05 Friday Oct 2012
Posted in friday foto finder, Malaga, photos
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This week’s Friday Foto Finder challenge is “path”.
Málaga Park is a long stretch of paths and gardens that runs alongside the port in Málaga. I love how you can feel like you’ve just stepped out of the city, even though there are main roads on either side.
Check out what other Friday Foto Finders are posting over here!
20 Thursday Sep 2012
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The original plan had been to stay in Málaga two nights and return on Thursday. But then I found out that long time Twitter friends Fred @fredshively and Arpi @Andalucinda were actually going to be moving to town that day, so I made arrangements to stay one more night in order to finally meet them in person. But Peter still had to get back to teach a class and then take out a tapas tour, so we spent his last morning here going out to the Automotive Museum. Seriously. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I’m not exactly an old car buff, but it had come highly recommended by several people so off we went. And what fun it was! I especially liked the hat collection. After that we picked up his bag at the apartment and went out for a last drink together before he caught the train back to Sevilla.
By then it was lunchtime and I wasn’t sure what to do as I don’t especially enjoy eating on my own, and I wasn’t sure where to go. So I took a wander around the centre and, after spotting a couple of likely candidates, I finally settled on one called Souvi Tapería because it just had a nice feel to it. And what a good choice that turned out to be. The food was amazing (that tapa in the collage is warm potato & truffle coulante filled with foie, served with boletus icecream) and it turned out that my waiter was not only from Sevilla but also from my barrio! When he found out about my tapas blog he said he’d introduce me to the chef & owner. I also ended up meeting the chef’s mother who was sitting at the bar and we had a great chat about Málaga, and swapped contact info. So it wasn’t a lonley lunch after all.
Then I came home to catch up on emails and do a bit of work and before long it was time to meet up with Fred and Arpi (Arpi is a writer and Fred takes fabulous photos). I really appreciated them coming out at all after spending the whole day moving here from the Alpujarras. And I really really appreciated that, when our first restaurant choice turned out to be a dud, Arpi let us drag her down the street to a cool little tapas bar “for one more” as that ended up being another delightful “discovery” for me. Anyhow, it was great meeting them after knowing them on Twitter for so long, and now I have two more lovely reasons to visit Málaga.
So it ended up being quite a wonderful Thursday. How was yours?
19 Wednesday Sep 2012
Posted in 20th anniversary, Malaga, tapas, travel, trips
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Walking back from lunch this afternoon I saw this…
Been having a great time in Málaga, but it suddenly seems too short, that there is too much I want to see and do in too little time. I am already thinking of another time I might be able to come back for a whole week and spend at least some of that time doing nothing at all. It would be great to just spend a couple of days hanging out in the apartment, walking on the beach, and making snacky meals at home. But I am very happy and grateful for these few days this week. If you want to see what I’ve been up to there are photo tweets up on both @azaharSevilla and @SevillaTapas.
What have you guys been up to?
17 Monday Sep 2012
Posted in 20th anniversary, cats, Malaga, travel, trips
Tomorrow Peter and I are heading off to Málaga for a few days. Well, Peter will come back on Thursday to do a tapas tour and I’ll stay on until Friday because I want to meet up with some Twitter friends who won’t be in town until Thursday. As usual we’ll be staying at Manolo’s fabulous apartment. You may remember that I postponed my Málaga trip in August because I couldn’t leave Azar, even with Peter staying at home with him. Now we can go together (next door neighbour Colm will be checking in on the young’uns) and it will be the first time in 17 years that I’ve ever gone anywhere without fretting about Azar. Even when he was young and in good health he was always so hard to leave, even just overnight, because I knew how much it upset him. It’s going to feel strange and sad, not fretting.
Anyhow, since everything is still so painful here, and this week is the only time until mid-October that I’ve got three free days in a row, I thought I should take the opportunity to get away. There are a couple of museums in Málaga I still haven’t visited as well as lots of places to revisit. The renovated wharf area should now be fully opened up and of course I will be dipping my toes in the Mediterranean.
But the first thing (a new “tradition” we started last visit), after unpacking and settling in, will be to go up to the Gibralfaro Parador Hotel and have a drink on their terraza while taking in the fabulous view (see pic). And then just enjoy a couple of days in my second favourite Spanish city. Well, as long as there isn’t another train strike, like today’s…
08 Sunday Jan 2012
Yesterday morning I went through my Málaga pics and had a lovely time reliving those memories. Peter and I left very early on Monday morning and arrived in Málaga with the whole day ahead of us. After setting up the apartment (we bring our own sheets, towels, kitchen stuff, etc) we went out to explore the city. First thing on the agenda was something I had never done during previous trips to Málaga – a trip up to the Parador Gibralfaro to enjoy a drink on their “balcony of Málaga” terrace, which turned out to be a perfect start to our mini-break. Afterwards we walked down the mountain (we’d taken a taxi up) and after a stroll around town had a fab lunch outdoors at La Cosmopolita. Later we checked out the new port area that was finally open to the public and went back to the apartment to rest up … we had dinner plans with food blogger Sarah and her husband at La Moraga, which ended up being a lovely evening.
Next morning we went to the Picasso Museum and saw both the permanent exhibition and the Alberto Giocometti retrospective and then headed off to the Atarazanas Market. After that – another first. We stopped in at the oldest bar in Málaga, Antigua Casa de Guardia, for a glass of sherry. It’s a rather bizarre place, full of both locals and tourists sampling sherries from the various stacked casks along with steamed mussels and grilled prawns. We just had a quick drink and headed out to find a place for lunch. After trying a fish joint and getting burnt rosada (sent back – cheque please!) we went to one of our favourites, Dos Gatos, and got some perfectly grilled rosada along with some terrific presa. Then another walk before heading home. Later that evening, after watching a spectacular sunset from the balcony (last photo in the slide show) we went to check out the Christmas lights, which is something Málaga does big time. Then home again for a light snack and a dvd before hitting the hay.
Third and last day in town we took a walk along the port before checking out the Eugenio Chicano exhibit at the Municipal Museum. Then there was just time for a stroll around the centre and a final lunch at La Reserva del Pastor before collecting our stuff from the apartment and catching the train home.
One of the best birthday presents ever. Thanks Peter!
(if you refresh the page you’ll see the pics more or less in chronological order)
casa azahar 