Hola!

I recently won some flights to Malaga in Spain with BMI baby just because I retweeted something on Twitter and I couldn’t have been more pleased! I had won them about 4 months ago just before I started the job I was made redundant from in June so if I hadn’t won them I wouldn’t have gone anywhere and let me tell you it has done me the world of good. While I was there I had an epiphany, a sudden realisation where I realised it is time to let go of all the anger, bitterness and upset. Everyone goes through ups and down, happy times as well as sad but what we must do is learn from these experiences and take them in our stride.

The trip was an almost life changing experience as you can probably tell from my tweets of late and I am in a calm and almost spiritual state. Today I spent the afternoon at the Nottingham Riviera in the Nottingham Market Square reminiscing about the trip and writing this blog with a San Miguel beer and some popcorn. I thought about the day I experienced my epiphany was a day when I was stood at the sea shore in a floaty white dress from H&M, the sun was beating down on me, khaabon ke parinde from zindagi na milegi dobara was playing on my ipod, the waves were splashing around my bare feet and I had that moment where a weight had lifted off my shoulders, I had let go. I had been stressed about relationships, finding a job, hearing nasty words from people I don’t know and losing friends. But the words of the song resonated with me: ‘ab toh, job hi ho so ho’ (whatever happens now, happens.)

Malaga is a beautiful, warm city with not much tourism and we stayed at the Vincci Hotel right by the beach. The Hotel was lovely and I especially liked the lime green and grey curtains, the staff were friendly and the tomatoes at breakfast were so delicious. If you ever visit I recommend seeing the cathedral, walk around the town and the beach, drink tinto verano (red wine with lemon fanta) and eat Tapas. The tapas I would recommend are the gambas (prawn) pil pil, patatas bravas, fried aubergine and cod.  One thing that really struck me was the happiness that shone from within when you saw the locals. Groups of older men and women would sit on the beaches until the early hours of the morning; eating and drinking without a care in the world. Children would play out and their safety wasn’t feared. Teenagers would roller blade and frolic on the beach. Adults would sip their cervezas (beers) and mojitos again up until the early hours. But there was no rowdy behaviour like you’d see in other touristy areas. Obviously Spain has its own issues as a country but everyone always looked happy in comparison to when we were waiting to check in at the airport and there was a large group of Asian girls behind us returning to the UK from a hen do. My friend Urvashi and I tried to smile at them but not even one of the at least ten girls even cracked a smile back. I find this typical of some girls. But I suppose they weren’t happy returning home!

I developed a taste for San Miguel beer, by the bottle of course, which cost about 2 Euros. We’d had a conversation with a kind gentleman on the plane back who told us that in Marbella bottle of beer was 5 Euros – we’d clearly chosen then right place.

It was a wonderful trip and I loved every minute of it I just wish there had been more time to explore!

Firstly, thank you to my friend Urvashi for accompanying me on my trip, she was the person I chose to spend my long weekend with and she was the perfect, easy going travel companion. We have both parallel lives and it was lovely to share the time, eat delicious food and drink with her. Her friend who lived in Spain also joined us on part of our trip and it was wonderful to interact with a new person, especially someone who was a complete free bird whom I must say inspired my free state of mind at the moment.

Secondly, thank you to the people of Spain for making me feel so welcome in their country even though it was only for four days. The hotel staff, waiters and waitresses, taxi drivers, bartenders and anyone we encountered always put a smile on our faces. And yes even the handsome Spanish men (also some rollerblading ladies!)

Finally, I would just like to thank BMI for my flights and for giving me my first taste of Spain. Without you I would have been stuck in miserable England just looking for a job and not socialising at all in my unemployed state. Thank you for the beautiful and life changing experience. I will definitely be returning.

Thank you.

Priya Mulji