02Mar2019: Our last full day of vacation and Corey was set on seeing all the sites circled on our visitor’s map. We did a quick lap at Mercado Central for a breakfast of fruit and juice. Then we were lured to– you guessed it– churros con chocolate at Casa Aranda. It’s probably not appropriate to say “The baby made me do it“?
The Roman Theater is an easy tick off the list because it sits right below the ticket line for the Alcazaba (citadel). The Alcazaba…well, I remember saying “I’m bored” likely because you do a lot of uphill walking for not much to look at since we already visited Granada’s Alhambra, and Sevilla’s Alcazar. I am ungrateful. Oi.
I did enjoy the lookouts at the Castillo de Gibralfaro (behind the Alcazaba). Take my advice and take the bus up, and then walk down when you’re ready to leave. You’ll be able to walk to the marina area with lots of upscale restaurants, and families strolling with ice cream cones. You will also feel sorry for everyone who opted for walking up to the look out! It’s a serious climb.
Make sure to visit Antigua Casa de Guardia at some point! This was my favorite experience in Malaga because we met a couple from Virginia rekindling their high school relationship. They noted our terrible Spanish wasn’t getting us the drinks we wanted, and offered to help us. Then Corey and the couple had so many rounds that the woman told us we had to name our baby after her. (She was right in predicting we were having a girl by the way.) We trekked out to the gentleman’s restaurant suggestion, Bar Saylo, that was outside of the old town. But upon arrival they told us the cook didn’t serve paella for dinner?! We vowed to return for our last day’s lunch. This unfortunately led us to more fried food for dinner back in the old town but at least Corey got in some exercise along the way (see video of what we found at a sidewalk bench!)
03Mar2019: We were up early to check out of our accommodation, and were happy that La Bella Julieta was right around the corner. After toasts and smoothies, we went to visit the Picasso museum, as Malaga is his birthplace. It’s said that the works at this museum aren’t really sellable so it’s a mix n match type collection. I enjoyed it and would gladly have some of the pieces if offered! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take pictures inside so there isn’t much to look at here.
La Tetería is a yummy tea house down the lane from the museum. We ate sparingly because Corey wanted to return to Antigua Casa de Guardia for an early afternoon manzanilla before Bar Saylo. I couldn’t protest because it was a great experience even with the few sips I had each visit.
Back to Bar Saylo for that paella lunch (meh) but the meat was good and the salmorejo was tart as a twist. What it lacked in ambiance, it made up for with people watching. I enjoyed seeing everyone greet the wait staff with a hug and the day’s news. One grandma came with her three grandkids and cut up their fries and porkchops. No matter the oldest was likely twelve and the next oldest was likely ten. Grandma’s have that right!
We drove the rental back to the carpark and hopped the shuttle to the airport. My journal filled fast with memories from this trip. I began the trip with a mental checklist of what I wanted to accomplish (shortlist of baby names, logistics with our doula, adding items to a registry) and ended with none of these. The gratitude of this journey as a duo was what I needed to land on, and since I’m finishing this post after Saya has arrived, I can see that was exactly the way it was supposed to happen.
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