{"id":8914,"date":"2022-04-11T21:13:56","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T21:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/?p=8914"},"modified":"2022-04-11T21:14:01","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T21:14:01","slug":"weeknotes-163-malaga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/weeknotes-163-malaga\/","title":{"rendered":"Weeknotes #163 \u2014 M\u00e1laga"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

The port of M\u00e1laga<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

For the first time in over two years we hopped on a plane and went off on holiday. I\u2019ve been feeling for some time as though I needed a change of scenery and a proper break; I have weeks of unused holiday days to spend before the end of June which itself tells me how little I\u2019ve been away from work. Finding somewhere that was guaranteed to be warm in April, wasn\u2019t too far away from the UK and wouldn\u2019t cost the Earth was a tall order. We found ourselves crossing our fingers and heading to M\u00e1laga<\/a>, a city on Spain\u2019s south coast that was previously only familiar to me through the pages of my \u00a1Vaya! Libro 1<\/em> textbook at school. We had a rough sketch of a plan for the week but I was keen to not book in too many activities, fearing that a plan would detract from taking things easy. We had a wonderful time.<\/p>\n

Although we live close to London, we thought that we would experiment with flying out of Birmingham Airport<\/a> as it is only 90 minutes north of here. The experience was excellent \u2014 the airport is smaller and much less busy than those that we normally use and we were through the check-in and security processes in no time. We were travelling with Jet2.com<\/a>; I\u2019d never heard of them before, but apparently they are the UK\u2019s third-largest scheduled airline with 94 aircraft in their fleet<\/a>. For a short-haul flight they were fine. The staff were super friendly and helpful, and the aircraft itself was sparse but functional. We didn\u2019t need anything else.<\/p>\n

\"Flying

Flying through the clouds<\/p><\/div>\n

Our base for the week was the Barcel\u00f3<\/a> hotel, located above the central train station. We managed to get two interconnecting rooms, which allowed us to go to sleep while our two (almost) teenage boys could stay up and turn their light off when they were ready to do the same. The room was fine, although it had a strange view over the gigantic rooftop of the station. Most of the old town with its sights and restaurants was located a short walk away, which we ended up being grateful for after our evening meal. The hotel didn\u2019t seem to quite know who it was pitched at. We didn\u2019t see many other families there and there were a few businesspeople at breakfast, but it also had a slide going down from the dining area into the lobby which the kids loved.<\/p>\n

\"Barcel\u00f3

Barcel\u00f3 M\u00e1laga<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Hotel

Hotel slide<\/p><\/div>\n

Almost every time we went out we had to cross the dry river bed of the Guadalmedina<\/a>. It divides the city in two and the concrete channel looks quite an eyesore; from what I could tell it is used a place for people to take their dogs to use the toilet. But it serves a bigger purpose. Back in 1907 M\u00e1laga suffered devastating floods<\/a>; presumably this construction would prevent something similar happening in the future.<\/p>\n

\"Dry

Dry Guadalmedina<\/p><\/div>\n

For a working port city, M\u00e1laga is beautiful. We acquainted ourselves through an evening walk on the day that we arrived as well as a run the next morning. The port area has been made attractive by all kinds of lovely architecture, from the Centre Pompidou<\/a> to the wonderful zig-zagging pergola<\/a> (\u2018The Palm Grove of Surprises\u2019).<\/p>\n

\"The

The Palm Grove of Surprises, covered in red dust<\/p><\/div>\n

\"In

In the old town<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The food market<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Lighthouse\"

Lighthouse<\/p><\/div>\n

All of the buildings, windows and pavements were covered in a fine red dust, the consequence of gigantic Saharan dust storms<\/a> that had engulfed the region a few weeks before. We had some rain for the first few days that we were there but it didn\u2019t seem to do much to shift it.<\/p>\n

The meals we had throughout the week were excellent, and great value when compared to the UK. We had a few adventures with churros<\/a> and chocolate, as well as tapas<\/a>, and dinner at a wonderful homely restaurant<\/a> that was recommended by a friend.<\/p>\n

\"Churros

Churros and coffee<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tapas

Tapas at Mes\u00f3n Ib\u00e9rico<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Indonesian

Indonesian satay vegetables at Mamuchis<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Pasta

Pasta at La Pala D\u2019Oro<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tapas

Tapas at Casa Lola<\/p><\/div>\n

There are a few sights to see in the old town, including Gibralfaro<\/a> Castle and the Alcazaba<\/a> fortress, both of which give spectacular views of the city. At their base is a Roman amphitheatre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"View

View from Gibralfaro<\/p><\/div>\n

\"One

One of the many splendidly perilous walkways around the Castle<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The Roman ampitheatre<\/p><\/div>\n

\"View

View of the bullfighting ring near the port<\/p><\/div>\n

Religion seems to play a major part in the life of the city. The cathedral<\/a> is breathtaking in its size and ornateness. While we were there, the city was getting ready for Holy Week<\/a>, erecting portable stadium seating and laying out thousands of chairs ready for a week of parades.<\/p>\n

\"M\u00e1laga

M\u00e1laga Cathedral<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Detail

Detail inside the cathedral<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Surprisingly,

Surprisingly, not the main entrance to the cathedral<\/p><\/div>\n

The city is also famous as the birthplace of Pablo Picasso<\/a>. In the centre of the old town is a lovely museum<\/a> of his works. There is plenty to see, covering his paintings, drawings and sculptures broadly in chronological order.<\/p>\n

\"Contemplating

Contemplating a Picasso<\/p><\/div>\n

My eldest son and I hired some road bikes from bike2malaga<\/a>. Along with our wonderful guide, we had a great day puffing our way out of the city and into the mountains. My son had never been up a proper mountain pass before but he seemed to love it. We had a comedy moment where one of us fell off on a climb, causing the others to stop and check they were ok, and then struggling to get back into the pedals and get going again. The day started a little cloudy, got very hot on the way up the first pass and then was freezing on the descent. We wisely decided to avoid the village we were heading for when we could see it getting rained on from our view on the other side of the valley. By the time we got back to the city the sun was shining and I was ready for an ice cream.<\/p>\n

\"Mountains,<\/a><\/p>\n

\"If

If you look closely, you\u2019ll spot my son<\/p><\/div>\n

\"View

View from the road<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\u201cI\u2019ve

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen it looking greener than this.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\u201cI\u2019ve

\u201cI\u2019ve only ever done this as a descent, I\u2019ve not climbed it!\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

\"At

At the top of a climb<\/p><\/div>\n

We hired a car for a couple of days and made a journey out to Ronda<\/a>. (No, not that one<\/a>. Similar.) The town is divided in two by a deep chasm which has been bridged by a magnificent construction. It is stunning. We spent most of the day wandering up and down the various paths, getting different views of the town and its surroundings.<\/p>\n

\"Seems

Seems as good a place as any to build a town<\/p><\/div>\n

\"A

A view of one side of Ronda from the other<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The bridge across the chasm<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Looking

Looking out from Ronda<\/p><\/div>\n

On the way back, we stopped at the town of Setenil de las Bodegas<\/a>, famous for its houses that have been built into the sides of overhanging rocks. It was strange to peer into some of the empty dwellings to see literally one room, with a back wall made up of the rock face. Leaving the town was terrifying; our sat-nav took us on a route through the narrowest of side streets, underneath rocks and passing by people atop ladders that were painting their houses. I felt like Clark W Griswald in European Vacation<\/a><\/em> as I edged the car forward, expecting an accident at any moment.<\/p>\n

\"Houses

Houses built into the rock face<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Wandering

Wandering around the town<\/p><\/div>\n

\"View

View from the car. Even more terrifying than it looks.<\/p><\/div>\n

On the second day with the car we ventured to Marbella<\/a> to take a look around. Although the sea front was pretty, it wasn\u2019t worth the visit. Being there would be great if we were in our late teens as there were plenty of bars to hop around, but it didn\u2019t seem as though it had anything that central M\u00e1laga couldn\u2019t offer.<\/p>\n

\"Marbella

Marbella seafront<\/p><\/div>\n

To cap our week off we booked tickets to watch M\u00e1laga CF<\/a> play Real Valladolid CF<\/a> at La Rosaleda Stadium<\/a>. Sitting in the afternoon sun was such a treat. The atmosphere was brilliant despite the stadium not being full. There seemed to be so many more families at the game than I\u2019ve seen at other places. M\u00e1laga went 2-0 up before the visitors pulled it back to 2-2, with the second goal happening right in front of us. We loved it.<\/p>\n

\"Heading

Heading into the stadium<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Beautiful

Beautiful venue, beautiful game<\/p><\/div>\n

We all had such a lovely week, with plenty to fill our time. I\u2019ve returned home not quite as rested as I expected, but this was self-inflicted through early morning starts for running, cycling and watching the Australian Grand Prix, as well as tons of walking every day. Malaga was well worth a visit.<\/p>\n

\"A

A chilly M\u00e1laga morning<\/p><\/div>\n

Next week:<\/strong> Another week off, this time at home. Catching up with sleep and eyeing up my personal to-do list.<\/div>\n

For the first time in over two years we hopped on a plane and went off on holiday. I\u2019ve been feeling for some time as though I needed a change of scenery and a proper break; I have weeks of unused holiday days to spend before the end of June which itself tells me how […]<\/div>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-weeknotes","7":"h-entry","9":"hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8950,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/04\/17\/weeknotes-164-evaporated\/","url_meta":{"origin":8914,"position":0},"title":"Weeknotes #164 \u2014 Evaporated","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"17 April 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Although we were no longer on a \u2018proper\u2019 holiday, I had another week away from work. This one seems to have quickly evaporated without me making much headway into my personal to-do list. A week in which I: Took my youngest boy for an eye test and booked myself in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weeknotes"","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DraggedImage-3-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DraggedImage-3-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DraggedImage-3-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DraggedImage-3-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DraggedImage-3-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8919,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/8919\/","url_meta":{"origin":8914,"position":1},"title":"\ud83d\udcf7 M\u00e1laga sunrise.","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"11 April 2022","format":"status","excerpt":"\ud83d\udcf7 M\u00e1laga sunrise.","rel":"","context":"In "Snippets"","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/25401fd7f24648378ae30d02fa6907e1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/25401fd7f24648378ae30d02fa6907e1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/25401fd7f24648378ae30d02fa6907e1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/25401fd7f24648378ae30d02fa6907e1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/25401fd7f24648378ae30d02fa6907e1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/25401fd7f24648378ae30d02fa6907e1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8846,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/04\/05\/8846\/","url_meta":{"origin":8914,"position":2},"title":"M\u00e1laga cathedral. 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What a building.","rel":"","context":"In "Snippets"","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/9d81bbb024b3450ba6fc5c9e4dabd193.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/9d81bbb024b3450ba6fc5c9e4dabd193.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/9d81bbb024b3450ba6fc5c9e4dabd193.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/9d81bbb024b3450ba6fc5c9e4dabd193.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/9d81bbb024b3450ba6fc5c9e4dabd193.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/9d81bbb024b3450ba6fc5c9e4dabd193.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4350,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2018\/08\/06\/weeknote-29-night-time-is-the-right-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":8914,"position":3},"title":"Weeknote #29 \u2014 Night Time is the Right Time","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"6 August 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent most of this week on my own at home as Mrs D took the boys back to her parents\u2019 house for a school holiday visit. I took advantage of them being away to catch up with a few things and ended up not finishing work until 9pm at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weeknotes"","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/406B57F8-542E-4E83-B109-103F76870184-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/406B57F8-542E-4E83-B109-103F76870184-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/406B57F8-542E-4E83-B109-103F76870184-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/406B57F8-542E-4E83-B109-103F76870184-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/406B57F8-542E-4E83-B109-103F76870184-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/406B57F8-542E-4E83-B109-103F76870184-1.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11459,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/12\/24\/weeknotes-304-pottering\/","url_meta":{"origin":8914,"position":4},"title":"Weeknotes #304 \u2014 Pottering","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"24 December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A week off work, largely spent pottering around at home. My wife and the boys were still going to school, so it didn\u2019t feel quite right to spend the morning lounging around in bed while they dashed about as they got ready to leave the house. 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I have a bit of a break from work coming up, which is either particularly well-timed or the very fact that it\u2019s on the horizon means that I\u2019ve started to feel a bit worn out. It was a week of late nights, not helped by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weeknotes"","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8914"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8917,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8914\/revisions\/8917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}