Road trip (part II) – Saturday 18th October
The next morning we both woke up around 7am, very surprised (and pleased) that we hadn’t woken up during the night … turns out that neither Susan or I sleep a lot. As it was still early and the sun hadn’t come up yet, we enjoyed more time just chatting in the dark … man, I loved that! But eventually it got light and we were in serious need of coffee, so we got up and headed out in search of brekky…
On our way down to the main square where we’d had dinner the night before we saw a woman standing in her doorway and she smiled and waved at us … and then asked if we’d managed to find the hotel okay. Turns out she was the one who’d given us directions the night before. Ha! Susan and I were starting to feel quite famous after having only been in town for about 18 hours.
Over breakfast we started to wonder about what we were going to do that day. It still hadn’t started raining so our two ‘rainy day’ ideas (the Picasso Museum in Málaga and the caves in Nerja) were starting to look like they could also be sunny day ideas. Especially as we didn’t actually have any other ideas … and then I thought that if we were going to be in Málaga that we should find out where to have lunch! So I texted both Dr A and Paloma (who are originally from Málaga) and they both recommended the same place. A beachside restaurant called Andrés Maricuchi. Dr A also said we had to try the conchas finas, served raw with salt, pepper & lemon. But first, we had to get to Málaga.
On the way we stopped off at Sotogrande because Paloma had told me that this once private housing estate was now open to the public and that it was very pretty. We mostly saw a lot of very posh houses … the poshest were the most concealed ones so we couldn’t get a look at them. The thing I liked best were these trees and I asked Susan to stop the car so I could get a shot of them…
And then we rolled into Málaga and promptly got lost … a recurring weekend theme. Hell, we even managed to get lost about five times in San Roque, even though we always ended up on calle Manzana. Go figure. Anyhow, the first plan of action was to check out the Picasso Museum but when we got there we found a massive queue and asked the woman on guard how long it would take to get in. She told us that it wasn’t usually like this but a huge busload of tourists had just shown up, so we decided to take a walk around town and come back to the museum after lunch.
During our stroll we found the giant octopus and also a beachside street market where a pair of birthday earrings were found for upcoming birthday girl Susan. And after that it was time to look for our lunch place so we headed out to the barrio Pedregalejo … and only got lost a little bit before finding Maricuchi on the beach. In the photo above you can see a typical wood barbeque in a sand-filled boat used to cook sardines in a way only found in Málaga, called espetos, which are fabulous. As luck would have it, we got a nice table right next to the boardwalk in front of the beach and ordered our lunch…
The conchas finas were divine, the espetos were crispily fabulous … but the urta was the star of the show. I’d had urta before (in Conil) and so I asked our waiter if he’d recommend it over the swordfish. And he suddenly started waxing lyrical about how amazing the urta was and how it was the best thing on the menu, with a fabulous garlic sauce, etc etc etc, and so of course we had to order it. And it was … oh hell, running out of adjectives here. Suffice it to say that it was the best thing I’ve eaten in a very very long time and it even made up for missing out on the best chipirones a la plancha in Bolonia.
After lunch we made our way back to the centre of town and the Picasso Museum and … well … meh. It was a bit of a let down. Very sparse and not as interesting or informative as the one I’d seen in Barcelona. Afterwards we had some coffee and cake at an outdoor café – trying to sober Susan up 😉 – and were very surprised to discover it was almost 8pm! And so it was time to go home. We arrived back in Sevilla around 10 o’clock and my flatmate Peter met me downstairs to help me carry all my M&S loot up the stairs … and I spent the next two hours talking a mile a minute about everything we’d seen and done.
I know I’ve only managed ‘tip of the iceberg’ stuff in these two posts about my wonderful mini road trip with Susan. There were so many laughs, lots of great sights and special moments … most of which fall under the category of “you had to be there”. But the important thing is that both me and Susan were there.
Thank you, Sis. I’m so happy to have all the memories we made.
~ Road Trip photos ~
casa azahar 
Sounds like you had fun. And that urta looks v tasty. Are those almonds sprinkled over the top – or is it garlic? Either would do me :drool:
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Don’t you do anything but having deliciously looking meals…
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That’s garlic on the urta and it was ALL extremely tasty. I want to frame those photos just like that – the three of them – and hang them on my wall.
It’s good to have photographic evidence of the restaurant name because I’m afraid that I called it “coochy mama” so many times that I forgot the real name of the place.
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I love road-trips, especially ones with no set plans!
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sounds like an adventure-filled trip! that tree looks scary. with one strong wind it looks like it could snap. very neat-looking though.
got a question…what kind of store is marshall and spencer? is that like a walmart?
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Marks & Spencer
There used to be one in Sevilla but then they closed all their European stores in 2002. The Gibraltar one is quite small and doesn’t have a huge selection of stuff, but I did manage to get socks and underwear (for both me and Nog) as well as some snacky food stuff you can’t find in Spain … and a comfy wool cardie for the winter. My last M&S black wool cardie bit the dust about three years ago.
Nog says those trees are bendy because of the salt, not the wind. I’ll have to get him to explain that.
And yes, that was tons of garlic on that urta. We had one fish between us, split in half. Heaven!
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It sounds like an all-round grand time. The food looks and sounds amazing. And that Pipocas sounds like a great friend!
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“We don’t need no steenkin’ plans”
What a fabulous excursion!
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I think those tilty trees are called “Umbrella Pines”
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I think the urta looks quite fabulous. What kind of fish is it? Well, other than obviously something that comes out of the ocean.
I’m so glad you had a wonderful time. So many times the laughs that we have with our friends when we are on the road together do tend to be of the “you had to be there” sort. I can remember many times travelling with Jim where we were in stitches about something, and yet later we could not remember what it was that was so darn funny. Just that it was, and we were having a wonderful time.
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All the places you visit are so picturesque. I keep trying to say quaint but that’s not really the right word. You make me want to go across the ocean and see them all. You have a talent for capturing the ambiance with your camera.
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I can’t even look at the photos because I am hungry and we have crap in the fridge at the moment.
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Not sure exactly how the salt thing works, but growth on the seaward side of the tree gets affected by it more than the landward side. If it was just the wind trees inland in places exposed to strong prevailing winds would look the same, but they don’t.
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oh, those sardines and the urta look mouth-wateringly delicious. Nothing beats an unexpectedly good dish in a newly discovered restaurant.
my stomach is seriously rumbling now 😉
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Oh we visited the Picasso museum in Malaga – that must’ve been the last time we were over with you! We loved the building itself, and the nice cafe in a little courtyard, but as you say – doesn’t tell you much about old Pablo himself.
And mmmmm, I can almost smell those espetos
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I don’t know how – or if – urta translates into English, hmh. I’ll try and find out.
Thanks for the lovely compliment, Beth. 🙂
I agree that the Picasso Museum building is fabulous, Linda … shame about the unimpressive collection.
Yes, that Pipocas is indeed a great friend, Alejna. Tomorrow is her birthday and I’ve been preparing special snacks and food all afternoon for the ‘ birthday lunch’.
I ran into Dr A and his wife when I was out for a walk this evening and he asked if I made it to Maricuchi and had the conchas finas. I told him to check out the photo evidence on my blog.
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Y’know, it occurs to me that you might look into travel writing for some from-home income sourcing. You have a knack with a camera, and a flair for place descriptions that truly is exceptional. Even if, with your current health challenges, you don’t travel a lot, you still dine out, and that’s a possible source of material for writing-for-pay. Just saying.
You have a definite Gift, az!
Hugs!
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Why thank you, SC. Pablo was telling me the same thing when he and Pipocas were over for lunch on Friday. I didn’t realise it (because he never leaves comments) but Pablo reads my blog every day and he said that he really enjoys my writing and also likes how I have the blog set up, how each post has a pic to go with it, etc.
I was really blown away by that, especially as I don’t think I write particularly well. Though I still do have hopes of turning the Sevilla Tapas blog into a money-making venture.
A travel blog is also an interesting idea. I started this one awhile ago but haven’t done much with it. Yet.
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