Saturday 31 October - Malaga

[Photos: Alcazaba views and detail, Boquerone lunch, Malaga streetscene]

Sandy and Lynette’s trip to Morocco ended this morning in Malaga, and we drove on down to pick them up. The roads were mostly 120km/h, and it was only some 40 minutes away. We thought we’d go down early, and spend the day there before they got in between 4 and 8pm. Put our Peugeot in an underground carpark and started off with the Alcazar.

This was a lovely Moorish defensive castle rising up above Malaga. We had an enjoyable hour plus working our way through it, then followed it up with a visit to the castle further up the hill. On our way up the hill, a thick sea fog rolled in, half obscuring the Alcazar at times. Quite a pity as the view would have been great. Malaga wasn’t what we expected at all. We had a picture in our mind’s eye of huge white holiday tower blocks lining a white sand beach, and while there are places like that along the coast, the actual city of Malaga is remarkably ordinary, with an ordinary port and ordinary buildings.

Had a delicious menu del dia with in my case, whole sardines in a very light batter. Very tasty.

There were some nice boulevards, lined with the normal flash shops selling flash stuff we weren’t likely to want to pay for. One place we did try to find was the market building. After a few wrong turns and some smelly urine-soaked lanes, we did find it, but it was all wrapped in mesh and under renovation. Like much of Spain, there are many buildings here consisting of an old façade and a new interior going in behind it. The conservation ethic is very strong, even if it is achieved by force of legislation rather than developer’s choice as we suspect.

We got a text just before 5pm from Sandy, and our trusty gadget guided us outside the door of the agreed meeting place. Loaded up and back to Frigiliana for an unpacking, and a swim. Unbelievably, I have been enjoying doing lengths here in the pool. I think it is the environment that makes it pleasant compared to Riverside, where I find lengths very little fun. We both brought our goggles with us, and they have been a good thing to have.