Where are all the Monkeys?

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We were supposed to be going for a hike through the apparently legendary Caminito del Rey (Path of the King) tomorrow, but we get an email from the tour company to say it’s been cancelled due to “weather conditions”. Huh? We’ve scarcely seen a cloud since we got here, so I think “weather conditions” might be code for something else. The road there looks a tad on the windy side, so if that’s got anything to do with brakes we’re happy to delay for a few days.

I head out for a stroll around the corner to Malaga’s main market, the Mercado Central de Atarazanas. I read that this 1870s structure was built on the site of a Moorish-era naval workshop. Renovation works carried out between 2008 and 2010 added a spectacular stained glass window depicting some of the city’s major monuments. Now I’d usually rather stick pins in my eyes than go to a market for any reason other than to take photos, but this one might be different. Some of the stalls look suspiciously like bars … serving beer. I’m usually pretty good at sticking to the shopping list but that could get a bit distracting.

Next up is the Casa Natal Picasso - a museum in the house where Picasso was born back in 1881 and lived until he was three. It includes a number of his works and personal possessions. If the cape and drawings of bulls in one of the rooms are anything to go by, it seems he was fascinated by bullfights, events his father apparently often took him to as a child. It seems he regarded the “national sport” as an essential expression of Spanishness. As a side note I always thought “sport” was supposed to be a contest between two or more individuals or teams that were generally of the same species, but what would I know. Anyway the great man was once quoted as follows “The life of the Spanish consists of Mass in the morning, the bullfight in the afternoon, and the whorehouse at night.” Hmmm.

I head off on a long trek through the backstreets of the suburbs in search of the “famed” (?) Jardin de los Monos, or Garden of the Monkeys, which I thought I’d seen spruiked as a notable tourist attraction. The Google machine suggests I’ve reached my destination. Huh? This tiny patch of green? And where exactly are the monkeys? It seems I should have done a bit more homework. The Google machine says that at some stage in the distant past there was a cage full of monkeys here, but that’s long gone. So could they at least have left some monkey statues as a reminder, or perhaps some pictures of what it used to look like? … well it seems not. Time to come up with a new name I think. That was extremely underwhelming.

Next on the agenda are the Jardines de Pedro Luis Alonso. I should be suspicious about gardens now, but I’m pretty sure I looked down on this lot from the Castle a couple of days ago, and they looked very attractive from up there. I’m out in the ‘burbs now, and it seems that if I want to take the direct route there I’m going to need to climb halfway up the mountain that seems to be in the way. The views over the city from the Sendero Urbano Mundo Nuevo, a hiking trail which runs around the side of the mountain midway to the top, are excellent.

The Jardines de Pedro Luis Alonso are indeed very attractive, so at least that’s got the hit rate for gardens today up to 50%. They‘re right next to the very striking City Hall building. They’re laid out in a geometric pattern with flower beds, tree lined paths and fountains, and the centrepiece is a statue of a guy holding bunches of flowers. I read that he was a “bizagnuero“, someone who sold fragrant flowers to householders back in the days before air fresheners were a thing … and today there’s a man (not a statue) picking all the flowers around the statue ... well maybe not quite all of them, but if he keeps going at this rate for much longer there won’t be many left. I hope he got the memo about the air fresheners ….

Issy’s again spent the day churning out artistic masterpieces, interspersed with some quality time washing more clothes in the world’s smallest washing machine. We head out for a pre-dinner stroll, and settle in for a very pleasant session of cervezas, sangria and tapas in the square next to the Alcanzaba. Issy says I should write more about our dinners, but I’m not quite sure what to say about tonight. The service was really slow, and I thought the girl at the next table was a dead ringer for our sister in law’s niece, but other than that …..

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[D MJ Binkley]

Jumping around the world
you've been in a lot of places the past few months.Keep exploring.