Costa del Sol, Spain - August 29, 30, 31, 2018

Malaga!

I catch my breath when it truly hits me that Stan and I are in fact in Malaga, Spain. And in only one week when we leave Spain and arrive back in Atlanta all this will still be here. Day after day, this amazing place will still be here.

We spent much of the day on Malaguerta Beach. It's a city beach, and it offers award-winning people watching. The sand is brown, almost black; the surf is light and the water is very clear. Today was a Wednesday but the people were out in full form. For example, tourists and locals like the octogenarian ex-patriots who spend their mornings in a swimsuits drinking coffee under an umbrella chatting with others like them made plenty of watching fodder. Oh and what about the troupe of street performers who ganged together and practiced together under palms. They arrived one by one with backpacks, strange haircuts and an entertainment tool . . . a tight rope; a baton that will be lighted at night or a young girl in a gypsy outfit with a hula hoop. A noisy bunch they were. But I suppose if one make his living entertaining non-suspecting people, a bit of attention-getting volume is necessary. They were not actually performing yet; I suspect they actually go into their routine in the early evening when audiences have had a bit of wine or other drink and are in a generous and appreciative mood. At the time we saw them they were simply enjoying each other's company. As they practiced their crafts, ate apples or food directly from a can and laughed and engaged each other. They completely enraptured us; we could not keep from watching them and wondering —what is their life like?? Are they as happy as they seem?

We were also intrigued with young families whose mom sunbathed topless and then took time to breastfeed the baby. Whoa!!! I'm just a prude I guess. To me it's one thing to sunbathe topless and it's another to nurse a baby --- but all together????

Or the tots who sat in the surf on the brown, very brown sand, naked as a jaybird digging in the wet sand and loving the waters. Their parents will never get the sand out of that baby's crack!s and cranies! It could be a miserable night ahead!

Oh, then there was the very skinny old man. He was very, very skinny but remarkably, he had a big belly. My mom, my darling mom, would surely have thought he was "wormy."

Before leaving the Malaguerta Beach, we lunched at a fashionable Chiringuito Tropicana. We finally figured out that the word, chiringuito means beachside restaurant possibly with chairs in the sand and offering fresh seafood - some of it cooked on spears stuck in sand, leaning near a big wood fire! Talk about barbecue!

We knew today and the next two will be our last to enjoy truly fresh seafood from the Mediterranean. At the restaurant we ordered crazy things like salad with big red shrimp with cured ham and skewered, grilled sardines. We planned to share those and then have some grilled baby squids and monk fish. At least that's what the menu translation said. The gently grilled calamari and the monk fish were fantastic! Really, really tasty and very fancy! But the salad and the sardines were not to our tastes! Anyone can understand fishy sardines, of course, but why shrimp salad? When the waiter delivered the dish, I was amazed! It looked beautiful! The plate held fresh greens topped with two big whole red prawns covered with a red sauce. The sauce was called coral juice. Sounds lovely, right? I still shiver when I think about it. The red sauce was actually shrimp roe—very, very fishy. Blah!!! Blah!! I'm still dying!!! And Stan's sardines were little better. They looked pretty, but we may be the only people on earth who try to eat sardines and leave the bones. Blah!!!

The remainder of the day was spent at the Castle of Gibralfaro which sits about 1100 feet over the city and the sea. Today it overlooks the port with the light house and the ancient seaside chapel and the fantastic Avenue de Promenade. The castle was first established as a site of defense in about 770 BC. Over the centuries it has been under the ruling hands of several countries. Today, when I put my hand on the stone of this place, I wonder with complete amazement how many people for how many generations have done the same.

We walked down the tall hill to the city and found ourselves in the midst of plazas surrounded by shopping and tiny meandering streets, many closed off to automobile traffic and reserved for pedestrians only. We found square after square, and shops, restaurants and bars in each plaza. Wow, I love this way of life. It was about 5 pm and nicely dressed career people were out having their coffee, tea, wine, or beer or maybe even an early dinner. They were shopping beautiful designer shoes, fashion dress and belts in the boutiques all along the way or stopping for expensive cappuccinos. There is one famous street that is complete closed to traffic. Its name is the Marques de Larios. This wide 5-block long street has nothing but the finest of shops. When I first heard of it, I thought it might be the only street like this. It is the premier shopping/dining street but it sits in the midst of a literal honey-comb of streets and plazas were people shop, dine, relax, and socialize. If we had not decided to walk down from the castle to the city to make our way back home, a bit lost in the winding streets and plazas - something we would have never, never had this glimpse into the beautiful city life here in Malaga.

Marbella

Costa del Sol is in the province of Malaga - please note, we have only visited the city of Malaga so far - the province stretches about 100 miles along the southern coast of Spain and is composed of beaches and resort towns that have attracted world-wide tourists for many, many years. We are going to try to see what we think are the most important areas - and ones we can reach and return in a day. Today is Marbella. As we rode along the coast, the density of buildings and houses along the beach was astounding. The highway we traveled was at least a mile from the actual coast but between the highway and the coast was nothing but tightly-knitted housing! Looking like a gathering of barnacles on a pier piling, the population went east and west and north and south all the way from the city of Malaga to Marbella which was only a one-hour trip vis express bus.

Marbella is a movie-star kind of place. The tourists were thick as thieves. They were here to see and be seen. Marbella is a hub for the very rich because of its famous marina, Puerto Banus. The yachts were the most fantastic we have ever seen!! Ridiculous! Some were larger than grand houses on land. Many yachts had registry in Georgetown, Grand Cayman and some in London. We saw a few from other places but if you win the lottery and decide to purchase a grand yacht there must be great advantage in securing a registry in Grand Caymans. That's what Stan and I are going to do.

Cars! In Marbella only the best and most expensive car are seen. Bentleys, Lamborghini's! Just name an expensive car; it's parked right here. Yeesh!

The famous plazas in Marbella are Plaza Antonio Banderas and Plaza Julio Iglesias. I'm sure there are more but these two resonated with me. We were there only one day!!

We had a very late lunch in Marbella. We shared a bottle of white wine and had sea bass. It was perfecto!! We sat next to a family. They made no noise; they attracted no attention Still I could not help noticing them. The mom was Indian; the dad was purely Caucasian, and the two well-mannered preteens were gorgeous! As they got up to leave I told them that their children were beautiful. Oh and away we went! We told each other stories of our home and our respective travels. They made suggestions as to which towns we might choose for our Spanish language endeavor. And again our hearts were melted with the camaraderie that can be found in this world. I love it! We, the people, all truly like each other. I simply cannot understand why we cannot elect politicians who seek peace and not discord.

Nerja

Funny, but we had never heard of these places along Costa del Sol but they seem so familiar now. Bus service here is very good. Seats are like those on an airplane and their departure and arrival times are much more accurate than those on US airlines. Almost every bus or train we take is full. While Marbella was to the south; Nerja was to the north of the city of Malaga.

Again, we were simply aghast at the dense population from mountains to shore, for miles and miles. May folk have known about this beautiful coast years and years before we finally arrived here!!

Not long after leaving Malaga Bus Station we began to climb mountains. The terrain was rugged, with steep hills and deep valleys. The land is dry, very dry, yet the people through generations and generations have terraced the hills and have grown citrus fruits and olives. Today, they have built tremendous cloth-covered irrigated fields in which they grow literally everything! The farm land was beautiful. Yet it gave the impression of being very efficient and productive. My impression was -- no fertile land goes to waste.

The hilly and densely populated city of Nerja boasts ten gorgeous beaches - all just below the city. The town was so very pretty and old. We departed our bus and began walking downhill. Surely toward the beach. It was not easy walking but we kept thinking how about our walk back up the hill. As we walked along, the street became prettier and prettier and the light at the end of the street showed blue water. Man! The beauty of this world simply knocks me to my knees.

Thanking God for Google and Rome2Rio, we found our way to the beaches we wanted to see. We actually relaxed for a couple of hours on the blackish sands of the picturesque Playa Calahonda just beneath and to the Balcon de Europa (the balcony of Europe). This is a large round balcony on a cliff overlooking the sea. From this magnificent point we could see the sandy beaches and rocky shores below us I either direction. In back of us and to our left were mountains. Ohhhh, brother!

Playa Calahonda is on a cove with rocks of composite limestone and rocks which continue to beaten down by the surf to create the black and stony beach. On the other end of the beach is a fisherman's cottage built into the rocks. It had boxes on the windows and cherry tomatoes growing along its sides. Just my thing!

I guess the tides began to rise. As we relaxed on the beach we felt rouge waves come in occasionally tickle our feet. When the wave threw itself on us and on our stuff like camera and phones, we decided enough was enough; after all we had an uphill walk of at least a half mile to the bus stop.

We showered the black sand off us, changed clothes and headed up hill. We needed to eat. It was getting late in the afternoon. We found a perfect place just a half-block off our direct route to the bus. Its pleasant atmosphere made the experience exceptional. The outdoor dining area had been created between two decorated buildings. Only the bar was under roof. The floors were tiled and canvas sails stretched overhead which cooled the air and created perfect lighting - the kind photographers seek to enhance the phot subject's face. They treated us like royalty and served us grilled Hake fish and Hake with leek sauce. My Lord! For dessert Stan had ice cream. I had the most outrageously delicious slice of melon I have ever tasted in my life. They call it Melon Sapo or Christmas melon. Its smaller than a watermelon but larger than a big cantaloupe. It's about a foot long and oval in shape. It's outer skin in netted dark green. Its flesh is white similar to honeydew melon but it is so, so much better. It's on my list to seek out in the international section at the DeKalb Farmer's market. There's just something special about fruit grown near the Mediterranean!

I am completely falling in love with Spain. Because of the info we often hear at home, my pectations of Spain was not optimistic. In my mind's eye, I saw discouraged people, tired stores, outdated transportation and dirty streets. Honestly, I think they are pulling the wool over someone's eyes! These people have it going on. Their land is fertile and they farm it well. We saw thousands and thousands and yet thousands more acres of manicured olive and citrus groves. They have some of the best ports in the world and their tourism business is thriving! Mining and pharmaceuticals are important industries as well. Many of their coastal cities had their beginnings before Christ, so yes they are ancient, but not in a decrepit sort of way but in a grand historic manner. The Spaniards exercised great efforts to preserve the architecture of the mansions and public buildings. Their infrastructure seems well intact and their lifestyle is inviting. Sadly, though, with all these good things going on, their unemployment rate is very high, about 16% -- which probably explains some of the bailout - too many people on the dole.

Yes, we will definitely return to Spain. Yes, this will be the place where we settle in for three months to live like locals and to learn to speak Spanish -- actually we learned that we already know far more of the language than we knew we did. Just being around Spanish people who only speak a little English, makes one recall old lessons! We are certainly a long way from actually learning the language but what we do know is good enough to communicate together. And communicating with the local folk is fun!!! We are not sure where the town might be that we choose for this three-month stay but we know one thing, it will be during a cooler part of the year which I believe is only in the spring.

Traveling to Madrid tomorrow, our last destination on this trip, the off to our final stop . . . home.