I arrived back in Germany after my weekend in Belgium prepared to chill for a couple of weeks. Carnival was coming up, to be followed by the Fulbright Winterball in Munich, the Fulbright Berlin Conference in March, meeting up with a couple of my friends from college in France, and then the extravaganza that will be Spring Break (I’m so excited bout it, y’all!). All these things would require not only energy, but also money, so I was ready to save up. But then my friend Susanna (y’all know all about her by now and her last minute trip-enabling schemes) was like, my cousin is in a choir and they’re performing in Malaga this weekend, WANNA GO?!? Like an idiot, I agonized over this decision for about 12 hours (honestly all the time I had, because we had to book flights and stuff for like, four days from then. Ultimately, I ended up going, and trust me it was not a mistake.
The view from my kitchen the day we left for Spain. You can imagine how awesome my decision to go to the Mediterranean looked after waking up to this.
We arrived in Malaga and immediately I felt like the warm, dry air was sweeping cobwebs out of my brain. Absolutely amazing. Susanna and I set out for some grub and ate our first tapas of the trip. After snacking, we explored the old town a bit and went down to the beach before meeting up with her cousin and the choir.
One of my favorites. The Med at sunset.
We went on a little tour of the old town with the choir, and then we headed to eat! Rachel, a friend from college, studied abroad in Malaga and recommended we try El Pimpi, which is probably the most famous restaurant in all of Malaga and moderately priced. Usually, we stick to a backpacker’s budget, but this splurge wasn’t even that much (4 people split a bottle of wine, 1 salad, and 3 large tapas and it was about 20 euro per person). SO GOOD Y’ALL.
El Pimpi Tapas: the Pimpi Platter (Pepper, cured ham & fried egg, chorizo, croquettes, Iberian pork), fried Rosada pieces, and oxtail with pepper and creamed potatoes. WE DON’T MESS AROUND.
After that we grabbed a couple more bottles of Malaga wine and headed down to the beach. We spent the rest of the night sitting on the beach, watching the waves, and chatting.
Beachin’. Is this January or July? I don’t know.
We began the next day at the Picasso Museum. Picasso was born in Malaga, and they are super proud of him (although he left when he was like 19 and never went back). The museum is small and doesn’t have any big works, but I thought it was very well done for what they had and well worth the trip. We grabbed some hot tea at a place near the cathedral (if you’re in this area of Spain definitely try their tea – it has Arabian influences from the Caliphate that ruled there in the Middle Ages and it’s absolutely amazing). Afterwards, we luckily stumbled upon El Piyayo and ordered plates of paella for only 6 euro! and it was muy delicioso! So delicioso that Susanna at lunch there again on Sunday after mass at the cathedral. On Saturday we also tried it with a weird soup that S’s cousin and friends said they’d had everywhere they went in Spain. It was cold, made of tomatoes, bread, and some more stuff that I couldn’t identify. It was very strange.
Yummy paella and weird cold tomato bread soup.
After we were filled with seafood and carbs, we climbed up the hill to spend the afternoon climbing around two Arab fortresses, Castillo de Gibralfaro and Alcazaba. With student IDs, entrance was only 60 cents each. Talk about a bargain!
Malaga’s cathedral peeking out over the castle walls.
Costa del Sol.
After roaming around the castles, we went to the choir concert at the Church of the Martyrs, which was just around the corner from the hostel. Dinner, drinks, and then I went to bed early so Susanna could catch up some more with her cousin. She and the choir were flying out of Malaga Sunday morning, so the next day Susanna and I had all to ourselves.
We started it off with mass in the cathedral, which made use of the HUGE organ. It was quite beautiful. As I said before, we went back to El Piyayo for more paella and then spent the afternoon on the beach. It was a bit chilly, but I wasn’t complaining. That much sun on my face did me a whole lot of good!
Our last cultural excursion was to Carmen Thyssen Museum, which focuses on Spanish art from the 17th-19th centuries. Definitely things I had never seen before, and Susanna and I had probably way too much fun going through this museum.
Last stop was dinner, and as with all of our meals, it was unbelievably delicous. A log of fried ham and cheese, more paella, and grilled sardines. It was delicious! And cheap! You guys, Spanish food is wonderful.
Our food this night stared at us a lot.
The restaurant’s front window. Bonita, no?
Sardines. I was skeptical at first, but am now a believer.
Laufen mit Liz 