Gibraltar Wedding

kazmeister

Hi Sal

Castillo Duquesa is just a short walk from where we'll be as we're on the edge of the port. Castillo is a bit quieter from what I can remember but there are loads of restaurants around the port. Not much 'night life' bbut then we have never wanted that type of holiday.

There is a nice little town of Sabinallas (I think its spelt like that) with lots of restaurants/shops. Its a lovely walk about 10 - 15 mins from the port. We used to walk down to a little restaurant that was on the prom and a fabulous place to have breakdfast but last time there it was a curry house or something :rolleyes:. They always have a big Sunday market there too. There is also a Lidl supermarket which is where we stocked up on loads of stuff for lunches, big boxes of langoustines for about £3 which we used to cook in garlic butter, and big boxes of kids lollys for about £3 which was much cheaper than buying them one from the beach bars (chiringuito's) each time, although they were lovely especially the one down by Castillo which was brilliant for a fish lunch.

There used to be a duquesa guide you could download but it doesnt look like its available now but this site is good http://www.visitmanilva.com/

Only have 7 weeks so will have to update once I come back if you remind me!

ETA you must visit the Roman Oasis restaurant, we loved it pricey but fab for my dads 70th birthday

OMG just seen the average temp for Aug is 86 !!!!!!!!

Herbiecat

When I spoke to mom yesterday she said it was ridiculously hot at the moment, the good news is its meant to be cooling down slightly in the next couple of days.

I'm really chuffed your plans are coming on so well Kaz xx

sal-ad_daze

Thanks Kaz,
Sounds just our kind of place!

I need some advice though girls and with your knowledge of the area you may be able to help.
My niece and nephew are really looking forward to coming out to the wedding, both have had a really tough time and have no parental contact with dad (mum died). Niece is 18 and is going with a friend, she has been abroad before with foster families; nephew is 22 and has never been abroad in his life.
My dilemma is this, do we find somewhere near us for them to stay where they may get a little bored in the evening or do we look to livlier places like Torrie where they will be on their own? There will be around 26 of us at least around the duquesa area so I'd be happier with them there.
Also, I don't want to stop my nephew from bringing a friend but how do I know I can trust two young men staying with two teenage girls?
Oh, what to do?
Any thoughts gratefully received!!

Meenu

Welcome and the best of luck!

kazmeister

sal-ad_daze wrote: »

Thanks Kaz,
Sounds just our kind of place!

I need some advice though girls and with your knowledge of the area you may be able to help.
My niece and nephew are really looking forward to coming out to the wedding, both have had a really tough time and have no parental contact with dad (mum died). Niece is 18 and is going with a friend, she has been abroad before with foster families; nephew is 22 and has never been abroad in his life.
My dilemma is this, do we find somewhere near us for them to stay where they may get a little bored in the evening or do we look to livlier places like Torrie where they will be on their own? There will be around 26 of us at least around the duquesa area so I'd be happier with them there.
Also, I don't want to stop my nephew from bringing a friend but how do I know I can trust two young men staying with two teenage girls?
Oh, what to do?
Any thoughts gratefully received!!

I would be inclined to speak to the niece and nephew and get their ideas of what they want from the holiday. Personally I wouldnt want any child of mine whatever their age staying in Fuengirola or Torremolinos, and you only have to watch the programme on the sky channels about the Costa Del Sol (filmed mostly in the big towns on the coast) once or twice to be put off. I would think that with 26 of you, they could find enough entertainment but like I said it depends on the individual and what they would like.

Herbiecat

Kaz my folks live in Torrie and its nothing like the TV, its a lovely family place & in the 10 years iv been going there iv seen hardly any trouble. You get more hassle walking down a street in a city centre in the UK than over there. Its had a major facelift, lots of squares with nice bars and resturants. Move down the coast slightly to Benalmadena and its a lot more raucaus and rowdy, much more 18-30ish - Can be fun occasionally tho and it has the most gorgeous mariana that I think is nicer that the one at Puerto Banus and a hell of a lot cheaper.

Sal the one thing that will prob put your neices and nephews off Torrie is that its the gay capital of spain, so the night life may not be to there liking. Rarely any trouble tho as I said.

kazmeister

Sorry Herbie,

I didnt mean to cause any offence to your folks home town. I do agree with you about the British town thing, ours is terrible but from what we saw of Torre (and admittedly didnt spend a huge amount of time there, you obviously know it a lot better), I would rather be a bit further down the coast where it is quieter and yes more expensive.

Herbiecat

Hi Kaz - None taken I promise, I just wanted to say its not as bad as people say, the peeps who normally slag it off haven't been there for 10 years or more and since then they have had a new mayor who's done wonders for the place.
I'm off there 2 wks Friday - Yipee!!

Herbiecat

Hi ladies

Well I got back from Spain/Gib early hours of this morning and thought I would tell you how it went before I tackle the heap of washing the size of Mount Everest

Mom and dad drove Si and I to Gib on Tues, we got the border and the weather was gorgeous, we then drove up to the cable car car park and the Levante (big cloud over the rock) started rolling and and the wind picked up, before we knew it it was freezing, foggy and blowing an absolute gale. We got to the Dell and Patricia told us this was freak weather conditions and the east and west winds were competing with each other - App this only at happens at the most twice a year, anyway they wouldn't let us walk round the Dell because of the danger of the trees falling down!!! The winds were terrible, me and mom nearly got blown over. We managed to find a bar and stayed there for an hour. I remember the levante from when I lived there but not these severe winds, they were mad :eek: I hope it wasnt a sign lol

We went back to the gardens later and I managed to show Si round, he loved them.

We went to the registra and gave in the rest of our paperwork, that was fine.

I found a florist on the Main St, opp M&S. The lady (Scottish) was lovely and I thought she was really reasonable. My bouquet is £40-45 and the BM's are £20 each and she will deliver them to the hotel.

We went to the Elliot Hotel (where me, BM's and some family) are going to stay the night before and they gave us a decent price, there is a hairdressers and beauty in house and I spoke to her, I just need to email all the details.

I checked M&S and Morrisons and they dont do wedding cakes, Morrisons does birthday cakes but nothing else. There are plenty of bakers tho and they only need a few days notice.

The card shop off Main St can get balloon kits (helium etc) at £50 a time.

We also sorted the reception back in Torrie and a ex wedding planner friend who lives out there is going to sort all the decorations and table planning for me.

We also arranged the coach from Torrie to Gib and back, £300 which is loads cheaper than I thought.

It all went better than we could have imagined, dad has said he is going to pay for the reception, food and bar which is a massive weight off our mind. Numbers are growing and we think we are upto about 50 people so far!!!!!!

Im so excited, its going to be fab. Im hoping to fly out in March to sort stuff but if I cant then mom is a great help and will sort stuff for me.

All in all it was a lovely holiday and things went great on the wedding side of things.

Oh well back to reality, im off to sort the whites from the colours :rolleyes:

Chris xxxx

sal-ad_daze

Thanks for that report Chris,
The wind sounds a bit of a nightmare:eek:
Yay for your dad:beer: that must take a huge weight off your mind.
Laura has decided she is going to have silk flowers that a florist friend here will do for her and we will ship them out to her friend who lives in Gib. ( I think there will be a very big box shipped out to her:rolleyes:) she says that she knows her friend will do exactly what she wants and it will be one worry less.
She's asked her friend to research cakes but hasn't decided which type she wants yet:rolleyes:
£300 for a coach doesn't sound bad at all, is that for the return trip as well?
It's all getting so close! It's a year exactly for my daughter and she's now realising just how quickly that time will go!
I bet you're really excited now that you've been and sorted stuff out 'physically' IYKWIM.
I think she's decided on her dress, we're just waiting for swatches from Milly.
Ooh its all go isn't it:D