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The weekend seemed promising as we planned to spend it in a beachfront hotel in
Fuengirola in the Costa del Sol area. There was time enough too to visit Mijas, a quaint little town with whitewashed houses, cobble-stoned paths, and donkey or buro carts. Looking at pictures from Mijas, I swear one can easily mistake them for shots of Santorini with its whitewashed stone houses and blue-painted doors. Plus, from what we hear, the shopping is good too!
But I am really getting ahead of my story............
It was an ordeal having to wake up early today to visit
Alhambra Palace before driving out of Granada towards Costa del Sol. If you care to have a good 8hour sleep, make sure you don't spend Semana Santa in dear Espana. I have no problems with our accommodations in Granada. It was a big mistake though to open the windows and enjoy the breeze last night, when all seemed quiet and tranquil. The commotion outside in the streets below our open windows drew me out of a deep slumber. When I woke up, I couldn't even think if I were home in Manila, or in Madrid, Toledo or
Granada. Granada it was, and it was only 2:30 in the morning. As the shuffle of passing feet and lighted candles finally dawned on me, I simply said my prayers as this religious procession passed and turned the corner from our hotel. The mild shock was hard to shake off, so I struggled to catch a few more winks before our tour of Alhambra Palace early this morning.
Alhambra and the Cathedral of Malaga
Our local guide, Antonio, looked like your average retired professor of history in university. He rattled off dates and other details relating to Alhambra Palace , a former Moorish royal residence . Alhambra dominates the skyline and has 2 parts : the
Alcazaba (fortress) and the Palacio de Nazaries. Nasrid Granada, being one of the richest cities in Medieval Europe, certainly showed off their wealth in this magnificent palace. History dates Muslim conquest as early as 711 A.D., until they were expelled after ruling for well over 700 years. As Antonio explained, Granada was the last Muslim stronghold which was finally recaptured during the reign of Fernando and Isabella, the royal Catholic monarchs of Castilla and Aragon, two of the four
Trio in Espana
We three surely had a wonderful time despite the late hours, funky music and religious processions in the middle of the night, blaring disco music, etc.major provinces of Spain. Antonio did not fail to point out to us the original concept of airconditioning where antique plumbing drew water to flow around and through the Palace to "cool" it , how tiled walls and intricate wood carvings obviously bear Moorish elements, and how the Moorish monarchs may have enjoyed the Generalife Gardens right beside the palace.
In the afternoon, we passed by the famous
Cathedral of Malaga where "pasos" bearing the statues of Christ and Mother Mary were being readied for the procession. (Let's hope this time, it won't pass our hotel at 2:30am). We did not stay very long here and just had enough time to check out the Cathedral and view the Palace atop a hill . Which was fine, as we longed to reach our hotel in Fuengirola. Our room in Hotel Pyramides offered a beachfront view in this golf club resort town. Many of the guests were tanned to the bones either from sunbathing or from playing too much golf. The hotel served good food and our spacious room even had an anteroom! My friend Emy promptly checked out the nearby supermercado and bought a few hundred grams of
Not bad for starters !
Prawn salad for starters? Am not complaining. Jamon Iberico de Jabugo (to die for, take my word for it) and
Quezo Manchego (from sheep, love it!). Not bad. And all that ham and cheese went with
Sangria too. Oh, such a lovely day! But not for long.........our very big room looks out to the bars and nightclubs by the beach, with all that disco music blaring without let up till 5 a.m. My, these Spanish teens and yuppies surely know how to live it up. And it was a Thursday night!
Day Trip to Mijas
We woke up late the following morning. After all that disco music, who cared to wake up early? Not wasting time, we checked the maps and bus routes and slipped out of the hotel to take the bus from Fuengirola to Mijas. This quaint little town did not disappoint. We had our very own little Santorini minus the beach and the caldera. Touts for donkey rides were hard to shake off, but we managed to stroll around the little town on our own and enjoyed it immensely. I bought an ottoman footstool, a leather backpack, Spanish fans, even a flamenco dress for my grandniece! Oh, I can't wait
Manchego
If you are in Spain, don't you dare miss Quezo Manchego! to see her in this red and white polka-dotted dress with its tiered skirt. The flamenco dress for the 4 year old went with a pair of castanets too! Now, tell me which doting grandmom could resist that?
By the time we were done with our shopping , we were really ready for our lunch. We feasted on frituras (flour coated and fried seafood such as squid, fish, shrimps) , paella, grilled swordfish and that cold very Spanish soup called Gazpacho. I liked everything else, but I wasn't a big fan of cold soups. So there........
On our way back to our hotel, we thought there was time enough for a stroll at the beach. So, soon after we dumped our stuff, we headed for the beach. There were not too many people around. We wondered why. We were almost back at the hotel when we finally discovered why. It's siesta time!
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