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Published: November 16th 2009
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Gibralfaro
View of the city from the Gibralfaro castle. I was watching TV last Tuesday, and a commercial popped up about “The Greatest Show on Earth,” Barnum and Bailey’s circus. Málaga, November 14-15. WHAT!? “How great would it be,” I thought, “if I could get some people together to go the circus.” And I did!
Raquel and Kate answered my request for fellow circus-goers, and we met at the train station Saturday morning. I realized it was the first time this entire semester that I’ve gone on a trip not organized by ISA. It was fantastic. When we arrived in Málaga, we checked in at our hostel and did a few obligatory tourist stops, you know, tour of Moorish castles and forts and the like, hiking up giant hills to get a view of the city, visit to the cathedral, stop at the roman ruins of an amphitheatre… Málaga apparently had quite the colorful history of ownership. Phoenician, Muslim Arabic, Christians... But these things happen when you’re located on the Mediterranean Sea, on the border between worlds.
Frugal travelers that we were, we spent 15 Euro on groceries for a spectacular meal at the hostel of spaghetti, salad, and fresh baked bread, plus of course a 1 Euro
El Circo!
Raquel and I enjoying Kate's cotton candy and hat. bottle of wine. One of the things I’ve really been missing out on in our stays in fancy hotels with ISA has been meeting my fellow traveler. The “Melting Pot” hostel, as it was called, was filled with Canadians, Australians, and Brits, and interestingly enough most had a similar story: Just out of college and still haven’t been hired to their dream job. What to do? Work to save up enough money to backpack across Europe for a month or two!
We were the quirky study abroaders in town for the weekend for the circus. Running a bit late and realizing the auditorium was on the other side of town from our hostel, we ended up taking a bus and then a cab, arriving just in time for Kate to get a cotton candy that included a free clown hat, which of course was to be worn by all of us at some point during the evening. I was a little bit nervous at first about how the show would be. Too focused on children? Just a lot of clowns doing silly slapstick? Oh no, it was so much more. Those circus folk know how to entertain.
Jugglers!
Baywatch Kate
Enjoying the beach... Acrobats! A man riding around on an extremely tiny bike (my favorite)! I was clapping with delight like a small child for most of the show. I could have done without the elephant and lion bit, which seemed a little antiquated, but the rest of it was stupendous! In the words of Raquel, “You’ve got to be KIDDING me!” In true circus fashion, they would continue an act until you really couldn’t believe it. The bicycle guy, randomly speaking French, had a trick bike that kept losing parts. His front wheel would come off, so it would ride it as a unicycle. Or he would take off the seat and ride it upside-down. Then he had a bike that couldn’t be more than a foot long that he pulled out of a suitcase and pedaled around the ring. Haha, I’m reading this and am realizing I really do sound like a small child in awe, and it really does me no good to try to explain any of the acts, because it’s all in what you see. Just trust me. It was good.
Then there was the whole question of getting home. We took a taxi there, but how were we supposed to be back? We caught a glimpse of the “real Málaga” as we wandered a few blocks in search of that inviting green light coming down the street… but eventually we stumbled upon a bus that would take us where we needed to go. Well, it would, if we ever decided to get on it. We let three buses pass by that we could have taken, but somehow didn’t realize it in time. An hour later we were finally heading back to the hostel and into the ten bed dorm for blessed sleep.
Sunday! Lazy morning, lazy afternoon. We hung out on the less-than-impressive beach for a bit (Málaga has water, but there are better places to go) then had a nice long lunch in the center followed by a nice long dessert and a café con leche. It’s always been one of my favorite things: a leisurely meal with people I enjoy. What’s the rush? We’re in Spain!
One last tourist item for the weekend: The Picasso Museum. Picasso was born in Málaga, so they went all out on this museum. I think there were more people working there than there were of us. We strolled around, commenting on the paintings (and with Picasso, there’s usually a lot to comment) and at one point Kate called me cynical. It’s just that there are some things about art that I will never understand. I was laughing at the brochure’s description of Picasso’s “Mother and Child.” The image itself is rather distorted, mother and child both are a bit wide, mother’s knees seem oddly placed for where the child is, and her hands are huge. It’s Picasso. But the brochure says, “Serene, larger-than-life, remote, at once classical and primitive, this mother and child inhabit a world we can at best see, but never enter.” I thought that was hilarious. My goodness, what has to happen that someone says your deformed art simply means that it’s in a different world? Oh sure I appreciate the art, but it doesn’t mean I have to accept everything unquestioningly. 😊
I may have overestimated the amount of time we wanted to stay in Malaga, because I had booked us the last train home and we were sort of out of things to do. Good for my wardrobe, bad for my wallet. But the good news is, I’m gonna be so stylin’ and cute when I get back to the states… hahaha.
Hopefully soon I’ll be putting up some entries about Lola and my university. And hair! Don’t fret, Megan, the mullets are not all gone!
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Bob
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Stuff
Let's see, an entirely new wardrobe, an arabian rug and countless souvenirs. How do you plan on getting all this booty back to the U.S?