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| Malaga Costa del Sol |
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| Malaga, a city on Spain's Costa del Sol, is filled with resorts/hotels along its beaches to either side of the city. We not only flew in and out of Malaga's airport, but also took 2 day trips to the area. |
| The beach was beautiful and not crowded on a winter day. The kids had fun playing in the sand. It was too cool to go in the Mediterranean Sea for us, but there were a few kids in the water. (They must have been Scandanavian!) On our way back to Casa Sophia we picked up some supplies for dinner. What looked to be beef meatballs to cook for spaghetti turned out to be made of pork with a ham flavor- unexpected but good. |
| Tivoli World A family amusement park |
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| We have quickly come to realize that we experience a slightly different side of Europe by traveling as a family with younger children. Finding kid friendly destinations along the way is a priority. The day spent at Tivoli World was a great one- and a highlight for the kids. The weather was wonderful, the park was English friendly (and inexpensive in the off season!) and we had a wonderful family day to start out our week. |
| There were beautiful views from all over the park looking to the mountains or the sea. |
| The Christmas holiday was still being celebrated in Spain in the new year. They exchange gifts on the morning of Jan. 6th as a celebration of 3 Kings' Day. (Parades and festivities take place on the evening of the 5th.)There were Christmas carols performed at the park and piped thru the sound system during our Jan. 2 visit. |
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| We enjoyed lunch at this restaurant in the park. The kids, eating chicken nuggets and hot dog, thought it was funny to be eating American food in a Danish restaurant (Ralph did have Danish meatballs!) in Spain. Unlike other amusement parks we've been to, the food was reasonably priced and quite good. The grown-ups even got a free glass of sangria with the meals! |
| Ralph took the kids in the "Fun House" and we took turns on a big coaster ride with Rachel. There were also many rides the kids could do on their own. The park was not crowded and these small bumper cars provided multiple turns. Sometimes sharing a car and other times on their own, both kids had a blast driving and bumping around. When the ride finished they'd jump out and run back in line- often getting back in without a wait. |
| This small roller coaster was the last ride of the day. Noah would not go on it earlier but had watched Rachel ride. He finally agreed to go on it as the last thing. They were treated to a private ride. We were so surprised to find that Noah put his hands up and screamed with joy just like his sister as it made over 6 laps! |