Day & night pics of Calle Larios … taken on my  iPhone to twitter.

Fotki albums: Málaga Winter, Málaga Christmas, Málaga Tapitas

After a rather shaky & stressful start, my 4-day long weekend couldn’t have been better. Well okay, we could have passed on bussing out to Marbella on Saturday to go to the new M&S there – that was a real waste of time and money. The M&S was tiny with a very uninteresting selection of products. They didn’t even have any decent Christmas cards for me to use next year! But they did have mince pies (bought two packets) and amazing blueberry muffins (Jessica got some for brekky). And I also got some lovely Belgian chocolates – I left one box as a thank-you gift in Manolo’s kitchen, the other I’ll give to “mi salvadora” Isabel. But I’m getting ahead of myself …

It was so wonderful returning to “my second home” with Nog on Friday night (Jessica had missed the train by about two minutes but bought another ticket for the next morning). We got there just after 11pm and went out for a snack. Okay, a couple of snacks. Then it was back home … it really did feel like “going home”. Dangerous stuff.

On Saturday morning we were still having coffee when Jessica arrived. After a stroll through town we stopped for a cold beer in the Plaza de las Flores. Yes, sitting outside in the sun in December! Then it was time for lunch. We chose a place that Nog & I had eaten at twice last summer called Strachan. And while it was still good it wasn’t FABULOUS like it had been in August. I think because it was heaving with holiday tourists. After that it was off to Marbella. Less said about that the better … got back to Málaga around 9pm and Jessica decided to go back to the apartment because she was getting a bit feverish from a cold that had hit a couple of days previously. So Nog & I went off in search of Christmas lights. And oh! What a display! They really do it right there. BUT … we were getting hungry again and it ended up being totally impossible to get into any tapas bar or restaurant that appealed to us. So after a couple of frustrating hours (though I was happily snapping photos) we made our way back to our “barrio” and had a snack at the Argentinian that’s just around the corner from the apartment. It’s actually a very good restaurant – we had a great “last lunch” there in August.

On Sunday we decided to have our one big “splash out” lunch … at Vino Mio. Another place Nog & I had visited twice last August. Damn but it’s good, and the service couldn’t be better. But first we checked out the Christmas market, which was mostly crap, though Jessica found an extremely cute hat , which made it all worthwhile.  After the market we wandered around the centre of town for awhile before heading off for lunch … after which we were all so very satisfied that all we wanted to do was go home and put our feet up. And so we did. I’d brought some DVDs with me, but the series we wanted to watch wouldn’t play on Manolo’s machine … then we discovered a stash of old Remington Steele DVDs in a drawer! Bonus! And so we spent the evening hanging out, drinking wine, and eating M&S snacks along with some nice grilled ham & cheese sandwiches I made … and oh, there was also that bit about watching the sun set behind the mountains with the port in view … while sitting on the sofa! Talk about heaven.

Suddenly it was Monday and we had just one more full day left to enjoy. A foodie-writer-bloggy guy from London had recommended a place I hadn’t heard of before to try out, and so that was what we did. And oh man! Great seafood and so cheap! We stuffed ourselves silly for about 10 euros a person. And also tried the Málaga wine from this family’s vineyard … um, ick. After that we decided to get down to the beach as we really hadn’t seen the sea yet (other than from the apartment balcony). We walked for almost an hour over to the Balnearos del Carmen and enjoyed a cold beer on the terrace, in the sun with a fabulous view of the sea … in December!!! During the walk there I told Jessica she was about to experience “CatVille”, and suddenly there they were. About a gazillion cats living in a rocky area  of the beach near the old baths. And yes, I took lots of cat pics. After relaxing by the sea for awhile we made our way back to the centre of town because Jessica still hadn’t seen the Christmas lights at night.  Then a snackatito (the amazing bulltail burger tapa at La Moraga) and a stroll home by the gardens, where I got to take pics of my favourite lights of all – the dancing musical notes. I don’t know why but those just made me feel so happy.  Well those, and this one.

On Tuesday we had to tidy the apartment and pack up our stuff before going out, so we weren’t sure if we’d have time to visit the Alcazaba, but this was Nog’s special treat. He really wanted to go. At first Jessica and I told him to wander over by himself while we did the cleaning and packing, but in the end we got everything done in time so we could all go. And it was nice. Afterwards we went for our final lunch in Málaga – another “new” place called Dos Gatos. And … wow. We had a great time, the waiters were so friendly and nice, and the food was amazing. Then it was time to go and pick up our bags and head to the train station …

I have to say that this was one of my favourite holidays. I mean … it was Christmas! And the fulfillment of a wish I’d made last August – to get back to Málaga to see the Christmas lights. And having Jessica along made it even more special. Turns out the three of us are quite good travelling companions as we like doing the same things (walking and eating) and aren’t interested in the usual touristy stuff. And okay, even though my credit card took a beating and Nog is going to be skint until January, it was sooo worth it. It was our Christmas present to each other and  I’m still glowing! 🙂

~ Málaga Winter, Málaga Christmas, Málaga Tapitas ~