As we stepped off the plane we were hit with a warm breeze and then a fierce sun, things were most definitely looking up for us! The flight attendant even chuckled that we wouldn’t be needing our hoodies, to be honest I haven’t even been able to wear my linen trousers because of the good ‘ole Espanol heat!! The tanning began straight away and we were layering on the sun cream, me more than Laura which has resulted in Laura having a very red belly. We are hoping she will brown once the beetroot has passed.

Sandra gave us a tour of the town and the marina and then the holiday began! The apartment having a pool was a life saver for me seeing as I have a stupid phobia of the sea. Laura on the other hand bounds into the sea only to get half downed which was all documented very well on my camera. Although I wasn’t lucky enough to get a picture of her exposing herself during her battle with the waves! The beach was quite quiet during the week but even on the weekend it wasn’t as busy as Brighton would be when the weather peaks at yes 24C. The only problem with the beach is that it is more grit and small stones than sand but to be honest when you are sunbathing on a towel its not really going to bother you.

During the day Laura and I would find ourself heading down to the marina for something to eat, at either La Plaza or Cafe Milenio.

Wisely recommended by Sandra we have been eating quite a few tostados, they are cheap and very yummy so we have welcomed her wisdom! I have been eating tuna, tomato and cheese ones whilst Laura has been having the veggie version of cheese and tomato. The other day I did have a roscos for something different at Cafe Milenio and it was like a whole toasted circular loaf of bread with tuna, red peppers and mayonnaise. For €6.50 its a bargain and very filling meaning we couldn’t pig out on their amazing looking ice creams which we found out the next day they didn’t even serve…not impressed!!

For dinner we have been cooked gourmet meals by Sandra and Chris and in no way am I being sarcastic. As a meat lover I have never been a fan of veggie food but we had a really good bean chilli thanks to Chris and many other good meals. One of the nights Laura and I took Sandra and Chris out for dinner, we went to a chinese buffet with a difference. You could choose the meat or seafood that you wanted as well as the vegetables and then choose the sauce which it would be cooked in, which made it great for the veggies!

Cats have been just as much a part of our holiday as sunbathing has! With Morrie and Saidi, two entertaining black cats belonging to Sandra and Chris as well as our little adventure to the cat ladies’ house. A german lady by the name of Gisela should be named the official cat lady! At one point she had 130 cats in her house and its not like she lives in a mansion. As soon as we walked in we saw cats everywhere, kittens and big oldie cats. And instantly Laura and I fell in love with two little kittens who also turned out to be brothers, Akim and Akiro. Akim who I decided to call Pumpkin was just so sweet and friendly and didn’t mind me literally holding it for the whole time we were there. It even fell asleep in my arms like a baby! Sandra was trying to tempt us with the idea of getting them sent to England but Laura and I have agreed the Hickman and Oliver parents would not be best pleased!! The main point of our visit to Gisela’s house was to clean the cat litter trays which were pretty much steaming. Sandra was the pooper scooper, Laura got washing up duty and I dried off the trays and although there were flies about they were more interested in the cat poo than me and Laura, which we were grateful for as we had been constantly harassed by them at the pool side! Laura and Sandra went into another cat room to clear up but let me have the pleasure of messing about with the cats for a good half an hour. By the time we had to leave I was seriously considering stealing Akim and taking him home with me but these kittens would probably not be ready to leave the country for another 6 months!

Two times this week we have been to a little beach bar called Coco Beach. Its a few minutes walk away from the main clubs and bars making it seem almost quite private. The owners are a Argentine guy with his Irish girlfriend and they have decorated the bar very well which quite a large selection of drinks as well as interesting servings of fruit. On the Thursday after our chinese buffet, we went to Coco Beach to watch a fire show where quite young guys did quite a few nifty tricks with a good soundtrack playing in the background. The five second pour in Spain is pretty amazing seeing as the spirit units in England our so strict. Laura and I both work behind the bars so we know that a single is a pretty stingy measure of alcohol. At the club I work I am not even allowed to serve someone a triple, I have to give a double and then a separate shot. We found that two of these Spanish sized drinks would easily make us tipsy, they were equivalent of a quadruple per glass!! We quite liked this bar so went again to it on Saturday, with a DJ there was a good atmosphere although it was quite quiet. Once word-of-mouth gets out though, we thought this bar would do well for itself!

The Medieval Market was certainly fun - wandering around at midnight buying jewelry, soap and chorizo was a first for me. Chris and Sands don’t seem to be able to go anywhere without someone stopping them to say hello so we seemed to meet a load of people - both Spanish and English. I have to say it was a slight surprise to see so many older English people out so late! It seems that if you want to enjoy Almerimar you just have to do it the Spanish way, which was pretty cool and easy for us!

Almerimar is a great place to live as an expat amongst the expats, or to work amongst the Spanish. There are all kinds of properties including villas, apartments and town houses for rent or sale. It is a very traditional part of Spain, with traditional Spanish foods so if you plan to travel to Spain either to look for jobs, for your company to trade with companies in Spain, or to learn Spanish and enjoy the Spanish weather then come and take a look.

If you are interested in purchasing a property in Almerimar please visit our sponsors Mediterraspain. If you have purchased a property and need it furnished please check out our Sponsors DBJ who will give you a Exclusive 5% discount with the code AL2008.

If you want to learn Spanish, get help with anything to do with the legal issues in Spain, or want WiFi access in the marina please check out our sponsor CentrePoint who will give you a 10% discount off all services with the code AL2008.

If you want an amazing activity based day out in the mountains and to learn how to ride a motorcycle off road then check out our sponsor The Long Way Round and get 5% off with the code AL2008.