On Friday, we found out that our province would move to phase 1 on Monday, May 18th. In phase 1, we would be allowed to travel within our province. That was a really big deal to us as we had not been able to leave town for the past two months and our girls had been confined to our house for most of that time. Also, bars and restaurants were allowed to open their outside seating areas at 50% capacity. This was another exciting change as all of our favorite places to eat in Alozaina had been closed, and the weather forecast for the following week was looking really good.
When I woke on Saturday, I thought I was the first one up. I made some coffee and fired up the laptop to check email and the news. Shawn got up a while later and asked where Aliah was as she wasn't in the living room or in her bed. I had a moment of panic. What do you mean she's not in her bed? I go up to check on her. He's right; she's not in her room. She's not on the balcony either... or is she? After searching the house, I step out on the balcony and find her in the corner eating a muffin and watching a show on her Dad's phone (with her "friends" tucked in beside her). Little turkey had me scared for a few minutes.
That same day, Shawn and I discussed how to make the most of our impending freedom. The Malaga province has wonderful hiking trails, beautiful beaches and some amazing national parks. We both felt like we needed to make up for lost time, so we decided to rent a car and start enjoying some of the natural beauty that surrounds us. I also looked into renting a home with a pool as I wanted a replacement for our cancelled Mediterranean cruise. The car was booked for Friday, May 22nd, and I found a wonderful rural rental for the second week of June.
Sunday was another one of those odd days with rain and sun swapping back and forth. The girls decided to sunbathe during one of the sunny periods. Despite the sun, they still got sprinkled on. We looked for a rainbow that day but never found one.
Since restaurants were allowed to open on Monday, May 18th, we told the girls that we could go out to lunch if they got all their homeschool work done by 2 PM. They were excited, and so were we. Aliah was the first one up and got right to work. By 2:30 PM, we were seated in the street ordering some beverages. Only one of the restaurants in Alozaina opened that day, and they had placed tables on the sidewalk and on the street with the village's permission.
It was such a joy to have lunch out. It literally felt like we had been released from prison and had gotten our freedom back. As the week went on, a couple of other restaurants opened. We decided to have lunch at each of the open restaurants to show our support. Unfortunately, Restaurante Papa Miguel (where we celebrated Shawn's birthday) is not planning to open until July. Several other restaurants have remained closed as well.
Masks became mandatory in Spain as of May 21st. You have to wear them inside buildings open to the public as well as outdoors if you cannot maintain a six-foot interpersonal distance. I made six masks out of an old t-shirt so the girls would have something to wear when we're out and about. We will also be required to wear them on our flights back to the U.S.
Shawn planned to take the bus to Malaga on Friday to pick up the rental car. When I got up in the morning, he was already gone. It was earlier than he needed to be gone, so I texted him. Maybe he went to the panaderia (bakery)? No... He was at the bus stop. Either I told him the wrong time or he heard me wrong. Neither of us know. I double-checked the timetable. He was there an hour early. No wait... I think I read the timetable wrong. He was there an hour and a half early. Now he's going to be late for his pick-up window. Thankfully he was able to contact the rental car company and let them know. It all worked out, and he was back before we knew it.
Aliah's art assignment for the week was to color a turtle. She chose to use oil pastels, and it turned out super cute. She was also doing some drawing this week and decided to add some color with her paints. Needless to say, our living room wall is well decorated with colorful Aliah art.
Just as the girls finished their work for the day, Aliah's teacher texted and asked me to come to school to sign some paperwork. I assumed it was related to us leaving the school. We had unenrolled in Madison before we left. We probably needed to do that here too. When we arrived, Aliah's teacher presented her with a book. I assumed it was a portfolio of Aliah's work. I teared up and thanked her. It wasn't until we left the building that I realized it was a farewell gift. The book contains a letter from her teacher and letters and drawings from her classmates. Aliah and I read it when we got home, and we both sobbed. The letter from her teacher was super touching, and the letters and drawings from her classmates were just precious. It was such a thoughtful and special gift. I was so surprised that her teacher took the time, amidst all of this, to do something so sweet.
Our first outing with the car was a trip to Aldi in Coin. I had not been in a grocery store larger than a convenience store in over two months, so I felt like a kid in a candy store. The girls hadn't been in any store for over two months, so they were in a similar state. We literally had to look at every single thing in there. It's a good thing Aldi isn't a huge store. In the end, Haila left with a new jean jacket and Aliah left with a rainbow-colored unicorn egg. Just what they both needed.
Did you notice Curious George is wearing a custom mask? He's very fashion-forward.
Our first adventure with the car was to Nacimiento Rio Grande just outside of Yunquera. We were told by a local that this was a good place to go swimming, so we thought we would check it out. It was a short hike down to a dam and reservoir. The Rio Grande is spring fed, so the water is really cold but clear. There wasn't a lot of water, but Shawn and the girls went in anyway. Each of them dunked themselves a few times before we headed back up to the car. On our way home, we stopped in Yunquera for lunch. Shawn ordered the ham and cheese plate for us to share. This was the best Iberian ham we've had to date.
The next day, we packed a lunch and headed out for a hike in Sierra de las Nieves. We were going to take the girls on the same hike we did with the Clarks back in March, but Shawn missed the turn. We ended up down the road at the trailhead to another hiking loop. There were a lot of flowering shrubs along the trail and an amazing lookout point where we ate our lunch. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring sunscreen. Haila and I both got significant sunburns on our shoulders. We've since peeled and healed, so it's all good. We were harassing Aliah about wearing long sleeves before we left, but it turned out to be a smart move on her part.
Shawn has yet to get his haircut. He asked Haila to trim up the back and sides for a second time, and Aliah wanted in on the action. After much pleading, he finally agreed to let Aliah do a little trimming in the back. She was just giddy!
The sunset on Sunday night was beautiful. My photos don't do it justice. The colors were much more vibrant and varied. If you look closely, you can also see a bit of the moon.
We drove to the coast on Tuesday, May 26th. I chose to visit Playa Puerto Banus in Marbella for our first stroll on the beach. At this point, most beaches were only open for walks or runs. Some were also allowing surfing, but no swimming. The girls were dancing in the surf as we walked along the shore. As you can see, there were not many people out. There were some beach restaurants open here, so we stopped for beverages and a basket of fries.
Aliah's teacher had recommended that we stop in the Old Town neighborhood while in Marbella. It wasn't far from the beach, so we took a quick detour on our way home. There was a wall of flowers where we parked. There were also beautiful flowering trees lining the streets. A number of stores were open in Old Town, but many were still closed. Marbella is a very popular destination along the coast, and I am sure they are really hurting for business without the tourists.
The girls talked us into an ice cream treat as the shop was open. As you can see from the signs above the doors, the shop is set up for one-way traffic. There was another sign saying one customer at a time, but they waved us in as we were clearly a family. Spain is trying very had to safely welcome tourists come July.
On Wednesday, we headed back to Sierra de las Nieves to do the hike we had planned to do over the weekend. Thankfully, we did not get lost as we had with the Clarks... however, I did think we missed our turn again. We stopped to discuss it and when we finally set off again, we discovered we were about 30 steps from the sign post. Had we taken 10 more steps before we stopped, we would have seen the sign!
The girls have been wearing their swim shirts in lieu of sunscreen. They both had also taken a scarf on the hike for extra coverage as it was quite windy when we arrived at the trailhead. At one point, Aliah rolled her scarf up and stuck it in her shirt. She looked like she had a baby bump. Haila ended up doing the same and I had them touch "bellies". Shawn and I could do that with our real bellies, but nobody wants to see that.
On Thursday, we decided to check out another swimming spot recommended by the locals. This one is in El Burgo. It took us a bit to figure out how to get there, but we finally found it. There was a group of young adults at the dike when we arrived. We watched as a couple of guys jumped off the top into the pool below. We headed down and across the dike ourselves as their group moved on to have a picnic. Again, the water was cold and clear. Shawn and the girls jumped in a few times and decided we needed to get water shoes before returning as you have to walk across sharp rocks to exit the pool. As you may have guessed, I am not a huge fan of swimming in freezing cold water. The girls are lucky to have a Daddy who's up for frigid dips as I tend to pass. Someone needs to take the pictures, right?
The school year is also winding down in Madison. Aliah will be attending a new school in the Fall, so her Spanish teacher from Midvale emailed me about the 2nd grade celebration. It's a tradition at Midvale to send off the 2nd graders who will be moving on to Lincoln for 3rd grade. She asked Aliah to record herself singing a song and to create a slide in the presentation so that she can participate in the celebration on June 9th. I found it extremely sweet that her teacher in the U.S. was checking in to be sure Aliah was included. Teachers don't get enough credit for all they do! As I've said before, they are earthly angels.
We decided to drive to the coast again on Friday. This time I picked a cosy beach in Estepona. Playa del Cristo is apparently a popular family beach but was pretty empty that day. It didn't take us long to walk it, so we stopped at a beach bar for beverages before driving down the coast to a longer beach.
This beach is long and had some good waves crashing along the shore. Of course, our girls got wet as they walked in the surf. By the time we made it back to the car, they both needed to change clothes. Haila ended up wearing a scarf around her waist like a sarong, and Aliah ended up using Haila's t-shirt as a cover-up. It's good to know how to improvise.
On Saturday, we learned that our province would move to phase 2 on Monday, June 1st. That was exciting news since it meant we could swim in the sea. We were definitely going to take advantage of that new development. We drove to Coin to look for water shoes in preparation. We found a variety store that had sandals for Aliah and a clothing store that had shoes for the rest of us. Next, we needed to decide where to go first!
I did some research over the weekend and discovered that our province has a number of natural thermal baths. That sounded intriguing to me, so I checked out our options. There is one very close to Estepona, so we thought that might be a good one to try as we knew we could hit the beach after.
All I have to say is... Watch out phase 2 Malaga province! You've been warned... Los Cocos son locos!
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