Ice Skating in Benalmádena

Hands up who knew there was an ice skating rink in Benalmádena?!

Certainly not me, that's for sure.

I do love Spain but sometimes I miss the lack of coldness in December, especially at Christmas time. We have no Christmas markets where mulled wine is a necessity to stay warm, no pop-up ice skating rinks and certainly no snow. Father Christmas does make a visit to Lacañada though!

Christmas is one of my favourite times of year so when I found out there was an ice rink in the area I simply had to go. Not only to really get in to the Christmas spirit and showcase my skating talents, but to end the puente on a real high!

¿Quién sabía que Benalmádena escondía una pista de hielo? 

¡Porque yo no tenía nidea! 

Me encanta España pero a veces echo de menos el frío inglés en Diciembre, sobretodo cuando es Navidad. Aquí no tenemos mercadillos de Navidad donde beber gluhwein es essencial para no enfriarnos, ni pistas de hielo que aparecen de repente al llegar Diciembre y por suspuesto ni una pizca de nieve. Aunque Papá Noel ¡si que nos hace una visita a Lacañada!

La Navidad es una de mis fiestas más preferias del año y cuando me enteré de que había una pista de hielo cerquita sabía que tenía que ir. No sólo para emprender el espíritu navideño y demostrar mi talento en la pista, sino también ¡para acabar bien el puente! 

Meet Little and Big. Conoce al peque y al grandote:

And the best friend Jess. Y a la mejor amiga Jessi:

And the rest of the family of course. Y al resto de la familia obviamente:

There were races. Hubo carrerras. 

Where the little ones won! ¡Donde los enanos ganaron! 

                  

And the big ones were thwarted. Y los grandotes se enfadaron.

                  

Chu Chu trains. El tren chu chu. 

Where they told us off. Donde nos regañaron. 

Then it started to snow! ¡Después empezó a nevar!

Just kidding! ¡Es broma!

                

I did love the fact I got to spend some quality time with JoBro (yes, I am older!). 

De veras me encantó poder pasar la tarde con el hermanito (Sí ¡Soy la mayor!).

When our little feet could no longer take it and we exhausted our ice skating tricks we decided to have a little break. With hot chocolate, of course! We just never imagined we would be entering Willy Wonka´s cave...

Cuando nuestros piezecitos ya no podían más y agotamos nuestros trucos sobre el hielo, decidimos hacer una pausa. Con ColaCao ¿Cómo no? Aunque nunca pensamos que ibamos a encontrar la cueva de Willy Wonka en Benalmádena...

Look! I even found a little munchkin. ¡Encima encontré a un pequeño munchkin!

The whole afternoon was pretty awesome. It exceeded all expectations! Who knew I could find a little bit of Christmas spirit and happiness nestled in Benalmádena? The rink is open all year round and even have ice skating lessons and a proper hockey team. I would recommend it to anyone looking to do something different on the Costa.

The best part? They gave us a 2x1 voucher, so you will definitely be seeing us there again soon.

Tengo que confesar que me lo pase genial. ¡Incluso muchísimo mejor de lo que me esperaba!  Todo superó mis expectativas. ¿Quién iba predecir que encontraría un poquito de Navidad y alegría en el corazón de Benalmádena? Abren todo el año e incluso dan clases de patinaje y tienen un equipo de hockey. No lo puedo recomendar más a cualquier/a que esté buscando algo diferente que hacer en la costa. Al partir nos dieron un descuento de 2x1, así que lo más seguro es que nos veréis ahí de vuelta muy prontito. 

Lastly, I leave you with our family portrait:
Por último, os dejo con nuestro retrato familiar:

Until next time! 

¡Hasta la próxima!

A Night at the Opera

This weekend in Spain has been a 'puente.'

There is a national holiday on the 6th December to commemorate the approval of the Spanish constitution and another on on the 8th in honour of the Immaculate Conception. So Spain does this really awesome thing whereby they take the day in between the holidays off too and essentially turn it in to a big long holiday weekend. Malaga went one step further and gave us the Monday off too!

I was all wrapped up warm and cosy on Saturday evening. Cup of tea in hand, thick woolly socks and my little dog Candy keeping me company. I could very well have stayed in snuggling up next to the fire, but no good story has ever started with: 'I decided to stay in.'

I put on some music, maxed out the volume and had a little dance party round the house! Music and dancing always lifts my spirits. It is puente, I have to go out! Whenever you are feeling a little down or unmotivated you just got to get all dressed up in your best outfit and flaunt it. Look great. Feel great. Be great.

Tonight I was going to Opera Room, a nightclub in Marbella with these beautiful ladies. It's where everyone seems to flock to in the Winter time when Puerto Banus is usually dead.

We started the night with some shisha and drinks in Marbella puerto deportivo and then headed to Opera.

We froze just a teeny weeny bit at our table on the terrace, as the heaters were for decoration only duh! So we made a b line straight for the dance floor. 

 

Okay so we might have got a little snap happy first, but we eventually made it do the dancefloor!

They played some pretty old school music (like 2009 old), but usually they have good remixes of popular songs. Which is excellent news for all you chart lovers, just like me, who love to sing along to the songs whilst dancing to them!

I've known these girls since we were silly school kids and the best part of spending the year in Spain? I get to rekindle all my old friendships with these crazy ladies! 

Casa Barella Lunch

Let's say my brother and I have always had a rocky relationship. We are fans of teasing, fighting and generally making each others lives annoying. But hey, let's get one thing clear, nobody messes with my brother but me!

We got closer when I moved to England for university but would argue as soon as I stepped through the door. Now that he has moved to Madrid to start his university, things haven't really changed, but if we started to get along I think our parents would start to worry.

JoBro, as I like to call him and he hates to be called (hence why I call him JoBro), rang me on Friday evening: 'Charl, I'm coming home tonight. I'm really down and depressed. Can you pretty please pick me up from Malaga?' I rolled my eyes at the other end of the phone. Typical Jonathan. Such a drama queen.

He had rang Nanna and not even bothered to call the Mother and tell her! Clearly too scared of the Mother. So of course I agreed to go pick my little brother up.

This caused a bit of a family sensation. A full B household and both Grandmas all in the same place at the same time! We took advantage and had a sneaky lunch at Casa Barella  in the glorious sunshine.

JoBro is fine. I think he just needed some home comforts and clearly he was missing his sister too much!

December at the Beach

I woke up on Friday morning to a text from a crazy brunnette: 'It's hot outside. Let's go the beach!' 

My first thought was, it's December! But when can you ever say no to the beach?

I quickly threw on some leggins, grabbed a hoodie and zipped down to Marbella to meet Jess and her two little sisters. I found this glorious site: 

Okay it wasn't scorching and I didn't take my hoodie off, but Jess ended up burning her face (she even has Colombian skin!) and the extra dose of vitamin D instantly made me feel better (as did the frozen yoghurt!). 

I love it here. My home.

I am never going to stop appreciating the sun, the sea or the beach. The fact I can see the Mediterranean whenever I jump in my car, I can smell the sea when I step outside and on a really clear day, I can see Morrocco across the horizon. I spent too long in the UK without any of this.

I am so lucky to have grown up here. I am so fortunate to be back studying a masters here.

No matter if its hot or cold. If the sun is shining, I will have a smile on my face. And life is about appreciating the little things right? Sometimes you've just got to stop and appreciate the positive things in your life, even if they are tiny.

Now that I've told you mine, what are the little things in your life?