Malaga

ANOTHER early morning, this time to get Benjamin to the airport in Malaga (there is an accent over the first "a" but I can't manage that on this keyboard).  Dropped him off at 8:00 and he headed off to Austria, via Rome.  We will miss him, and not only for his Spanish and his internet connection.  He is good company, and so patient with us (I still am always surprised).  He and Jon can talk for hours, and he is on my team when it comes to not worrying. He has a lot of confidence as a traveler, which makes everything seem easy.

So we were one our own, just like when Rebecca left us in Venice by ourselves after taking care of us through Greece and much of Italy.  We do need to take a trip with Alissa sometime so she can take care of us too!

We drove into Malaga, got our bearings by missing several key turns and driving all the way through the interesting part of town in both directions, eventually figuring out where to find a parking garage right in the old city.  Go us.  It was so early that the streets were still pretty empty of pedestrians and shops and restaurants were just barely getting open.  Malaga is a port city, first inhabited by the Phoenicians, then the Romans and so on.  We went into the big chunky cathedral (that is maligned in the guidebooks for its mix of architecture and dark interior) and heard mass being sung on the other side of a screen. As usual, the cathedral was built on the site of a mosque, about four or five centuries ago.

Wandered around in the pedestrian-friendly streets, stopped at a cafe to sit in the sun and drink cafe con leche and have churros with chocolate.  Went to the Picasso Museum and appreciated the beautiful building, the organization (thematic), the way they really want you to understand what Picasso was doing, and the small number of paintings (about 200 or so).

Went to the bustling market that was full of shoppers buying fish and olives and vegetables and fruits and meat.  We bought another round of beautiful vegetables, this time from an organic farmer, plus some delicious looking pastries and some olives and oranges.  Felt pretty pleased with ourselves.

The Costa del Sol.

My feet and legs were tired of all this walking on city streets, day after day, so we decided we had done enough in Malaga.  Cathedral, cafe, museum, market.  Good enough.  Drove to Nerja, our local beach town, and found a restaurant for lunch. Jon got tapas and I got fish. Food is fresh and wholesome, and pretty unadorned. Nothing to complain about except the lack of garlic, really. By now it was 3:00 and time for a nap. We drove down to the beach and parked in the sun and took naps.  After driving around trying to figure out where there might be wifi, with no success, we headed back up toward our house, taking a detour into the older and more scenic part of Frigiliana.  So many gleaming white buildings stacked up on that steep hillside, looking down over a long green valley, all the way down to the sea.  It could not be more picturesque-ly Spanish.

Between all those houses on the hill-side are groves of olives, or
vegetables or citrus or avocados.

Like yesterday, once we got home, we didn't want to go back out again even though there were still two more hours of daylight. With no internet, we had to read books.  And take some more naps.  And then cook a yummy dinner using yesterday's pasta as a start for another round of vegetables and olive oil.  This is so deluxe, having a house with a stocked kitchen, fully furnished with everything we could ever want.  It is a dream destination.  Except for the lack of a wifi connection - which we could purchase but it seems too extravagant to Jon so instead we will hold onto our money and wait for another solution.

Frigiliana, another "white" town.