More of Magnificent Málaga!

25th May 2018 ... Day 2 in Málaga 

As we were only staying for a short time here,  (as it turns out it was too, too short) we haven’t stocked the pantry and cupboards with much of anything.

We had a very good sleep last night and we were ready to tackle the day. First some desayuno (breakfast)! 

Found a great little café “Volapie” just two doors down from our apartment. 

Delicious coffee and eats ... Señor Honey can’t seem to get enough of the Jamon (ham). 

                                       

                                                              

Now we were ready for more exploring. We had the tourist map in hand but as you probably know by now we are “freelance” travellers and prefer to discover the unexpected sights. We had no plans to visit / tour any museums, etc. 

We just wandered (the map was tucked away in Señor Honey’s infamous backpack ... only in case of emergency, i.e. if we were extremely lost). 

We strolled along the main shopping street “Calle Marqués de Larios” where only pedestrians are allowed.

We walked south towards the water which brought us to a very busy main street ... Alameda Principal. 

We originally planned on walking to the train station to purchase our tickets for our trip from Málaga to Seville on Sunday, however our friendly waiter, Grafa told us it was not necessary ... so instead of a right turn, we went left.  

A walk along the water sounded appealing but rather than walk in the full sun we searched for some shade. 

We quickly left the sidewalks of the main road and entered the Málaga Park. 

What a wonderful green space, opened in 1897 ... 33 hectares of botanical gardens, fountains and sculptures in the middle of the city located between the Alameda Prinicpal and Paseo España. 

This park was amazing ... 

From here we had wonderful views of many of the historical sights plus the beautiful plants ...

Look at the magnificent jacaranda (above) and this gorgeous hibiscus...

 

Not sure what this plant is but oh so pretty...

The Alcazaba Fortress viewed from the park ...

From here we wandered back into the historic centre viewing many wonderful sights! 

It was a full day ... so this is what happens when you just wander, you come upon such amazing sights with surprise!

The Roman Amphitheater...

From here we kept wandering, arriving at a Plaza where today to our surprise was a “Maserati” car exhibition ... it was actually the blue purple jacarandas that caught our eyes first ... at least my eyes, it’s only a car! 

I’m tired just looking at and writing about our day ... and it’s only 1 o’clock! 
We kept on with our trek thru the streets of Málaga for a couple more hours. 

We discovered the market and look some more of that delicious ham ....

Here we could have seen Morticia in the Addams Family ... 

After our siesta, we ventured out for the evening. 

First some strolling thru more of Málaga’s beautiful streets followed by a tapas dinner.

And of course, Señor suggested a stop at our next door “Taberna” Casa Lola for a little more ... 

Meeting Málaga

Thursday, May 24th, 2018

When we arrived at the Málaga Airport, Señor Honey says “do you think they’ve overbuilt the airport?” It is enormous and it wasn’t until we reached the inner corridors that it was apparent it was a very busy place. 

We headed to the assigned baggage carousel and waited, waited and waited, worry setting in that we would be without our personal belongings. Finally, the lost were found! 

Taxi! We were on our way to “Calle Strachan”. We were dropped off in a square as Calle Strachan was a pedestrian street.

We clattered (click-clack) with our luggage over the marble tiled/ cobble stoned streets looking for our street and apartment address. 

Finally, we had to stop for directions ... we were close, it was the next parallel street. 

Eureka we found it ... we were too early to check in but we were able to drop off our bags, get the keys and complete the paperwork with a promise that the apartment would be ready at 1PM. Perfect.

Off we went for a little stroll and discovery. 

We wandered for an hour and then found a shaded café for a cold water before heading to the apartment.  

We quickly did a little unpacking (not much since we were only staying here for 3 nights) and then it was time to catch a little cat nap. 

The bed was calling our names ... and was super comfortable!

Normally, we wouldn’t do this but I was feeling under the weather and Señor had not slept much at all on the plane.

The whole apartment was decorated in reds and actually was quite attractive but it was it’s prime location that ended up being its best feature. We were very lucky with our choice. 

The view from one of the windows ...


Rested and refreshed, we headed out for more exploring and something to eat. We were spoiled for choice.

After a good wander, we settled on a cute Italian restaurant in the Plaza del Obispo opposite the Cathedral and Museum.

We were seated underneath the orange trees.

It was delicious and all I needed, but as you’ll see Señor Honey was not quite ready to shut off his appetite.

The views from our table in the square ...

Oh gelato ... oh okay twist my arm, yes please! 

We continued our evening stroll heading back to “Apartamento Strachan” ... the Café (Casa Lola) right next door to our temporary home was buzzing with activity, Señor suggests we have a glass of wine and do some people watching. And since we are in Spain, Señor Honey decides he’d like a little tapas with his wine ... some of the famous Iberian ham! 

That’s it for our first day and night in Málaga, it’s still light out at 10pm as we head home.

I’ll be back with more photos and story telling soon ...

Planning and On Our Way Spain 2018

It’s been a long fall and winter. 

For various reasons, we didn’t/ weren’t able to head south to escape the cold, snowy Canadian winter this year so we hunkered down and hibernated for most of the season. 

We had one week of fun in the sun with family in Mexico the first week of January and the warmth of that week faded quickly when we returned to our day to day life in the cold. 

By the first week of February, Monsieur/ Señor had sussed out some flights to Europe, and after much discussion we decided to spend an extended stay in Spain this year.  So no France for me this year ... 

Flights were booked arriving into Malaga and returning from Barcelona. 

We will spend 5 weeks in Spain in May and June 2018.

Once the flights were booked, we first found a wonderfully looking apartment in Seville for three weeks.

The posted info on the website www.veoapartments.com said that it was not in one of the 

tourist barios but a typical neighbourhood.

The San Vicente one bedroom apartment is located in the historic centre, just minutes from the major monuments and sights.

It is part of the “Casa Palacio” dating from the 19th century with an inner courtyard/patio which is beautifully decorated with columns, arches and various tropical plants. 

We were working backwards at this point, now we needed some place in Malaga for 3 nights when we arrived. 

After much searching we found a cute fourth floor apartment “Apartment Strachan” using HomeAway.com.  

We would travel by train from Málaga to Seville. 

We made a conscious decision to not have a car in Seville.

We would pickup our rental at the end of our stay on the 17th of June.

Seville is not a friendly city for drivers and walkers alike  ... 

narrow one way cobble stoned streets in every direction with no rhyme

 or reason.