Round and about

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It’s another early start. We need to have the hire car back by noon and google maps says it will take an hour and a half to get from our hotel to the car hire place, plus a minor detour to fill the tank up so, according to my calculations, we need to allow four hours! OK, I don’t trust Google’s calculations…especially having seen how the route past all the major holiday resorts including Marbella…so I want to leave earlier in the day when traffic will be potentially lighter. After all who, apart from us, would be mad enough to want to go to the beach at 8am?

We go down for breakfast at 7am and have a good fill up. It’s a really nice continental breakfast. OK, they do also do scrambled egg and sausage…but are we the only country in the world that has proper sausages, I ask Ian? I really hate hot dog type boiled sausages!

We set off around 8am - it’s still dark but the sky is looking like it might be lightening up a little. The ‘motorway’ is just round the corner from our hotel. It’s actually an A road. One of those with three different numbers but A7 seems to be a good indicator. The motorway proper in the AP7 but we’ve been assured it’s an expensive extravagance…as long as we take it easy the A7 should be fine!

The problem with the A7, and every other non AP road is the frequency of roundabouts. We are lucky if we get a 2.5km gap between each and sometimes as little as 500m. Straight across at every roundabout unless u say otherwise, I tell Ian.

We make pretty good progress until we reach the outskirts of Marbella. Here we have to switch roads a few times (whilst staying on the A7). Inevitably there are a few wrong turns along the way but all noticed the moment we go wrong and all easily rectified. One thing we should not do is take the AP road but in places it’s impossible not to. No toll booths appear so we can only assume these are free bits, either that or we’ll receive fines for non payment in a couple of weeks! I’ve also been assured they still have old fashioned booths here. As there is no other route I think these bits must be allowed!

It’s 9.45am and we’ve arrived at the turn off for the fuel station. Hmmm, google maps wasn’t far out today then! Ian fills the tank and we make our way to the rental returns. Bugger says Ian, the tank isn’t showing as full! What? OK we’d better find another filling station then…oh and BTW we just missed our turning!

We’ve left the main highway again and back at another garage…Ian squeezes another 4 euros worth of fuel in and then the tank is overflowing. And the fuel gauge still doesn’t show full! Tough, we are returning the car now! Two more wrong turns and several roundabouts later and we are back at the rental place.

I’ve been dreading returning the car, even though we paid handsomely fir the ‘super collision damage waiver’, which covers us for everything except giving the car keys to a stranger, because Ian claims two new huge scratches have appeared on the car. I’m dubious as the paperwork we insisted on having at the outset states ‘scratched’. It’s all a bit vague though as the car has three major damages to start with.

The guy at the returns desk is very pleasant and there’s no bunfight at the desks here today either. We explain about the fuel and he says that’s OK, it’s a problem they always have with Corsas - we should have been told when we collected it! A five minute walk round and he comes back declaring that everything is perfect. He authorises the return of our fuel deposit and we are all sorted.

It’s hours till our bus leaves but I have found out there is an aviation museum at the airport…just Ian’s cup of tea. It’s on the opposite side of the road to the hire place but no means of getting to it on foot as it’s a busy dual carriageway into the airport. If we don’t mind waiting 10 minutes the guy at the returns desk will take us. They have a courtesy bus that takes folk back to the airport and he is happy to do the small detour.

We have arrived at the museum gates and off we go dragging our wheeled luggage with us. A guy at the museum greets us warmly, shies us a room where we can leave our bags and gives us a run down on the museum. It’s pretty extensive with four different buildings to visit, a watchtower to climb, outside exhibits plus a flight simulator (which we pass on).



THE AIR MUSEUM - Ian’s report

The four buildings still belong to the airport, one of which was the original 1924 passenger terminal. As such, many of the exhibits focus on its specific history. The first building contained pilot and stewards uniforms from the 60s to 80s, and a range of small models depicting those aircraft and airlines that operated from Malaga. The second building was the original passenger terminal, complete with a small control tower on the roof. As the airport expanded in the 1960s, it became the private aircraft passenger terminal and still overlooks the private aircraft parking area. In 1924, the only other ‘building’ was a cavas aircraft hanger. The focus here was on how the flying experience had changed; from checking-in through to in-flight food service. The view from the control tower is now quite restricted by the modern terminals, but the exhibits did show an ancient radio, signal lamp and flare gun. The third building detailed, through photos, plans and models, the airport’s expansion over the decades. It also contained a small exhibition on woman in aviation. The last building contained engineering aspects of flying, such as engines, undercarriages and flight controls. It also had a number of child-friendly pieces to explain why an aircraft flies. Finally, there were a small number of restored aircraft to view and another under restoration.



Air Museum finished we have a final chat with the guy running the place. Given that this place is run by volunteers and there is no entrance fee, it’s a pretty extensive museum. There is a donations jar which we happily add to as we feel it was well worth it. And now we are even being given detailed instructions on how to get to the airport safely…our bus leaves from there in three hours time!

On our way back I get chatting to a young man who has just flown in and came to visit the museum too. He is an Israeli who is currently living in Austria. He is a flight attendant and loves his job because it helps him to travel. He is now heading for Malaga centre as he has a few days layover. I point him in the direction of the train station and tell him the Palace is free entry on Sunday pms.

to find our bus stop…easier said than done! It’s quite a maze trying to find our way back to the Arrivals Hall. Once we are there it feels obvious and we wonder how it could have felt so difficult. It’s also a relief to find the bus stop with our destination on the timetable. It’s slightly confusing as there’s two other places where we have seen the ALSA buses!

It’s a bit cooler today so we happily sit outside to await our transport. The bus is prompt and a pleasant bus driver checks our tickets and shows us where to load our luggage. This is the first stop and we are the only two onboard.

The bus makes its way to Malaga Central Bus Station. Here a long line of people are waiting to board. This includes a French lady who is complaining bitterly…and very loudly (we can hear her from inside the coach) about her ticket. The bus driver is trying to check off the other passengers tickets against his list. She is saying that the sane seat has been sold twice…so, since we are the only ones on the bus, dies she think she should have one of our seats? It’s unclear, especially as she is French, speaking in broken English, and the driver is Spanish! Anyway, the driver lets her have the front seat opposite us - we think just to shut her up!

The passengers are all checked on and the bus is almost full. We leave town, heading in the direction of Antequera. The French woman starts up again…she knows this woman that sold her the bus ticket and she is going to complain when we get to Cordoba. Yes, you do that…and please stop distracting the driver whilst we are speeding up this dual carriageway. Her hotel closes at 8pm (really?) and she is going to end up sleeping in the streets, plus she’s been waiting in that bus station since 1pm for this bus! Hmmm maybe because the bus wasn’t scheduled to leave till 4pm?

Five minutes have passed. Does this bus have wifi? Yes, but strangely the driver cannot help her to connect her phone and also drive a bus! Another passenger tales the phone and we hope she will now be satisfied? No such luck. We have reached Antequera and she wonders why the driver has diverted from the main road? Well that would be because there’s a bus station there and others wanted to get on and off.

How long is it going to take to get to Cordoba? Another 3.5 hours. Three and a half hours! Why so long? They told her three at the ticket office. Oh and also…are we stopping for a toilet break? No, there is a toilet on the bus. Errr, if you are in such a hurry why do you want to add more delays? Honestly, I’m often amused by TV programmes on long bus journeys but no need on this bus as we have a live theatrical performance!

The complaints continue for the whole four hours and, despite the driver telling the lady she has some time to use the onboard loo whilst he boards passengers, she declines to use it. There are various more detours and delays as the bus deviates from the main road to visit various towns in the route. More huffing and questions, but even so, the driver deposits us at Cordoba bus station at ten to eight…exactly on schedule! I bet he regrets letting have that front seat now!

We are last off the bus and maje our way to the taxi stand. Here there is more confusion…the front taxi is being kept waiting whilst French woman has a fag! Ahhh, so that’s why she was so desperate for a loo stop! Now please can you push off so that the taxis can move up.

Our hotel is a very short drive from the bus station. A smiling driver loads our bags and if we go…in the complete opposite direction to our hotel? It’s a real long rude and we’re pretty convinced we’ve been driven the long way round. Ian is making noises to the driver, who gets very cross, but miraculously now takes us directly to the hotel. We conclude that it’s dark and we are foreign idiots that won’t realise we are being driven round in circles. The driver practically chucks us out of the car, offering no change even if we had expected it, bangs his door shut and off he goes!

Phew, at least we are here. We dump our bags and set off for food. We find a local tapas bar. All the pavement tables are reserved but we can eat inside. We have no idea what we are ordering but end up with demi plates of chorezo in a tasty sauce and fried eggplant. Ian has a beer and me a sherry (disappointing after the Jerez sherries but inevitable).

Now to zizz. It’s been a long day!

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