We touched down in Malaga, Spain and immediately I felt the difference in climate from Ireland, which was expected but still pleasant. Our cab driver pointed out landmarks and points of interest on the way to the hotel and explained how to get around on the transit system. He was very helpful. The language barrier is a little difficult to circumvent here however you can pretty much get by with a mixture of strange gestures, body language, pointing and rudimentary Spanish. I expected Malaga to be sort of a relaxing portion of my journey. It did not disappoint.

Out hotel was in a local neighborhood, outside of the city center, so when we woke up we decided to explore our immediate surroundings. Immediate surroundings ended up being walking around for 2 hours aimlessly in order to locate various things, see sights and get the lay of the land. We stopped in at a small eatery for a beer and a small reprieve from the Spanish sun. Business hours are odd in Spain, like really odd. People close up shop from noon or one o’clock until four or five in the evening daily. Lunch doesn’t take place until later afternoon and it seems as though people don’t eat dinner until after eight at night. This is ultimately very strange for someone who comes from a much different way of timing their days. So when we stopped at this small restaurant I ordered two beers, one for me and one for mum. I went back for a second one for me and I guess they closed during this time, or at least weren’t serving but were still letting people use the patio. I was ridiculed in Spanish after pointing at a beer and asking for one. She was pointing at me while talking to her family that worked there, they started laughing and then she gave me shit. Regardless, I got my beer, she got her money and everyone left happy and satisfied. Oh! Did I mention beers were only 1.50 euros here? Mental!

We decided to walk a few more blocks and came upon a small open set of doors, the smells coming from it were awesome. Apparently we found a place that sells fresh made sandwiches, whole rotisserie chickens, liquor, beer and random premade tapas. The bill for 2 sandwiches a beer and a water came to 7 euros. Once again, mental! This is such a change from Ireland and Sweden. The cheapness of Malaga got me super excited. What other deals could we find?

After eating half of our giant sandwiches we hopped on the local bus to go to city center, which also happens to be a touristy walking/shopping/eating plaza the equivalent of about six or so city blocks, squared. The main city of Malaga hosts three hundred thousand permanent residents, and within this space are over 1300 restaurants. Beers in this area are double that of an outside neighborhood, boo I say!

We went to a huge Spanish Catholic cathedral, it was amazingly decorated and the architecture was phenomenal. After that we took a horse drawn carriage tour from city center to the port area and back, all the while being told about what we were seeing, in Spanish of course. I managed to get the names of most things but not much else. Thus concluded day one.

Today we were supposed to go to Morocco, this did not happen. After doing a little more research we decided against it. The day tours you can take are mostly filled with being hounded by merchants that have deals with the tour operators. As per reviews these same merchants are at each location you stop at, I personally did not want to deal with the bullshit and waste my time and money. I’ll get to Morocco one day, but on my own terms and likely farther inland than Tangier. Instead of Morocco we opted for continuing with Spain as a relaxing, laid back, slow walk kind of visit. We visited both a Moorish castle from the twelfth century and a Spanish castle from around the same time. The Moorish castle was magnificent, filled with old relics, original building layouts and many many viewpoints that overlooked Malaga. The Spanish castle was a trip and a half to get to. We walked up thirty five degree inclines for about a kilometer to get to the entrance. This is the highest point you can get to within city limits. The castle itself was pretty bare, which was disappointing, however the views from the top were amazing. This kind of killed the relaxing part but it was good to do non the less.

I’ve noticed the longer you spend here the easier it is to adapt to Spanish time. I think tomorrow I’ll sleep until noon then have a further lazy day to end off Spain.

After that we are flying to Paris which will be another whirlwind of a stop, jam packed with a ton of things we both want to see and do. I’m glad Spain was more of a gentle rest of a destination as it let us recharge our batteries for the upcoming craziness that is Paris.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the horizon!