathedral.
We didn't hold down fort so well in Spain.

I learned to pour beer out of a tap, stayed in my first hostel, and ate delicious food all around Marbella. The joy that is Gibraltar cannot be included in this post. (So, it has two of its own…) 

This was a delightful weekend all in all.