Sunday, November 4th, 2018
It’s only 9:15 am and we’re already all packed for our month long trip to the Andalucia region of southern Spain. Tomorrow morning we drive to Gatineau for lunch at our son’s house. Then he will drive us to the Ottawa bus station for the 2 pm bus to the Montreal airport.
We’ll have lots of time until our Air Transat flight departs for Malaga, Spain at 8:40 pm. It’s only a 7 hour flight but with the 6 hour time difference, we’ll arrive at 9:40 am on Tuesday.
Monday, November 5th, 2018
Naturally, we were awake at 5:30 am. By 8:30 we were leaving and got to Gatineau by 11 am. After a lunch of chicken shawarma takeout, our son Zack drove us to the Ottawa bus station. Our bus (about $23 each) left at 2 pm and arrived at the Montreal airport shortly after 4 pm. We checked in and got rid of our main packs. They’re both carry on size. One weighed 6 1/2 kg and the other weighed 6 kg. We could have taken them on the plane with us but then we would have had to be more careful about sunscreen, jacknife with a corkscrew and small scissors etc. It was a direct flight so we weren’t too worried about the airline losing our bags.
Our Air Transat Airbus A-330 left more or less on time at 8:40 pm and wasn’t quite full. However, that’s still an awful lot of people on the plane. Air Transat seems to have narrow seats and very narrow aisles. They really pack people in. I would have been fine if I’d had no arms or legs and a shorter torso but for $624 each return, we really can’t complain. Much of the flight was bumpy so meal service was delayed a few times. Thankfully, it was only a 7 hour flight. With the 6 hour time difference we arrived about 9:30 am today, Tuesday. We slept very little.
Malaga airport is bigger than Ottawa airport but smaller than Montreal or Toronto. The customs officer stamped our passports without even looking at us. As we waited for our bags, which arrived as anticipated, we couldn’t help but marvel at the amount of luggage other tourists think they have to lug around. It’s so much easier to travel light.
Outside the front door of the airport were a few little bus company offices. It took no time to buy tickets for 12 1/2 euros each (about $20 Canadian) for the 2 1/4 hour trip to Granada. We left at 10:45 am and spent the first 3/4 of an hour driving into downtown Malaga to the main bus station to pick up more passengers. After some of the places we’ve been, Malaga looked very neat, clean, and civilized, although a bit modern for our tastes.
The bus trip to Granada was very pleasant as we passed through hundreds of olive groves. As we got closer to Granada, we could see the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance. Unfortunately, we kept nodding off for 10 minutes at a time.
We arrived at the bus station on the edge of Granada about 1 pm. For 8 euros (about $14 Canadian) a taxi took us into the centre of town near our Los Tilos Hotel in the Plaza bib Rambla. We checked in, unpacked a bit and slept for 20 minutes before going out to find some food.
Our hotel has a great location near all the major sites. There are dozens of little restaurants around here. We picked one with an enclosed patio with propane heaters. It was sunny here today but the high was only 14C. The sun felt great but it was cool in the shade. For 11 euros each we had a late lunch of appetizer, main course and dessert with wine or beer included. We both had mushroom tortellini soup, and we got one order of roast chicken and potatoes and one order of meat lasagna. For dessert we got one tiramisu and one chocolate mousse. Everything was excellent and very reasonably priced.
After our meal we wandered around the pedestrian streets and squares until after 5 pm when it was getting cold and we were tired. Now we’re back in our room, showered and ready for an early bedtime. Laundry is done and we have a plan for a walking tour tomorrow. We’re back in the travel mode.
It’s only 9:15 am and we’re already all packed for our month long trip to the Andalucia region of southern Spain. Tomorrow morning we drive to Gatineau for lunch at our son’s house. Then he will drive us to the Ottawa bus station for the 2 pm bus to the Montreal airport.
We’ll have lots of time until our Air Transat flight departs for Malaga, Spain at 8:40 pm. It’s only a 7 hour flight but with the 6 hour time difference, we’ll arrive at 9:40 am on Tuesday.
Monday, November 5th, 2018
Naturally, we were awake at 5:30 am. By 8:30 we were leaving and got to Gatineau by 11 am. After a lunch of chicken shawarma takeout, our son Zack drove us to the Ottawa bus station. Our bus (about $23 each) left at 2 pm and arrived at the Montreal airport shortly after 4 pm. We checked in and got rid of our main packs. They’re both carry on size. One weighed 6 1/2 kg and the other weighed 6 kg. We could have taken them on the plane with us but then we would have had to be more careful about sunscreen, jacknife with a corkscrew and small scissors etc. It was a direct flight so we weren’t too worried about the airline losing our bags.
Our Air Transat Airbus A-330 left more or less on time at 8:40 pm and wasn’t quite full. However, that’s still an awful lot of people on the plane. Air Transat seems to have narrow seats and very narrow aisles. They really pack people in. I would have been fine if I’d had no arms or legs and a shorter torso but for $624 each return, we really can’t complain. Much of the flight was bumpy so meal service was delayed a few times. Thankfully, it was only a 7 hour flight. With the 6 hour time difference we arrived about 9:30 am today, Tuesday. We slept very little.
Malaga airport is bigger than Ottawa airport but smaller than Montreal or Toronto. The customs officer stamped our passports without even looking at us. As we waited for our bags, which arrived as anticipated, we couldn’t help but marvel at the amount of luggage other tourists think they have to lug around. It’s so much easier to travel light.
Outside the front door of the airport were a few little bus company offices. It took no time to buy tickets for 12 1/2 euros each (about $20 Canadian) for the 2 1/4 hour trip to Granada. We left at 10:45 am and spent the first 3/4 of an hour driving into downtown Malaga to the main bus station to pick up more passengers. After some of the places we’ve been, Malaga looked very neat, clean, and civilized, although a bit modern for our tastes.
The bus trip to Granada was very pleasant as we passed through hundreds of olive groves. As we got closer to Granada, we could see the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance. Unfortunately, we kept nodding off for 10 minutes at a time.
We arrived at the bus station on the edge of Granada about 1 pm. For 8 euros (about $14 Canadian) a taxi took us into the centre of town near our Los Tilos Hotel in the Plaza bib Rambla. We checked in, unpacked a bit and slept for 20 minutes before going out to find some food.
Our hotel has a great location near all the major sites. There are dozens of little restaurants around here. We picked one with an enclosed patio with propane heaters. It was sunny here today but the high was only 14C. The sun felt great but it was cool in the shade. For 11 euros each we had a late lunch of appetizer, main course and dessert with wine or beer included. We both had mushroom tortellini soup, and we got one order of roast chicken and potatoes and one order of meat lasagna. For dessert we got one tiramisu and one chocolate mousse. Everything was excellent and very reasonably priced.
After our meal we wandered around the pedestrian streets and squares until after 5 pm when it was getting cold and we were tired. Now we’re back in our room, showered and ready for an early bedtime. Laundry is done and we have a plan for a walking tour tomorrow. We’re back in the travel mode.
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