We were certainly lucky leaving France on Wednesday, April 19. The next set of manifestations was scheduled for Thursday. Trains in our area were cancelled once again and many flights across France were cancelled. But on Wednesday it was smooth sailing. Our friend, Cara, dropped us off at the Foix train station with minutes to spare jumping on the train to Toulouse. We hopped off the train at the Matabiau Station in Toulouse and struggled down the stairs with our 4 suitcases and out the door to walk next door to the bus station. We had to wait a whole 5 minutes for the bus to the airport. We walked up straight up to Iberia Airlines desk to check our bags in before heading to the security line. The security line maybe took us a good 15 minutes and we were through. Shortly after finding our gate, we boarded our flight for Madrid. Due to several changes to our flight schedule since I booked the tickets, we ended up with a 2:30 hour layover in Madrid which gave us ample time to grab a bite for dinner. We landed in Malaga shortly after 10:00 p.m. and the tandem was the first bag on the conveyor belt. Yeah! The bike made it. Shortly after our 2 suitcases arrived and we went in search of the taxi. It was truly an easy trip to Malaga.
Our first morning in Malaga began with a 10 minute walk to the beach.
It's Thursday, so I had to take a dip in the Mediterranean Sea because my friends in Foix were going for our weekly cold water swim. My swim was definitely warmer than theirs.
It was now time to leave this little haven, Hotel Picasso, and head into the city center to the hotel where we will eventually meet up with our tour group.
Once we checked in to the hotel in the city center, we set off exploring. We wandered through the Atarazanas Market where we enjoyed our first attempt of a tapas bar before walking along the Parque de Malaga. The port of Malaga had a cruise ship docked and it looked like another one was making it way into town. Malaga's city center is a definite tourist mecca.
We scheduled a Wine & Tapas tour for the evening and met with a small group and our tour guide, Felipe. He took us to a tiny hole in the wall wine bar . . .
The wines were poured directly from the casks. Moscatel and Pedro Ximienez are the two main grape varieties and produce a sweeter fortified wine.
Our next stop was a small shop where we enjoyed some iberico jambon and cheese with the Malagan vermouth. I don't particularly care for vermouth, but this stuff was quite tasty and I'm glad I gave it a try.
Our next two stops were to restaurants to try a variety of tapas: deep fried eggplant with a sugar cane sauce, meatballs in an almond sauce, breaded and fried rosada (fish), almond soup, paella, and a few more delicious items. We enjoyed some fantastic tempranillo crianza and reserva with our tapas. Afterwards, our guide sent us on our way, but said we must go around the corner of the street and head to a rooftop bar.
This is what we saw as we rounded the street corner - the entrance to La Alcazaba
The southern tower of the cathedral that was never completed. Interesting fact: the funds that were supposed to be used to complete the construction of the tower were offered to the king of Spain to use to help the Americans during the Revolutionary War.
We'd had enough site seeing for one day, so we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before meeting up with the cycling tour group in the evening.
Malaga is a beautiful city and we are fully aware that we only scratched the surface of what the city has to offer. It definitely warrants another visit.
