Two days in Malaga: Overcoming jet lag

October 12, 2017

It turns out that today is a holiday here. No one seemed to know why, but everyone is excited to be off of work. I looked it up. It's Columbus Day, although they don't call it that, the first day Columbus stepped onto the new world. Who would have guessed?

So a lot of things were closed. George, the owner of the guest house, said that tourist things would be open. It turned out that all of the big shops were open, and the little ones were closed. In the morning I walked to a huge shopping mall, and was able to get a SIM card for my phone and some fuel for my camp stove. In the afternoon I walked to the historic district where it did seem that most things were open. The exception was the Tourist Information center, where I was hoping to pick up some maps. I'll see if I have better luck tomorrow.

I wandered around quite a bit, and stopped for a dinner of vino tinto and paella. It was cheap, and not very good. A lesson in both getting what you pay for and in staying out of the tourist restaurants.

The road near my guest house. It's a very quiet neighborhood.

In the square, Plaza De la Constitucion, at the historical town center.

I spent Friday looking around town. The tourist information office was open, and I picked up a map, although only for the Malaga district. I stopped at a bike shop and added air to my tires, which I had pumped up at the airport with my little emergency pump. The 2 inch tires take a lot of air.

Then I rode through the port area, and both east and west along the beach. In the afternoon I parked my bike again and walked to the Contemporary Art Museum. I had dinner at the same place as my first night, a neighborhood restaurant/bar that serves tapas and had initially been suggested to me by the guest house owner for good authentic Spanish cooking. It was good for me! They had bull fighting playing on the TV. I suppose that makes it a sports bar.

The pictures below tell the story, or most of it.

There are good bike lanes, when you can find them. They're set up for getting around town, and seem to be respected by both drivers and pedestrians.

The Malaga port, sculptures and big boats.

The beach, west of town, looking toward the port.

Across from the beach. Is it a mural or is it graffiti?

There is a river through town, but most of it appears to be a dry ditch. Here is where the water stops, not far from the Contemporary Art Museum.

The main exhibit at the Contemporary Art Museum consisted of large wooden sculptures by a Spanish artist Leiro. Most were men working, but the were also some stylized pieces.

One of the pieces on display at the Contemporary Art Museum, an obituary for Bill Clinton. I didn't get it.

I should comment on where I'm staying, the Rafaela Guesthouse. It's a small place with only 5 rooms. I reserved it on Booking.com. I share a bathroom with one of the other rooms. Two of the other rooms also share a bath, and the 5th room has it's own. My room is pretty simple, but clean and functional. There is a full kitchen and a couple of sitting rooms. There is a free clothes washer, which I've taken advantage of. The only snag is that my room has a window that opens into the common area off of the kitchen. It's pretty quiet, but everyone who comes in at night seems to turn on the light in the kitchen. The are 2 blinds in my room, an outside security blind which is metal and has a pattern of holes in it, and an inside blind which is not a blackout blind, but helps, but can only be lowered if the windows are closed. The culture here is to stay out late, and people have come in as late as 3:30 am. I know because they wake me up. In so many ways, it's a great place, and I suspect I would be happy in one of the other rooms. With only 5 rooms, and the rooms each configured with different beds, it wasn't possible to change. It is running me 30 euros per night.

Today's ride: 18 km (11 miles)
Total: 33 km (20 miles)

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