We landed in Malaga early on Monday morning after another early start (budget airlines seem to always have the early morning and late evening time slots - but I guess we aren't paying for convenience). It was only a few minutes by car to Torremolinos and our hotel. I must admit I approached this holiday with a little trepidation. Even though the hotel sounded good on the website (self catering, balcony, pool, restaurant, tennis court) the guide books painted another picture of the town. Knowing that websites can lie about the quality of the hotel and guide books can exaggerate it still didn't help when I read “Torremolinos is a depressing trawl through a drab, soulless landscape of kitchenette apartments and half finished developments. The town itself rechristened Torrie by English package tourists, is certainly an experience; a vast, grotesque parody of seaside resort with its own kitsch fascination...”. (That quote is from the Rough Guide to Andalucia which over the two week holiday we have found to be a good reflection of the area - the author has probably been there and likes the same sorts of things as us). We’re used to the sort of scene in Malaga (Benidorm, Faro type places where the local culture has been partially replaced with those of the tourist – in this case Scandanavian, English and German). It provides a reasonably cheap holiday and is also the reason we hire a car. We can get out of the 'tourist' areas and into the country to see of the ‘real Spain’. I sighed a bit sigh of relief when we found that our hotel was just what we needed. A kitchenette apartment (yes one of those) and clean, quite spacious, bright (orange, red and yellow) with a balcony where we can sit and could hear the parakeets squawk while we munch our breakfast while baking in the sun (on some but not all days). The first day we kept marvelling that the temperature was 15 degrees (even without the sun shining) when we had left minus 5 degrees in Bristol (snow glistening on the airport runway and another fall coming the city’s way). One can get a bit tired of the Wintry White Wonderland England offers. There was no need to wear thermal underwear for a few days!!
So, our first adventure was to sit and have a cup of tea with some hot cross buns – I know – the wrong season but they were in the shops and looked fresh and looked as though they would survive a trip from England in the hold of an Airbus A319. Some would laugh at us for being so organised but having some tea bags and nibbles when we arrived meant we didn’t have to go out straight away and could relax and enjoy our apartment while the feeling was still new and exciting and while we leafed through some info about 'What to do in Costa Del Sol'. We could visit the aqua park, wolf hideout, zoo, cathedrals, castles, Spanish equestrian centre, see flamenco dancing. Some of those were put on our 'things to do list' and some just didn't have a show (like the opportunity to self drive a speed boat and ‘challenge dolphins in the wild’ – we are hoping there was a mistranslation about that one). After a bit of a snooze to get over the early start we went for a wander down some fairly dreary streets in Torrie (lots of 1960’s and 70’s concrete jungles built at the time the tourist discovered the warmth of the Costa del Sol). We found the beach which wasn’t hard (straight down the hill) and it had the same grainy grey sand as many NZ beaches, but are so much longer and go all way up past Malaga with only a few rocks to interrupt the flow. The good news –no crowds – they did turn up after Christmas Day but still were fairly insignificant. We wandered past the closed shops and restaurants and along the promenade with just a few walkers, bikers and roller bladers for company. We admired the tile work, spent some time looking at the memorial wall up an alley (we assumed that is what it was but we couldn’t read a word of it) and the Casa de los navajas (which seemed to be the home of a lot of well fed cats but was actually built in the 1920's and stands out as being something quite special in an ordinary area). We found the little old town up the hill (quite a few shallow steps) and enjoyed looking down the alleys as we wandered to the supermercado. We thought quite a bit about food, having past a number of ethnic restaurants (Chinese, Irish, Indian and Italian combined, Argentinian, Turkish and Tapas). Our menu (given the limited cooking equipment we have) included fish pie straight from the freezer, some salad, and a rice risotto (we had to improvise not being able to read a word of Italian, or was it Spanish, we assumed the picture meant the seasoning and veges were in the pack. Not so) and some Tiramasu for later (every other meal we cooked was fairly typical so that is the last you will hear about our self catering).
So, our first adventure was to sit and have a cup of tea with some hot cross buns – I know – the wrong season but they were in the shops and looked fresh and looked as though they would survive a trip from England in the hold of an Airbus A319. Some would laugh at us for being so organised but having some tea bags and nibbles when we arrived meant we didn’t have to go out straight away and could relax and enjoy our apartment while the feeling was still new and exciting and while we leafed through some info about 'What to do in Costa Del Sol'. We could visit the aqua park, wolf hideout, zoo, cathedrals, castles, Spanish equestrian centre, see flamenco dancing. Some of those were put on our 'things to do list' and some just didn't have a show (like the opportunity to self drive a speed boat and ‘challenge dolphins in the wild’ – we are hoping there was a mistranslation about that one). After a bit of a snooze to get over the early start we went for a wander down some fairly dreary streets in Torrie (lots of 1960’s and 70’s concrete jungles built at the time the tourist discovered the warmth of the Costa del Sol). We found the beach which wasn’t hard (straight down the hill) and it had the same grainy grey sand as many NZ beaches, but are so much longer and go all way up past Malaga with only a few rocks to interrupt the flow. The good news –no crowds – they did turn up after Christmas Day but still were fairly insignificant. We wandered past the closed shops and restaurants and along the promenade with just a few walkers, bikers and roller bladers for company. We admired the tile work, spent some time looking at the memorial wall up an alley (we assumed that is what it was but we couldn’t read a word of it) and the Casa de los navajas (which seemed to be the home of a lot of well fed cats but was actually built in the 1920's and stands out as being something quite special in an ordinary area). We found the little old town up the hill (quite a few shallow steps) and enjoyed looking down the alleys as we wandered to the supermercado. We thought quite a bit about food, having past a number of ethnic restaurants (Chinese, Irish, Indian and Italian combined, Argentinian, Turkish and Tapas). Our menu (given the limited cooking equipment we have) included fish pie straight from the freezer, some salad, and a rice risotto (we had to improvise not being able to read a word of Italian, or was it Spanish, we assumed the picture meant the seasoning and veges were in the pack. Not so) and some Tiramasu for later (every other meal we cooked was fairly typical so that is the last you will hear about our self catering).
In the evenings at the hotel we have a range of activities that we can enjoy - bingo (which we didn't play), live music, flamenco dancing, quiz (we got 16/22 for the musical quiz and were very pleased considering our past efforts). It was a heavy thunder storm during the night and we woke up to torrential rain, so we revised our plans and headed towards Malaga where there might be some shelter and more indoor activities. It wasn't hard to find the centre or a car park (close to a bull ring of which there are still many - say no more). Of Malaga - our trusty guidebook said that "tourists often don’t get past the railway or bus station, cos they are put off by the ‘grim clusters’ of high rises on the fringes". We agree with all that but scratching a bit deeper there were some interesting things to see in the city of half million people. We wound our way up through paths and roadways which didn't seem to cope with the torrential rain very well to the Gibralfaro which stands high on the hill above the town hall, apartments, hotels, the port and the old part of town. Like so many castles in Spain it had a Moorish beginning. It was built in the 14th century, and was last used during the civil war in 1936. There isn’t much that makes it stand out above the others we have been in, lots of parapets, high walls, some gardens but the view is worth going for. Wandering back down we took an alternative route to avoid the slippery paving stones and the torrent of water - a more gentle muddy obstacle course (I got my coat stuck climbing over a fallen tree and instead of Harry helping me, he turned the camera on helpless ole me and whats more laughed!!). Suffice to say we were alone on that path except for a local with his dog who was very willing to help us find the right way down.
Below Gibralfaro is the Alcazaba a palace that took about 3 centuries to build starting in around the 8th century and was once the home of King Badis the ruler of Granada. Some lovely gardens, archaeological specimens and wall paintings and decorations - remnants from the time the Moors spent in the area.
It did stop raining off and on and in time for us to venture across the main road without the umbrellas (past the long line of kiosks selling tacky jewellery, santa hats, fridge magnets, scarves, hats, gimmicky dress up clothes) to the port where the Nero (a modern yacht built along classical lines) and the Santisima Trinidad’ (a replica of a 1800’s man of war ship) are berthed. We wandered around the latter, had a drink which came with the entrance fee and then wandered back to the car. At the local supermercardo we found a bottle of Rose Creek 2009 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc which when reading the label said it was vented and bottled by National liquor distributors in Auckland NZ - so according to us only partially Marlborough!! The wine was obviously bottled for export cos the South Island was also known as; Sudinsel Neuseelands, sudde Nouvelle-Zelande, sud della Nuova Zelanda. Great dinner conversation!!
On another day we wandered along the promenade, found the central or old part of town and enjoyed the Picasso Museum (he is the 'golden boy' of Malaga). The city has a few Picasso memorabilia including a number of his paintings in the museum, another museum in the building where he was born and a plaque commemorating his school which is now a venue for Moulin Rouge. There are some attractive buildings (loved the corner buildings with rounded windows and wrought iron balconies), little cobbled alley ways with restaurants (found a place that serves great jacket potatoes - they do them better in Spain!), and plazas where people sat enjoying the sunshine with the occasional busker coming up asking for money, and the more than occasional beggar doing the same thing. On the harbour there is a Barrilito tree, standing gnarled and proud, which many a visitor stopped to admire. The beach had a few fisherman on it, and some people building sandcastles (buskers or perhaps the start of a professional sand castle competition – spray painted crocodiles and mermaids seemed to the themes) and the promenade was more busy with children enjoying their Christmas bikes, roller blades and scooters and parents wandering in the afternoon sun. We can see the attraction of the city – just a shame about the impact of the tourist. On one hand tourism provides employment (construction; the buildings, viaducts, tunnels and roads; retail; eateries, night clubs; services to keep 1000 room hotels going) but on the other it doesn’t do much for the environment or the cultural heart of the place. Costa del Sol is also known as Costa del Golf – there are heaps of golf courses attached to timeshares and apartments – and in a fairly water starved area this doesn't seem to be the best use of the countryside. Quarrying is tucked behind the first row of hills and imagine the strain on the sewage and drainage systems (in so many toilets there are notices in English asking users to put the paper in the bin and not down loo). The very good roads (probably the best we have driven on in Europe) encourage cars and trucks (lots of railways are being converted to cycle and hiking tracks). I remember reading a book by a person visiting China and going through a little country village in a punt steered by a local. He said he had a great time but wished that he was seeing the village as it was 100 years ago - if before the tourist - we feel the same in many parts of Europe.
The botanical gardens is a few kms out of Malaga. We would have enjoyed it far more without the rain but we can't always have sunshine. We wandered around the novel 'World in 80 arbors' a collection of trees and plants from around the world including a Phormium sp. J.R. Forst et 6. Forst Formio (New Zealand flax). The gardens were the vision of Amalia Heredia Livermore in the mid 1800's who was the granddaughter of the English consul. It is not clear whether they visited all the parts of the world to collect the specimens themselves or used collectors or online shopping (only kidding). Although, it was great to see the garden without crowds taking relief from a mid summers heat, the disadvantage is that the flowers aren’t usually blooming in winter and we could only imagine the pinks, reds, yellows and white flowers.
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