October 2017
What helped define my experience in Malaga was drinking tinto de verano (hint: verano means summer). Similar to sangria, it packs a punch of red wine with sweet fruit slices and the addition of lemon soda. Malaga is a major vacation destination that’s full of modern shops and restaurants but past all the drama, true Spanish culture lies. Malaga is the home of Picasso and despite not getting to the museum early enough to see it –two days in a row!– the trip was a weekend well spent.
City Center
Andres and I arrived in Malaga about halfway through the day on Friday. I don’t mosey around when it comes to seeing the sights. So off we went right after lunch to walk around the historical center of the city. We stumbled upon a plethora of historical sights set amongst the contemporary stores. The cathedral, fortress, pier, some parks, roman theater, and cafes are sure signs that means its another glorious day in Spain.
Nerja
Just an hour bus ride from Malaga, a trip to Nerja was my favorite part of the trip. I consider myself a mermaid so going to the beach was a must. It was also nice to get away from all the people. This quaint little beach town offered a lot of cute attractions even if I was only interested in the beach.
To be honest, it was kind of an overcast day when we went to the beach. But I wasn’t going to let it stop me from full on relaxing. This was my last stitch effort at summer. I swam in the chilly water and then warmed myself back up in the sun. It did rain a little bit but I just laid on my towel and let some fresh water wash the salt away. I knew the shower would pass so I dared mother nature to make a girl move from her limited beach time. Gladly, mother nature was threatened enough that I got to use every last ounce of time we had, being on the coarse sand.
Something that made my brother envious was when I told him about this cave I swam too. Lazily I treaded (unclear if this is the correct tense of the verb tread but trod sounds hella weird, sorry back to sea adventure) in the clear water and made my way to some rocky cliffs. Swimming past the topless ladies, I swam up to the cliffs and then between the break in them. Through a small maze of clefts, I made my way inward. I felt like a mermaid as I slowly waded. The sand became shallow and I walked into the shadows of the cave. Every gentle lap of the waves echoed twofold in this siren shelter. I reached a small beach at the end and there was no other entrance into this tucked away corner of sand. You can only swim in. There was a break in the ceiling of the rocks so sunlight illuminated the space. I remember thinking that it would have been cool to have a waterproof camera but I think it’s better this way. A memory for me, myself, and my inner siren. All I could say was how cool it was. My inner mermaid was giddy.
On our way back to the bus I bought some ice cream and looked at all the cute beach shops. Four hours was a short excursion well spent.
Sunset at Castillo Gibralfaro: A Forced March
After a bus nap and a shower, I was determined that we would go to the only tourist attraction we hadn’t seen: the castle on top of the hill. We had enough time to get to the castle so we would have an hour to see it. I said to Andres (many times), “It will be sunset!” And I am happy to say that I was not wrong. The climb up to the castle was definitely a force to be reckoned with. It was a pretty steep incline on slick stone. You know what I was also right about? (Not to sound too braggy here but…) It was the perfect time of day to go: the sun wasn’t as hot as we hiked up this mountain, it was less crowded with people, and there was no line to get in at the top. We did only have about an hour to see the castle but it was enough. And without all the people, for the first time in Malaga I didn’t feel claustrophobic. And the view…
Is this epic or what?
The trek back down was considerably less sweaty. And every step was a great view of the changing sky. I’m not a huge city person but Malaga convinced me in the end. This view especially. The bustling city with its loud chatter was miles away. I love nature but our power as humans left me breathless too.
Happy Travels-
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