Seniors in Spain 2018: 7/30/2018-Torremolinos-relaxing at the beach and the pool, dinner at The Carvery

Did not get a great night's sleep. The mattress dipped on one side! I did love the pillows as they were very soft but Richard doesn't like them so soft.
Breakfast is not a large spread like what we've had in Cordoba and Granada. It's not as good either. In hindsight I should have booked this property without breakfast included. There are lots of restaurants up and down the boardwalk-close to the hotel-that we could have considered. The fruit was good as was the toast. But the pastries-donuts, etc. were not to my liking. They didn't taste fresh or homemade. Only scrambled eggs and not cooked well done like I prefer. I miss being able to get my eggs over medium. Pineapple juice and coffee con leche were fine. I think Richard was fine with the breakfast here.

Cava/champagne

Juices

Meats and cheeses

Cheeses

Ham

Toaster

Pastries

Rolls and bread

Donuts

Scrambled eggs and bacon

Croissants

Fruit

Cereals

Healthy-cereal with dried fruit for Richard

Toast with scrambled eggs and mushrooms for Richard

Pastries did not taste good to me

We decide to take a stroll on the boardwalk walking to the right. Pass several stores, other hotels, other sections of the beach. See where you can take an elevator up to town. When we reach Nonna Gelateria we turn around and head back. At a store I buy a notebook, some water, drinks, snacks. Spent around €10.00. Think we walked at least 2 miles, maybe more.

Elevator to town is in this tall tan building

Store where I made my purchases

Back in our room we put our drinks in the mini fridge and the other stuff on the table. We've decided to spend the day at the beach and the pool. Still can't believe that this hotel does not provide pool/beach towels. We take our bath towels and head to the beach. It's around 11:00 AM. We pick out loungers with an umbrella and settle down. I didn't bring my camera because I was afraid the sand might damage it. There's a man going around collecting money. We pay €6.00 each and get a receipt. The receipt says El Velero Playa. He explains our rental is good for the entire day. If we leave-say to go to lunch-and come back we don't pay again. Soon our area starts to fill up. The couple next to us is from Dublin and they are here for a week on holiday. Jean and Paul. Very friendly and really nice to talk to. They are staying at the same hotel as us. The sea looks calm but it isn't. The waves are a bit too rough for me so I don't go out past my waist. The water is warm. The day is hot-in the 80s-and sunny. It's nice to just do nothing but work on my tan! We decide to take a break and go back to our room. Have something to drink and some of the snacks-potato chips and nuts. Healthy lunch! I'm going to take my camera back with me to the beach but first we're going to check out the hotel pool. Quite a lot of people on sun beds and kids in the pool. The water is colder than the beach. I see a sign that states from 5/1-10/31 there is a €3 charge for each sun bed. I can't believe that our hotel charges for the sun beds! When I was looking and decided to book this property a big deal was made of the fact that they had a pool for the guests. No mention of having to pay to use a sun bed. We stayed less than 30 minutes before heading back to the beach and our loungers. I took pictures of people on jet skis and paddle boats, boats going by, and people just hanging out at the beach on a lovely summer day. We left the beach at 5:30 PM to get ready for dinner. We've spent nearly the entire day at the beach!

Me at the pool

Richard at the beach

A bit rough

Beach is busy

Richard coming out of the water

This is the section of beach we were at

View of pool from upper floor hotel

The section of beach where we were has the yellow welcome sign

Dinner-The Carvery. Have to take a taxi as it's too far to walk. We don't have a reservation so it's a short wait. This is a very large place mainly known for its buffet of carved meats. Hence the name-The Carvery. Also supposed to have authentic fish and chips which is what I want. On our trip to London back in 2008 I never did get to have fish and chips. Soon our table is ready. This place is very busy and noisy. Kids running around. Good thing none of this bothers us. Drinks-Richard gets a pint and I get a glass of sangria. I love sangria! On the menu I order the regular size fish and chips and Richard goes for the large. Our server-friendly girl-tells us that when this place opened they had people come out from London to teach the chef here how to do proper fish and chips. That's good to hear. In no time at all our orders are served. Piping hot. The fish was battered and fried to perfection. It tasted fantastic. Malt vinegar. Yay! The fries were great also but the fish was definitely the star. Richard agreed with my assessment. I check out the buffet line. We will return for that. It looked delicious. Lots of meats being carved. Lots of sides-potatoes, vegetables..... Cost of our dinner without tip $36.63. Taxi to NONNA for ice cream. I get nonna and Richard gets ?? Didn't make note of cost of taxi or the ice cream. We walk back slowly to our hotel. Tomorrow we've decided to do a day trip to Gibraltar.