Malaga (finally) & Amsterdam

I know I know..it's taken forever for me to write these blogs but blogging is not something that can be done without effort. It takes alot of time and cleverness to be this funny:-)
First things first: MALAGA, SPAIN:-)
This was the most beautiful place that I have been to since I've been over here. I have loved everywhere I've been for different reasons but this was just gorgeous everywhere you turned. The water was so pretty, the sand wasn't white but still nice in between your toes, people drove on the right side of the road, our place we stayed was perfect and 100 times better than anywhere I've stayed (hostels would never be that nice) with 2 pools, a restaurant, lobby with internet, bar, convenient store, etc. It was so pretty and every morning when I ran I could see the ocean and feel the sun already at 9am. Although sometimes I'd set my UK phone alarm for 9 thinking it was 9 and forgetting it was an hour ahead in Malaga so maybe the sun felt so hot because it was really 10am, ha.
There were many things that happened that week that were pretty priceless and would only happen to us 3..especially with me around, ha. The first night we went to dinner I caught my hair on fire. Funny thing was that I saw smoke and didn't know it was coming from my hair. There was a candle on the table and when I went to get up I leaned forward and I guess my hair brushed by the candle, I saw smoke, saw the candle still lit, and could hear it burning (tttssss) and I was brushing the smoke away from my face going "ummm I did something.." not knowing what had happened and Lisa goes "YOUR HAIR!!" and lunged forward grabbing my hair to stop the burning haha. My hair was fried with black edges and little pieces falling out the rest of the week and it smelled like there was a campfire following me everywhere I went that night.
Another incident we had was when Polly visited us. I'm sure you're wondering who Polly is. Lisa was sitting in the sitting room reading and started screaming and sad that a bird flew into our place. Sure enough there it was in Christine's room. We didn't know what to do because it seemed hurt and wouldn't move. I tried feeding it noodles like a Mama Bird feeds her babies worms but it wasn't hungry I guess cuz it backed away...I even nudged it's little beak with the noodle thinking maybe Polly didn't see it but she just didn't want it. So finally Christine got it and put it out the sliding door and she hung out on the roof across from us for awhile and was gone in the morning. We're not sure what happened to her but I'm sure she was happy to get away from us.
Another exciting event was that Christine read a book...an entire book!! We were so proud of her. She read Harlan Coben's Long Lost which I bought in the Dublin Airport and literally you can't put it down so she read the whole thing! Now she knows she actually does like to read, she just needs to find something she likes.
Ok, so now about our trip and what we did...you can track it by the pictures pretty much but I will quickly run through what we did each day..
They arrived into Malaga 3 planes later (Baltimore to Philly, Philly to Madrid, Madrid to Malaga) Saturday morning the 23rd of May. They walked around, settled in and unpacked and got the rental car. Then I got there at around 1130pm but I think it ended up being late so I didn't even see them until later like midnight I'm pretty sure. They drove me back and pointed everything out to me in the dark which wasn't too impressive until I could actually see it.
Sunday was a laid back day and we went to La Cala beach and Lisa and I should have worn more sunscreen because our fronts of our bodies couldn't see the sun until about Wednesday after that so we learned our lesson for Ocean City. Then we did dinner at the condo and I burned my hair...
Monday we went to the Nude Beach (Cabopino) and didn't pay for chairs but just laid out on our towels. We went to the supermarket to get stuff for the week for lunches and snacks so we weren't buying lunch everyday. We bought sandwiches at La Cala but then we had packed stuff the rest of the week like crackers, fruit snacks, and fruit so that worked out well!
Tuesday we went to the market in the morning which was huge. It wasn't anything too impressive and looked like most markets I'd been to before but was still neat to see and we got to see a different town. We went to the beach in the same town that day (Fuegirola).
Wednesday we left early and did the day in Granada. This was Christine's day. We went to Granada and did a Palace and some gardens and walked miiiiiiles. We went to a couple different town I'm pretty sure because we walked for so long and we bought some really neat rings there. It was interesting to see and nice to do something away from the sun for the day.
Thursday we just went back to La Cala beach and we kinda called this "our beach" now because we had been there a couple times and it was just cozy and we felt like we belong there now haha.
We went to Biddy Mulligan's for dinner. I broke a glass of course. I had my purse on the table and went to put it on the ground and knocked the glass off the table and they gave me a hard time. I burn my hair...break glasses...can't take me anywhere. We stayed there for a couple drinks and hung out with some really fun bartenders/waiters named...? oh wow I forgot their names lol. Lisa will remember. But anyways, I started telling my jokes and they were a pretty big hit. We had these drinks called a snakebite and apparently they aren't even allowed to be sold in some pubs because they are pretty strong. They are half strongbow or some kinda cider beer, half heineken and then some blackcurrant juice...they are very good but sweet and strong so you can only have about 2.
Friday we went to the pool at our place so that we could just use our place for lunch and the bathroom and just to be close for our last day and really relax. It was very nice having the pool there though because the ocean water was too cold but the pool was very refreshing. We went back to Biddy Mulligan's that night for a drink before we left and I went back with more jokes that I had written down from my Facebook. Both nights, a couple customers heard them and chuckled so even though people say they are dumb...they still laugh:-)
Saturday we had to leave:-( We left really early which was a hassle but it was such a treat not traveling by myself!! I was on their flight from Malaga to Madrid and was even able to sit with them!! I was so excited as you can tell:-) Then I got to Madrid and it was much harder than I thought it'd be...I ended up having to take a tram to my terminal and this took me awhile to figure out and resulted in my going up and down escalators and going in circles seeing the same things over and over but being the little world traveler that I am, I found it:-) So then I got back here on Saturday night and have a day to relax on Sunday before school started back up on Monday. I loved Malaga and it was gorgeous and gave us nice tans...even Christine got brown and we had a great time being together and got along very well and had a good week:-)

Now for Amsterdam...this one won't be as long because it was only a weekend. On Friday I had a morning lesson here for Rounders and then got a cab to Newport and made my way to the airport. I got into the airport and had to take a train to Central Station in Amsterdam where I met McKensie, Dani, and Lexi:-) It was soooo good to see them and did not feel like it'd been a year at all!! We went to the hostel and dropped my stuff off into the tiny 3 person room where 4 people would be sleeping (Dani let me share with her and we did the good old sleepover feet to head which actually worked well). We went to a coffee shop and got a drink and then we walked around Central Amsterdam for awhile and then found an Italian restaurant and ate there for dinner. Then they took me to the Red Light District. I cannot believe that these girls so that for a living...I was in shock they just sit there on their cell phones waiting for a customer. I dunno, it just would never be something I'd think is normal. There were tons of restaurants and bars and things around there though so it was the most crowded part of Amsterdam because after exploring West and East Amsterdam we realized that the central part was definately the party place of the city. So after walking around there we just went back to the hostel and went to sleep because Saturday was going to be a big day.
We woke up on Saturday and were gone all day and night...I'm pretty sure we walked for 13 hours straight. We saw anything and everything. We started with the Van Gogh Museum which was really neat and then we sat in Museum Square for awhile because it was such a pretty day. Me, McKensie and Lexi then spent 2 hours in the Heineken Brewery making videos to send to friends and family and this was sooo much fun. I loved that place and didn't want to leave lol. Then we met Dani outside and we walked around for a bit and then went to this Pancake place because Amsterdam is known for their pancakes or something and I know why now!! So thin and just mmm sooo good:-) Then we walked around for a couple more hours seeing things and went to the China District for dinner which was really good. Then we went to a coffee shop for a drink and hung out for a bit and then went home. We were exhausted from walking so much and the sun and just a long day in general.
On Sunday, their cab came at 5am to take them to the airport for their 7am flight. They went to Prague and are actually going home today. I had a nice little touristy day by myself. Check out was at 11am so I slept in, showered, packed my stuff up, checked out and went to the Anne Frank House/Museum. This was amazing and I am so glad I did it. They did it Friday before I got there so this was perfect on Sunday that I was on my own to do it. It was incredible being there and seeing videos of her father talking and her best friend and her real diary and just being in the house. Then I walked to a different side of town to the Pancake Corner for my last pancake there:-) It was sooo worth the walk lol:-) And then I made my way to the train station to get back to the airport for my flight home. I got back around 10pm or so and started school on Monday because it wasn't a holiday or anything, just a normal weekend but so neat I went to Amsterdam for the weekend:-)
I wish that I had spent more time with them but I am so glad I did it and it was so worth it. It was a great trip and another amazing experience:-)
I have to go because I have to go over to School House to help with the little ones but I will write another blog soon about my plans for September.
I miss everyone and I will be home for summer in less than 3 weeks!!!!:-)

Love,
DP