Seville, Malaga and Tolox with the Parkers
Well I've tagged this holiday as Tolox, but it reality it was so much more. We'd booked a 4 bedroom villa up in the beautiful mountains of the Sierra Nieves in southern Spain along with our besties the Parker family. Finca Bjorn had a dramatic setting atop a hill overlooking the valley below and the mountains in the distance. With 2 villages nearby and a decent sized town 15 minutes drive away we knew we'd survive alright. After a pretty stressful year at work, two weeks getting away from it all seemed ideal.
As ever that's where my ever so cunning co-conspirator and holiday 'organiser' (she does the packing) decided we needed more. Two weeks on the Costa del Sol was never really an option for us, so a secluded villa had been the compromise. Sam however had ideas beyond this and when it came time to book flights a subtle suggestion that we could do three weeks seemed like a plan not to be missed. Due to work constraints our travelling pals couldn't manage this so we came up with a plan. We decided to tag on a couple of extra side trips before meeting our buddies and heading to Finca Bjorn. 4 nights in Seville and another 3 in Malaga were the ideal introduction to some Spanish culture for the lads.
As ever that's where my ever so cunning co-conspirator and holiday 'organiser' (she does the packing) decided we needed more. Two weeks on the Costa del Sol was never really an option for us, so a secluded villa had been the compromise. Sam however had ideas beyond this and when it came time to book flights a subtle suggestion that we could do three weeks seemed like a plan not to be missed. Due to work constraints our travelling pals couldn't manage this so we came up with a plan. We decided to tag on a couple of extra side trips before meeting our buddies and heading to Finca Bjorn. 4 nights in Seville and another 3 in Malaga were the ideal introduction to some Spanish culture for the lads.
The first week of the holiday involved a simple 2 hour train journey to Seville, followed by a tram ride into the centre or the city to our hotel. http://en.petitpalacemarquessantaana.com/ The hotel Santa Ana was located wonderfully in the centre, some amazing places to eat could be found around the little back streets in every direction. Family rooms were big enough for a stay of a few days, breakfasts looked plentiful but at 15 euros each we headed out for the local fare, never paying more than 20 euro for the 4 of us.
We returned from Seville to Malaga again staying in a Petit Palace hotel http://www.petitpalaceplazamalaga.com/#English another centrally located hotel. We cannot recommend this range of hotels highly enough. When we return to Spain we will always look to book them. A little bit of mid range luxury for not much more than a Travelodge back home.
Malaga was great, a real bustling seaside location with an old world Spanish feel around the centre.
Of course our solo adventure wasn't any more than a distraction from the main event, 2 weeks of solitude and relaxation up in the mountains. We had chosen the location of the villa to give us some privacy and the owner Tjorbjorn had been very accommodating over the internet with the booking. **indeed he recently sent me photos of the villa following it's latest makeover**.
Our two weeks with the Parker family were full of fun. With the Costa del Sol, Marbella, Ronda, Mijas and the tourist attractions of the coast little more than an hour away there was plenty to occupy us thanks to the trusty Fiesta hire car.
We returned from Seville to Malaga again staying in a Petit Palace hotel http://www.petitpalaceplazamalaga.com/#English another centrally located hotel. We cannot recommend this range of hotels highly enough. When we return to Spain we will always look to book them. A little bit of mid range luxury for not much more than a Travelodge back home.
Malaga was great, a real bustling seaside location with an old world Spanish feel around the centre.
Of course our solo adventure wasn't any more than a distraction from the main event, 2 weeks of solitude and relaxation up in the mountains. We had chosen the location of the villa to give us some privacy and the owner Tjorbjorn had been very accommodating over the internet with the booking. **indeed he recently sent me photos of the villa following it's latest makeover**.
Our two weeks with the Parker family were full of fun. With the Costa del Sol, Marbella, Ronda, Mijas and the tourist attractions of the coast little more than an hour away there was plenty to occupy us thanks to the trusty Fiesta hire car.