mccalls repurposed

Our apartment in Malaga is wonderful and relaxing.  It is raining for the first couple of days which allow us to rest and do some adulting stuff.  It is also located in a residential area close to, but not in the tourist type attractions, so we stick to our hood for a couple of days.  I felt totally comfortable going to the markets alone, even in the dark.  In the morning, I would go get fresh bread, fruit, and vegetables for whatever I felt compelled to cook for lunch and dinner. I made friends with the butcher, “dos pechuga de pollo filetes, por favor” – never sure about my attempts, but I got two boneless breasts of chicken fileted just the way I wanted! “Perfecto! Muchos gracias!” Kirk and I actually felt like we got to play house on this adventure.

The rain stopped and it was time to explore the hood.  Also, now that it is not raining, we can utilize our beautiful terrace.  We are right next door to the the Santuario de Santa Maria la Victoria, which is a stop on the hop on hop off bus.  From our terrace looking up from above the church, on the top of the mountain, you can see the Castillo de Gibralfaro, dating back to the 10th Century. We are just up the street from the Alcazaba, which means citadel in Arabic and the Centro Historico, filled with passages opening up in to plazas filled with statues, fountains, cafes and colorful people.

We wound around through the Historic Center and across the river (dry, for the most part), crossing one bridge and then back across another.  Malaga also has a great cathedral, but it was closed to tourists for a couple days in celebration of something I didn’t catch what it was, but the exterior is beautiful and we have toured a gazillion cathedrals, so we’re good.  You can see the Arab/Turkish influences are still alive alive in this area.  This area has been Roman and Moorish before it became Spanish ruled, which is evident in the architecture, food, and culture of the Andelusian area.

On the way back home, we popped in to see the inside of the church next door.  Our host, Carmen, is getting married there in a few weeks and she encouraged us to take a look.  It was beautiful, but it is a very active church and school children were being dropped off by their parents. I took a few moments to imagine Carmen walking down the aisle and then we went home for dinner…chicken with fresh broccoli, bread and a side of pesto pasta.