We got up late again {well we are on holiday} and decided to go and check
out Malaga. The drive there was uneventful, the usual kids overtaking on the
inside on mopeds then stopping in front of us, nothing special, all Spaniards
seem to be dreadful drivers. Apparently this particular road is supposed to be
the worst in Europe for traffic driving into pedestrians, so Andrew read in the
rough guide, so I'm not exaggerating about the driving!!
We went to El Palo first to find lunch. A lovely
area with wonderful blue sea and a long promenade with little rock mini harbours
built around the coves, it's very picturesque. We went to a cafe which just
advertised Pizza and Crepes outside {no name that we could find} it was
wonderful, the pizza, salad, crepes, beer and coffee were all exceptionally good
and very cheap. The view of the sea and mountains was even better. We
walked from one end to the other of the prom. taking in Pedregalejo beach, then
found the car and headed for Castello de Gibralfaro. We parked up and began the
very steep climb up to the top, stopping for several rests on the way up! The
Castello was last used in 1936 during the Civil War but has been restored and as
you walk around the battlements the views over Malaga and it's Port are quite
breathtaking, as you will see from the photo's. The Unfinished Cathedral is
visible from the top, it is stunning, we will take a closer look when we reach
ground again. The bullring is below us, as is a lovely roundabout with a fountain
in the centre. The very impressive Alcazaba sits below the Castello too, a
beautiful building with lovely formal gardens and a pond. We descended to it down the very steep roads and steps into the
gardens to find 3 different weddings going on, people come to the gardens to
take wedding photo's. We wandered for a while in the gardens then crossed the
road to a lovely tree lined avenue which we walked up till we reached the
Cathedral for a closer look. It was shut, so we contented ourselves with a walk
around the outside, it really is very beautiful and is being restored at present
so plenty of scaffolding. We stopped at a cafe next to the Cathedral for Tapas and wine and beer,
and admired the building whilst we ate. Strolled back to the car eating
fantastic lemon ice cream then headed back to Nerja. Arrived back at 10ish. time
for some wine while I type up the diary and Andrew watches TV.
