Malaga

A belated blog post......

......about our recent trip to Malaga.

It was wonderful, just super generous.....

.....and I came home with a tummy bug and ended up being out of action for 6 days!

Beautiful Cordoba

A week ago now, we got an early flight out of Bristol, to Malaga, on Sunday morning. We then had a 10 minute train journey from the airport into the city center and then got a bus heading inland up to Cordoba. It was a 2 and a half hour bus journey, the train would have taken half the time but was more than double the price, decision made!! We spent the first afternoon settling in, getting our bearings, acclimatising to to the lovely warmer weather!!

Day one!

Jeff managed to really practise his Spanish here. It wasn't so touristy, so English wasn't the default/first spoken word, so he got to speak a fair bit of Spanish, read the morning paper and did a lot of listening, whilst sat drinking many coffee's!

We just made the most of sunny spots, soaking up a little vitamin D when we could. I wouldn't describe it as hot, more like a lovely Spring day or late Autumn day. Coats still needed in the shade but wonderfully warm in full sunshine.

You can find much more info about all the places we went to, over on my travel Instagram page @hap_pea_travels

The Mezquita, a Mosque within a Cathedral, was the main attraction in Cordoba. It was incredible, vast, breathtaking inside. It seemed to go on forever. The Mosque elements, in their simplicity of design and palette, outshone the decorative, gold, ornate elements of the Cathedral. It was beautiful.

We climbed to the top of the Bell Tower at the Mezquita, 192 steps to the top for €3 each. Fabulous views from the top, looking down over the gardens, the Mezquita and Cordoba. 

You could certainly appreciate the scale of the Mezquita from above.

Next up the Roman Bridge. 

Back across the Rio Guadalquivi River, to the far side, to go to the top of the Torre de la Calahorra. Fabulous views again of the bridge, the Mezquita and Cordoba. We walked back along the far side of the river, crossed the Puente de Miraflores iron bridge and wound our way through the streets to the Piazza Corredora. Where we sat and soaked up the last few rays of sunshine with a beer.....salud!

The Christmas lights were fantastic. Every half an hour, this arch of lights moved to music for 10 minutes, attracting large crowds. Made for a really great, busy atmosphere every eveing.

Day two!

The best way to start the day - tostada con tomate!

Our main focus on day two, was to visit the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos de Cordoba - the Palace of the Christian Kings. It was only €5 each and well worth it. You initially went into a room displaying mosaics. All the info was written in Spanish, so Jeff took great delight in translating it all! I was more interested in the actual mosaics, the scale, the detail, the skill! And then you climbed a tower, to look down over the beautiful gardens.

Such a beautiful spot to sit and soak up a little more sunshine.

The gardens were beautiful.

We had no other plans for the rest of the day, so we found a sunny spot for lunch by the river and then returned to the Plaza for coffee! We found a great place with a set lunch deal, for a drink, olives and bread, a starter, main, dessert or coffee for under €15 and shared the lot! The trouble with Spain is they eat late. Most restaurants, Tapas Bars, etc don't serve food until after 8pm, too late for us! So it was great to find a good lunch.

We had a last wander around the city, Christmas light spotting as we went!

Day 3!

 And we were up and out early, getting a train to Seville for the day.

We are planning a proper trip to Seville next October, so had no big list to get through. 

More a mooch and soak up the festive feels. Plus I love a train ride, £20 return!

We did decide to walk (a long way!!) from the train station to the Plaza de Espanya, built in 1926! It was huge. It was lovely and quiet today and really pleasant to wander around. Jeff managed to speak in Spanish, could understand and be understood!

We did comment that in the height of summer, it would be hot and heaving with tourists. 

The perfect time to visit!

Highlight for me was seeing the Setas de Sevilla. 

It looked absolutely stunning against the blue sky. You can view sunset from there and at night it is lit up but due to timings we went in the afternoon.

Known as "Las setas" ("The Mushrooms"), it is the largest wooden structure in the world.

Opened in 2011, the work of German architect Jürgen Mayer is 26 metres high. The structure is made up of six large parasols in the shape of mushrooms, and it affords fantastic views of Seville from the walkway/viewing point

We paid €15 to go up, and wander around the top of the structure! The views were incredible, and we almost had the place to ourselves. Stripped off to our t-shirts, it was gloriously warm.

And the main event, the lights!! The main reason we came for the day this trip, was to see the Christmas lights, as they won't be up when we do visit properly in October. Although we are now wondering how many days we'll need in actual Seville that trip, given what we already managed to see. 

Regardless, I'm glad we went and it was completely worth getting a later train back to Cordoba. Stunning!

Day Four!
Malaga bound!!

Early birds, Malaga bound for the final day. 

The bus journey was two and a half hours long but is half the price of the train. Loved Cordoba, our apartment was perfect, at less than €50 a night and in a great location. Choose a hotel for the night in Malaga, so we could leave our luggage, to make the most of the day.

We arrived in Malaga just after 11am. Found our hotel and left our cases and went in search of our last tostada con tomate. Then decided to head down to the water, as it was a glorious day.

Malaga Pompidou is at the end of the promenade. When we came here last Christmas, it was cloudy, warm but grey clouds. Today, against the magnificent blue skies and beautiful sunshine, the colours sang.

We spent our afternoon soaking up the sunshine, knowing that's it until we possibly get the odd sunny day in maybe early March! Paddled along the beach, drank beer, wandered, then sat and enjoyed a coffee before heading back to the hotel to get our room.

Our final evening of the trip and Malaga didn't disappoint! Crowds of people were out to see the incredible lights, definitely seemed a lot busier this year but maybe it's because the lights were set to music this year!?! We just followed the crowds, ended up at the Cathedral where they projected another light show onto the tower.

A truly fabulous few days. Feels like we've been away for ages, certainly packed a lot in!!

 Adiós España

¡Hasta el año que viene!