Malaga

The plaza where Picasso was born.

With a statue of Picasso.

The Roman Theater.

I love these purple trees.

On Saturday, I spent the day in Malaga. I woke up about 9:30 and had breakfast (cereal with fresh fruit - Juande and Pilar always have tons of delicious fresh fruit on hand).  I then got ready for the day, painted my toenails and waited for Juande to get back from getting his tire fixed (it had a puncture). 

In the Malaga streets.

The maid arrived about 10 a.m., and Pilar planned to spend the day cooking while the maid cleaned.  Though honestly, it's hard to imagine what there is to clean - it's so neat!

In Alcazaba.

Juande returned at 11:30 and drove me all around Malaga past the ports and the beaches and the old town.  He pointed out things like the chimneys from factories long ago destroyed (but they kept the tall brick chimneys as a remembrance of the fact that the town used to be a major industrial town).  Before the industry, they grew sugarcane in Malaga (this was a looong time ago), and then later, the primary industries were fabric and tobacco. 

Inside Alcazaba

After the driving tour, Juande parked in a parking deck in the center city.  (This was quite a feat as the spaces were unbelievably tiny, and apparently, no one knows how to park in them without hanging over into the space next to them).  In the end, I had to get out first, and he backed it in, but was then unable to get out of the car, so he pulled it forward again, put the car in neutral, got out, and pushed it into place.  He was able to lock it from the key fob, but was never able to put it in park.  (And when we got back to the car, he pushed it out of the spot from behind, then we got in). lol

We walked through the streets of Malaga as he pointed out different things.  There are many beautiful streets, several of which remind me of Milan in Italy.  We also saw the house where Picasso was born (from the outside, and the outside of the cathedral - it was closed for lunch).  I'd accidentally forgotten my memory card for my camera in my computer, so we stopped by an electronics shop so I could pick up another, smaller one to use for the day.  Juande insisted that he buy it for me, which was really above and beyond, but he would not let me pay.

The bull ring from Alcazaba.

We then saw the Roman theater, built in the first century B.C. and rediscovered by chance in 1951.  Underneath that are Phonecian ruins (they occupied the city in 770 B.C.).  From there, we walked through Alcazaba - an Arab fortress/palace built in the 11th century.  The structure was amazing (as is all the Arab architecture I've seen since I've been in southern Spain).  I guess I should have expected such things after watching shows like Aladdin as kid, but wow.  It's just so impressive.  Their carvings and attention to detail are amazing and, having come from the desert, they really liked water and there are fountains all over the place (which is also impressive because they didn't have electricity, yet they have running water everywhere).  The views over the city from the top of Alcazaba were also great.

View from top of the mountain in E. Malaga

Finally, we walked back to the car (through some pretty gardens) and then Juande drove me to the top of their area (they live in the east side of Malaga up in the hills).  From up there, I got even more beautiful views in every direction. 

At 2:30 we returned to the house and picked up Pilar and then drove to the beach where they'd made reservations at a restaurant right by the sea (Mar de Pedregalejo).  Our reservations were for 3 p.m., and I was about to eat my arm I was so hungry.  I don't know how these people eat breakfast at 7 or 8 or 9, and then don't eat again until 3!

Top of the mountain in E. Malaga.

Anyway, Juande did all the ordering and we just shared everything.  First, we had grilled prawns...basically, giant shrimp that still had their eyes and legs and shells, which you had to take off. After I got over that grossness, they were actually quite good.  Next were some sort of fried fish  and a cold red pepper salad that you ate together (the red pepper salad was cooked so the peppers were moist and floppy and not too strong).  I have no idea what kind of fish it was, but I ate it (and tried to ignore the fact that I'm pretty sure they fried them with part of the scales still on).  Next we were served tiny fried octopi.  I ate about 4 (after trying to cut the legs off, but they were so small it didn't work too well), then we were served giant fried octopi - some pieces were legs (suction cups and all) and other pieces looked like onion rings (they were the body).  I ate 3 or 4 of the body rings, but I'm really not a fan of eating things with the consistency of rubber bands.  Afterward, I had typical Andalusian ice cream (almond ice cream, they told me) and both Pilar and Juande let me try some off their desserts (an apple tart and 3 chocolate mousse cake).  Oh, and, the waiter had the restaurant make fresh-squeezed OJ just for me! (We'd asked if they had fresh, and they said no, only from a bottle, so I said I didn't want any...but then the waiter asked, and they decided to make it for me).  It was the best OJ I've ever had! (Probably because they grow oranges all over the place around here). 

my prawns

The whole meal was so interesting and so much fun - it was so nice of Pilar and Juande to treat me to such a special lunch.  Afterward, we were all tired, so we came back and took siestas.  I slept until 6:45, then went down to the pool.  I wanted to swim, but the sun wasn't hitting the water anymore and it was quite cold.  Instead, I lay on a lounge chair reading for about 30 minutes, then came back inside and watched Desperate Housewives on my computer while Pilar and Juande did work on their computers.

After a while, I watched this show on TV with them (and Lucia when she got home) which is kind of like American Idol, but for all of Europe and it's a search for both the best new song, and singer.  Every country votes after all 42 countries sing.  I think Sweden won.  Talking, in broken Spanglish with Lucia, I discovered that she recently started taking salsa classes.  We both busted out our shoes and danced in her room for a while (with me leading).  I wish we had time to go dancing together.  I promised that next time I was in town, we would.

the octopi

We all ate dinner (homemade gazpacho, fruit, ham and cheese) at 11:30 and didn't finish until after 12.  Unbelievable. 

Overall, a really nice day.  :)  I love this family - I wish I could speak Spanish better.