Màlaga

For 2 days it rained in Madrid and I was not having it. Despite growing up in Oregon, which has a reputation for rain, I am not a fan. I do understand and appreciate the importance of rain – we need it for water and especially in Oregon, for fires! I also love the smell of rain. I even enjoy the sound of rain pattering on the roof. Yet…it’s still not something I particularly wish for. So when the weather suddenly changed from bright and warm and sunny to cold and rainy, I started looking into locations with warmth and sun down in the South of Spain. That’s how I found Málaga. I wasn’t for sure if it was even affordable, but I found 30 euro round trip bus tickets and I was sold. Coupled with 2 nights stay in a hostel in Malaga, the trip was going to 60 euros all together. I pitched the idea to Willa and Erin once I had the information. Willa decided to tag along and off to Málaga we went! We did hit a couple snags on the way there. The circunias (train) was late/never showed up so we missed our first bus. Despite all of my dealings with delayed buses for work, it seems like buses to places outside of Madrid leave exactly on the dot. We were able to take the next bus later, although it did cost 15 more euros. We were still determined to go and we did make it. I slept on most of the bus. But this was the NICEST bus I have ever been on. Not only did the seats recline, but the bottom part of the seat also went out so that you could put your feet up. There were also individual movie screens for each seat, with movies and TV shows to choose from for free! Plus, there was a bathroom on board and the bus stopped halfway there for a bathroom break anyways. Our only complaint wasn’t about the bus itself, but the passengers. People kept smoking in the bathroom on the bus even though it is prohibited, making the bathroom smell like a hotbox of cigarette smoke, which leaked out onto the bus. Like really? You couldn’t wait for 3 hours for the bathroom break to smoke? The guy behind us was also really weird…he kept peering over our seat and looking at us. At one point while I was sleeping, and my head drifted to my right (I was in the aisle seat) and when I briefly opened my eyes his head was so close to mine. I jerked back from surprise, but was still so out of it I just leaned my head towards Willa and promptly fell back asleep again. This guy wasn’t just being weird to us though…he kept asking people around him “Málaga? Málaga?” – like yes dude this is the bus to Málaga. The bus driver would not have let you on this bus if this wasn’t the bus to Málaga – you have a freaking ticket! He kept bugging the passengers next to us as well, and we could tell they were also annoyed.

Willa and I both fell in love with Málaga. Even though I looked it up, I didn’t think Málaga was going to be super nice. I don’t know why. How wrong I was though. Málaga is beautiful. On the way to the beach, we walked along the Puerto de Málaga (the port/pier). The sun was shining down and there was not a cloud in the sky, and their were pop up shops set up along the way and smooth brown stone statues in the middle of the walkway…we passed by all these nicer restaurants that look amazing but also out of our price range on the way to the beach too.

Apparently there are better beaches a half an hour or so commute away, but we went to the nearest one every day and soaked up the sun and the chilly seawater. It wasn’t really hot, but when you sat in the sun you warmed up enough to go in the water. Willa got some amazing shrimp at a little pink restaurant right on the beach.

Apparently many beaches in Spain are topless beaches, which is something new I learned while in Málaga. I did not go topless, but seeing other people going topless made me feel like I wanted to try it some day.

While there, we met a really nice girl named Emily from Australia and a friendly guy named Emanuel from France. We hung out with them the first night on the bar crawl we went on. Emanuel hung out with us the next night when we went to the Hilton rooftop bar, which had an amazing night view of the city. Willa lost odds and had to jump into the pool, but unfortunately (or fortunately) the security guard saw her preparing for it and kindly told us “the swimming pool is closed”. So we left so Willa could finish her odds and she ended up jumping into the harbor and swimming with this huge fish!

While there, we also visited the Cathedral of Málaga, the Picasso Museum and the Alcazaba for free (the Museum and the Alcazaba have free entrance on Sundays)!!

The Alcazaba (Moorish palace) was my favorite – it’s the most well preserved Moorish fortress in Spain. I also went at sunset which is when it was free and I got to see a beautiful orange sunset while looking out over Malaga and the ocean.

We saw the Roman Theater too, which is right below the Alcazaba but it was closed for some reason, although you could still easily view it. We walked through this park where we saw this hippy festival going on. We strolled down the walkway where the cruise ships come in and admired the little shops along the way. I also hiked up to this lookout point that is on the way to the El Castillo De Gibralfaro, but honestly it was basically the same view I had from the Alcazaba. I didn’t go in the Castillo though. We also had paella, but it was too garlicy for me which was disappointing because it was expensive paella.

The hostel served us amazing chicken and vegetable curry one night for dinner for 2 euros. Honestly, Lights Out hostel was probably on of the best hostels I have ever stayed at, if not the best. Each bunk bed had an individual curtain so that you could have privacy. They had key cards that didn’t desensitize when next to your phone. They had free sangria every night at 8 until it ran out. AND they had the nicest showers I have ever showered in – like very likely in my life. They advertised having 2 shower heads in the showers and I didn’t understand why they did that until I took a shower…Willa and I were so into it. We could easily have stayed longer if we didn’t have to return for work. If I go to Malaga again I’d want to see the botanical garden that’s about a half an hour outside the city.

In short, we LOVE Málaga and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to visit.