Malaga Spain is where Rosie is staying for one month when The Operator goes back to New Zealand for work. This city is home to 600,000 people on Andalusia’s Costa del Sol and even though it’s a popular European holiday resort town Rosie can already tell it has multiple layers.
Malaga is the home of Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas…who, by the way, is in town at the moment according to locals.
Rosie was quite amazed with the size of the city. Added bonus! It’s warm! We are down at sea level and every day is in the 20s….yay! Another added bonus – its Easter next week! The buzz around the city is incredible…. it feels like Christmas! Everyone is talking about Semana Santa (Holy Week) and this Catholic country pulls out all the stops in the way of local parades and processions. Rosie can’t wait to find out more about how Easter is celebrated here!
Rosie always feels apprehensive when we arrive in a new town or city where Rosie is going to base herself for a month. Have I made the right decision and picked a good town that is going to be interesting for a month? Have I picked the right location and am not living too far away from interesting spots or shops? Have I picked a good apartment that I am going to enjoy living in for a month? So many questions and now they will all be answered, because we are here! In Malaga Spain.
The Operator ditched the rental car as soon as we arrived in Malaga and set out to start our exploration of the wider city on a Hop on Hop Off Bus Tour. We thought it would give us a good orientation of the city as well as a wee history lesson at the same time. We hopped off the bus at the highest point in the city, the Gibralfaro Castle for a bit of city orientation from the top of the town. Built in 929ad by the Caliph of Cordoba on the site of a former ancient Phoenician Lighthouse looking over the Mediterranean Sea, its name literally means the Rock of Light. The Castles claim to fame was the Siege of Malaga in 1487 when the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the city of Malaga, took it from the ruling Muslims and sent them packing!
The only visible remains today of the Castle are the ramparts which rise above the pine trees on the mountains crest giving the best view in town. Walking the breezy ramparts and looking out over the city was just incredible! You could see from one side of the city to the other, it was amazing. The beautiful blue water of the Mediterranean twinkled in the sun and the perfect geometric oval of the Bull Ring amongst the high rises of the city was stunning.
Malaga is an ancient town and was first settled by the Romans in the 1st Century, their legacy is still very much apparent with the Teatro Romano, the oldest monument in Malaga, having recently been rediscovered and excavated only in 1951.
It has a beautiful setting tucked under the green hill with the Alcazaba, a Moorish fortress built by the original Muslim rulers of the city perched on hilltop looking down over the site. It was free to wander the ruins and they were blissfully empty a couple of hours after they opened.
Mere steps away, walking along the smooth newly paved streets of the Old Town glimpses of parts of the Malaga Cathedral can be seen. The Cathedral looms imposingly over every street in the town as it is so huge and makes for beautiful photos.
It took over 200 years to build and in the 1720s, the town fathers said that’s it! We have spent enough on this church, there is no more money in the coffers. This is the reason why only one of the great bell towers was ever finished and to this day the nick name of the Cathedral is La Mantquita – the one armed lady. Well, she was sure doing fine with only one arm! The beautiful stone twinkled in the sun like a giant sandcastle, the imposing edifice loomed over you and it didn’t matter what side you viewed her from she was beautiful, huge and had many different faces.
Rosie and The Operator sat in the sun at a table in the wee Bishops Square and just absorbed the view of the cathedral and basked in the warmth of the day. A beautiful fountain in the middle of the square was cascading water and the droplets were catching the light and reflecting like diamonds.
A rogue gust of breeze blew through and blew a sprinkle of water onto a group of tourists sitting at a restaurant table next to it. Their outrage and pompousness was quite funny to witness. The cathedral towered over you and you craned your neck and squinted into the sun to see it all. The colorful Palacio Episcopal – Bishops Palace also took center stage in this square as well. The former Bishops Palace…and oh yes, it was a palace, so conveniently close to the church, looked amazing. Nowdays it is a contemporary art gallery and an artful pop of colour in the square.
Walking around the Cathedral Rosie and The Operator are trying to find the front door!? Such beautiful, well manicured small gardens surround the cathedral and are a welcome shade in the already hot morning sun.
Inside Malaga Cathedral it is another jaw dropper. Starting with a beautiful central alter over which the nave soars in breath taking arches supported by seven pillars. The arches are pools of mellow light from the windows high above.
Directly in front of and facing the alter are the stunningly carved choir stalls, made out of mahogany and cedar. The size of and the carved Baroque detailing of the seating is quite something to behold! The carvings are subtly illuminated with soft spotlights gently illuminating the beautiful figures. Overhead the organ pipes soar up into the nave on both sides of the stalls and are majestic.
Around the edge of the church are 21 chapels, each so beautiful in their own rights. The scale and size of this church is just mind blowing. You cannot take a photograph to sum up the grandness, it is too big to capture in my screen! Everything I show is frustratingly bitsy….
And, what would a visit to a cathedral be if we didn’t climb the stairs of the tower….well technically we were not really climbing the tower….Rosies ascent of the tower stopped at the rooftop, which is as high as we go. We then scooted around the walkway on the edge of the roof to get a beautiful panorama of the city…and some eerie pics of the rooftops terracotta domes. Its quite incredible how the domes look so shallow on the exterior yet seen so deep inside the church looking up at them.
The view over the rooftops from the roof of the Cathedral to the Alcazarba sitting low on the hill overlooking the Roman Forum was fantastic! You can also see the ramparts above it of the Gibralfaro on the top of the hill.
See, the pic Rosie took from the hilltop fort looking down onto the cathedral? This shows you its enormous size and you can see the lumpy orange rooftop Rosie is standing on. Our rooftop tour walked us right around the edge of the entire rooftop.
PS – this is a pic looking out to Rosies place…far in the distance…you can actually see the yellow apartment building…the last group of buildings spreading out to the hill…seems so far away!
The Centro Historico is car free and a pleasure to walk around. Away from the major thoroughfares the streets are so narrow, and blistering hot as you walk around them with little are flow and the hard surfaces reflecting the heat. The elegant buildings of yesteryear look so glamorous and luxurious.
Its time for a break! We found an unassuming tapas bar and sat ourselves down at the bar. The daily selection of tapas were delicious and so was the company. The half dozen locals said they lived and worked in the area and they came here most days. The owner was as camp as, didn’t speak a word of English but kept everyone laughing while he fluttered a fan to keep himself cool in between pouring drinks and serving food.
The oldest coffee shop in Malaga is Caffe Central, it has been operating for over 100 years but its actual opening date is sketchy. On the outside of their building is a tiled picture referring to the different types of coffee one can order depending on the strength you like it. Rosie thought it was more of a joke and not serious at all but no, this is a Malaga thing and the system of ordering coffee this way was adopted by the whole town. The basis of it was that during the war coffee was in short supply and everyone seemed to like their coffee different strengths so the ordering system was devised to eliminate waste and make their orders universal around the city. It was nice sipping a delicious brew in this historical cafe. The last picture is of the original coffee bar that is still intact within the cafe today.
Wandering home through the alleys, winding past the souvenir shops, bars and restaurants we come to the Plaza Merced a large open space surrounded on all sides with cafes and bars.
Stepping out of the square and wandering up the street towards the Plaza de la Victoria we are entering what will be Rosies new neighborhood.
Rosie is not staying in the Malagueta beach resort area overlooking the sea but in the local Spanish Barrio of Rocio just off the Plaza de la Victoria as far from the sea as you can get in this town. You all know Rosie is not a beach person and Rosie is looking for a more local experience away from the tourist zones.
Back home, this is Rosies apartment, top floor right, and this is the view of the cul de sac from Rosie’s deck! This area is local, buzzing and interesting. There is so much going on in this tiny street it never gets boring. See, I have a tiny glimpse of the sea….it is only a 20 min walk away to the sand.
Not a bad start to our first day in Malaga….more tomorrow when we explore the beach area and of course, you know Rosie is going to tell you about her neighborhood once she gets to know it better.
