Blogs from Andalusia, Spain, Europe - page 5

First cab off the rank this morning is La Malagueta, the Malaga Bullring. Issy’s anti-bullfighting so she’s staying in to work on one of her artistic masterpieces. I’m anti-bullfighting too, the problem being that I can’t paint. I read that the first bullfight was held here in 1876, and the ring can seat a little over nine thousand spectators. It was used to hold prisoners during both the Spanish Civil and Second World Wars. I thought Spain stayed neutral during the latter so I’m not quite sure where those guys would have come from. Anyway, a renovation completed in 2019 meant that it could be used all year round to hold events other than bullfights, and if the number of posters around the outside is anything to go by more than the odd concert is held ... read more

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 ... read more

Issy decides on a rest day so I head off exploring on my own. First stop is Malaga’s spectacular Cathedral, or more completely and “Spanish-ly“ the “Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica de la Encarnacion”. It’s very big, but other than that doesn’t look particularly different to other Spanish cathedrals we’ve seen in our travels. I read that it was built between 1528 and 1782, so they took their time. I’d hoped that was maybe because they wanted to make sure they got everything just right, but no, it seems they just ran out of money. All good there though; they started taxing ships that came into the port, and that suddenly sped everything up and got the job completed. The ever reliable Wikipedia says that the “south tower remains unfinished”. Huh? So it’s not really “completed” at ... read more

Today was our last day in Malaga, so again we got up pretty late, and just wandered around town. We ate lunch at the Restaurant Malaka. We both ordered Ensaladilla and I ordered a shrimp pincho. The ensaladilla rusa was pretty good, although a bit sweet. The shrimp pincho was very good, and the only thing wrong with it was there wasn't enough. After lunch we wandered back to the pension to take a nap. We watched a movie and then about 7pm we decided to walk back down to the beach. We walked the whole beach, and stopped at a restaurant for dinner. I didn't take a picture, and I don't remember the name, but Manoli ordered ham and mushrooms and I ordered albondigas (meatballs). They were both quite good. After dinner, since we were ... read more

Today was a down day, with nothing much to do. Manoli had looked over the map to see what might be interesting. We left the pension around 11am or so, and headed to the beach. It was a fairly long walk, but pretty interesting too. We arrived at Malagueta Beach, one of the main beaches in Malaga, and after a short walk along the beach, Manoli spotted the Chiringuito Sicsu Bar. She had heard it served pretty good food, so we stopped. Pretty much every table was outside, but covered with awnings to keep off the sun. Also, since they had the area cordoned off, we had to wait in line for a few minutes to get a table. We sat down, looked over the menu, and ordered our lunch. Manoli decided to try their seafood ... read more