…and sometimes it’s most definitely not.
I warn those of you that work day jobs that this post may
make you green with envy.
Our time in Malaga saw the beginning of our adventures in
Spain ushered in by beautiful weather, good food and fun times. We let time
pass us by at a leisurely pace while we relaxed and enjoyed catching up face to
face for the first time in 3 months.
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| Eliza and I |
After checking in at the hostel, (Casa Mata Central-I
highly recommend it) we quickly set about finding our feet and recuperating
from our combined travel. The easy decision was made to relax and freshen up
before heading to sight see and look around.
Malaga was beautiful. Set on the Coast, the town is located
in a cove surrounded by mountains. We were staying in a area called Casa Mata,
which also (as far as we could see) doubled as Centre Ville. It was denoted by big old buildings
with wrought iron details, little flower boxes and paved streets, all of which
were set around a myriad of squares
containing bars and restaurants. The ambience was incredible; the day was sunny
and warm, but was cooler at night, reaffirming some of my cultural
stereotypes about Europe being romantically temperate and filled with well-dressed
people walking around in fitted coats and nice shoes.
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| But one beautiful view from the Alcazba |
Our first stop was Alcazba and the Castillo de Gibralfaro. Eliza had been
told by the hostel staff that there were beautiful views of the entire city
from there, and they didn’t disappoint. We walked through central Alameida and
came across a beautiful open square called Plaza de la Merced containing a large statue (of whom we
weren’t sure-it was all in Spanish), ringed by English trees, park benches and
marble tiles. It was such a cultured and lovely place, and I had one (of many)
surreal “Wow I’m in Spain” moments. We managed to find our way to the hill, and
as we were climbing (and lamenting our combined lack of general fitness) we
were able to look back and cast our eyes from the beach and Port all the way to
the mountains and miles of suburbia.
After many Kodak moments we walked back down the hill and made our way
through a small garden onto a large strip of road that ran the entire length of
the port, and was lined on both sides by palm trees and carved lamp posts. On
the side of the port it also had a large, lush garden running all the way down
the road. Needless to say it was a pleasure walking along it. We then walked
down to Alameida Central, and it was here that our first taste of Southern
Spanish life was experienced.
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| Street view |
As we were walking past cafes on the street it became
evident that an afternoon drink is perfectly acceptable, and indeed encouraged
from 4 pm onwards. At every café there
were tables of people with large glasses of beer or wine (or both-one drink is
never enough) chatting and laughing and generally enjoying themselves. I
quickly decided that I liked this aspect of Spanish life, however we held off
on the drinks for the first night.
We returned to our hostel for an afternoon
siesta and a spot of Arabic study and assessment (the weirdest feeling doing
university work in a hostel room in Southern Spain) after which we found a nice
little café to eat at. Time is used differently here. We ate at nine and were
pleasantly surprised that everything was still open and in some places just
getting started for the dinner rush. Not that there is a rush-you eat when you
are hungry and drink when you aren’t. After a lovely pizza we decided that
drinks could wait, and spent the rest of the night chilling at a place called
LlaoLlao eating frozen yogurt. Think big serves of frozen natural yogurt topped
with a choice of fruits, nuts/cereals and syrups. We went home feeling
completely full and content for a night of planning. Yes, you hard us correctly, we spent the rest of
the night not partying but planning. We laughed as we sat in bed with our
laptops and writing books out making plans for the rest of our Spanish trip to
different cities and on different buses.
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| Amazing. |
The next morning after a sleep in and lazy breakfast we made
our way to the bus station and bought tickets for the overnight bus to Valencia, and then to
the supermarket for lunch, as our plans for the day included an easy afternoon at Playa de la Malagueta (the beach) eating our a picnic lunch and legitimately doing absolutely nothing apart from the
occasional bout of people watching and chatting about our experiences in
Morocco, Durham, and life in general. People watching became our favourite
sport and the sun was our friend as we spent 3 hours sitting on a grass hill
listening to the sound of people laughing and the waves coming in. It was the
most relaxed afternoon that I have had in a long time. At 5 we made our way
back to the hostel, via Plaza de Merced; however this time we did indulge. We
stopped, ordered a jug of Sangria and did nothing in the sun once more before
having drink and pizza once again We decided we needed a big meal as we were
catching the overnight bus from Malaga to Valencia, and so topped off this
pizza with more frozen yogurt, though this time with crepes and tropical
fruit.
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| The beach. Legitimately spent 3 hours doing nothing. |
We made it back to the bus station and onto our bus by 9:30 for
the long haul trip to Valencia. However
before I continue, I have a question:
Where is the logic in taking your very young sons on an
overnight bus trip?
These boys screamed and ran riot as the parents ate yogurt
and relaxed. When the boys started crying at close to midnight, the parents
seemed confused. Why would the boys cry so loudly over nothing? Oh, maybe
because they were between the ages of three and five and were still awake on a
FREAKING 11 ½ hour BUS TRIP after midnight.
We were not amused.
However, once they departed in Granada, we fell into uneasy
sleeps to wake hours later in the beautiful city of Valencia for my 20th
birthday. Go me.
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| Sangria baby! |
Our stay in Malaga, whilst it was short-lived, was a
beautiful way to catch up and start our adventure. After stressing about my
travel plans and transport times and how I was actually going to get there,
once I arrived I realised how much I actually just needed to do nothing and
recuperate. We had also planned to pack as much into the next few days in Spain
as possible due to our limited time frame, so starting out refreshed and taking
it easy seemed to be a good option.
SO.
I’m now half way
through my four part “catch up blog” series. I’ll add a fifth part before I’m
even finished writing about our stay in Valencia and Barcelona, however we
actually did things there so writing those two blogs will be much more
interesting for both you and me *giggles*. I leave you as we arrive in Valencia
on the 12th of April, a day to be remembered for a very long time.
Prepare yourselves; our shenanigans and sightseeing (they seem to be one and
the same) really began in Valencia; city of Tapas, Salsa and late, late nights.
Until next time,
Love Love!
Clem xx
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