A sleepy morning was followed by a croissant breakfast on our balcony. Mark and Deb had a nice walk in the sun on the beach. We then headed out toward Marbella. We stopped and walked around Puerto Banus to see it during the daylight. It was very pretty with the white boats and white houses in the bright sunshine. We drove on to Marbella and after finding a parking garage for the bus, walked around the old town of Marbella. Deb found several nice shops for some small gifts. The Plaza de Naranjos (oranges) was a nice spot to sit down and have a drink. Old town Marbella features many tight streets with shops and small plazas with cafes and shops. A surprising amount were open despite being Christmas Eve. We continued to see the abundance ... read more

Today was a relaxing day at the timeshare in Estepona. Everyone slept in and we spent the day relaxing in the beautiful sunshine. We were very happy with the resort and its amenities. The kids had a fun day playing basketball and soccer with other kids on the sport court and in the indoor pool. Mark and Deb enjoyed lying in the sun reading. For dinner, we drove to Puerto Banus and had dinner at an Italian restaurant recommended by Nancy, Amore y Fantistico. The pizza and pasta were great. Thanks for the tip Nancy! It was then back to the unit for a quiet night as tomorrow we are off to the Alhambra in Granada!... read more

After a late morning, we got to see our beautiful hotel during the daylight. After a brief walk around the grounds (includes a monastery and golf course) we started off to Sintra. We started off with some croissants and hot chocolate at a cafe on the main square. We then toured the Palacio Nacionale which was a residence for Portugal monarchs. There were some beautiful rooms with painted tiled walls and painted or engraved ceilings. Deb then shopped for azuelos (painted tiles) while the boys grabbed more croissants and bread from a pastry shop. While in Sintra, it's hard not to notice the old Moorish Castle looming high above. That was our next stop as we drove the bus up the winding road past numerous old estates (Sintra was old retreat for Lisbon's wealthy). The Moorish ... read more

After our morning breakfast at the hotel we relaxed for a few hours in our rooms. We had plans to do a Charles Dickens Walk from Trafalgar Square but since it was raining and we had some napping going on, we decided to skip it. With the Tube being closed on Christmas, we had a nice walk from the hotel through St James Park, by Buckingham Palace and on to the Hard Rock Cafe. Luckily, the rain had stopped for the first time today! We had a nice dinner at the Hard Rock with Christmas pop songs played in the background. Steven tried a sip of Dad's beer and decided it was way too bitter. Diana and Will tried a tiny sip of Mom's Pomegrante Martini and promptly made the Mr. Yucky face. After dinner we ... read more

Our alarm woke us at 8am after a wonderful night of uninterrupted sleeping. We had worried that we’d wake up early due to time change, but we all slept right through the night. We were happy to see the fog was gone so we made plans to go to the London Eye right away. Afterwards, we hit the Starbucks next to our hotel for breakfast. Deb once again seemed to find a hotel to stay in directly next to a Starbucks. We enjoyed the 30 minute ride on the Eye and the dramatic views we had of London. Deb and Diana went on to Harrod's for some brief shopping while the boys checked out the Star Wars Exhibition. At Harrod's we met Deb's friend Penny and her husband Dave who we had lunch with at a ... read more