Malaga - August 28, 2019

The high speed train to Malaga was in fact very high-speed. We changed trains in Cordoba and continued on. We arrived in the southern Spain coastal city of Malaga around 1 pm. Scenery along the route was varied and beautiful. We roared through small towns where the high speed train does not stop. We passed freshly harvested golden fields accented in the background with dark fields of newly tilled ground. There were fields of sunflowers; miles of olive orchards as well as flat golden and green plains lands. From the window we saw small villages of only 25 houses or so - I wondered what would life be like there? Then there were isolated farms located near to no town. In these farms we could see a few cows and many horses milling around the grounds. The train stopped at a couple of mid-size cities. One or two of them looked big enough to be enjoyable and yet small enough to be intimate; these towns had a strange, compelling appeal. We wished we could spend time there.

Malaga! I'm not sure why we chose to spend time here but its name and its location said . . . come to me. And oh, I'm so glad we did! Wikipedia says, "Malaga's Andalucian history spans about 2800 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world." Lebanese peoples came to this area to commence trading with Iberian tribes in 800 BC. Ok, just digest that concept. It has been ruled by the Carthaginians, the Romans, and also from Islamic people from 600 AD until 1847. Also from Wiki because I cannot say it any better: "The archeological remains and monuments from the Phoenician, Roman, Arabic and Christian eras make the historic center of the city an "open museum"." Whoo! Our world is old!!! And my country is so young! This is a particularly engaging place, plus it's beautiful and unlike other Mediterranean waters we have seen, the sea and surf here is pure, clear and blue like the Caribbean Sea.

We grabbed a Hop On-Hop Off and rode the route. Hop On-Hop Off buses with recorded information are true to form for us when we have not done diligent homework before we arrived. Hop On-Hop Off tours are like Cliff's Notes for Moby Dick. All the facts are given in one big dose. We saw and learned the basics.

We studied our maps and the city places we swept past today. We put our plan is in place for the next three days. Come along with us, this is going to be fun! And maybe we will learn a little along the way too!