Day 2- Malaga

Thursday, January 02, 2020
Málaga, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands
After a bit of a sleepless night, mom and I slept in till 10:30 (!!) and quickly got a move on our day. On our way to the tourist office we searched for a cafe to have breakfast. After finding many packed as well as obviously tourist ones, we stumbled upon the inside of a very popular place, Cafe Central. With no menus, we ordered the only food we saw- churros - along with a coffee and a hot (very) chocolate. The cafe was famous not only for their coffee/churros, but their coffee guide depicted on tiles on the back wall. The barista fills the cup a certain portion- roughly 12 options for a tiny cup. Each option has a name to order by, and the server fills the rest of the cup with hot milk when delivered to the table. Apparently the coffee was better than average, but not amazing, however the hot chocolate was insane. It was truly melted chocolate, so creamy. It went very well as a churro dip :)
We then made the walk to the tourist office. It was quite packed, but we were able to get a map and advice for the trains. Next, we headed to the Marché Central Atarazanas, an old port market from when the sea reached the now-inner city. Although some shops were closed, many fresh produce and fish shops were open. We drooled over the cheap produce and indulged in some shrimp & Iberian ham shishkebabs, complete with a spinach smoothie :) very yummy!
From here we walked to the cathedral to see the entire building. We ended up directly behind the Kansas City family from the plane! We chatted for a bit in line, then went our separate ways to admire the cathedral. It was very different from many cathedrals I had seen in Europe. The choral section was totally walled off, located in the exact center of the church. They currently have a small portion of chairs between the choral section and the alter for worshippers to sit during Mass, but everything else has been removed. I’m very unsure how they ever hosted a service for more than 100 people. Strange for a cathedral I think. The statues were also interesting. The majority were created by a Malagan artist and they were very expressive. The choir section itself was surrounded by very impressive statues carved into the cedar walls. Really interesting. 
We then headed for the bus for the Castillo de Gibralfaro, an old fortress from an old century. Very glad a bus went there, it was high up. We climbed to the top of the fortress to begin, giving us amazing views of the city and the sea. We walked down on the tops of the walls, amazing views continuing. The sun was uninhibited here, it was so nice. We enjoyed exploring the area for a while, then hopped back on the bus to go back to the city center. Back in town, we checked out some Roman ruins we came across last night- much better in the daylight. It was an old Roman amphitheater, only discovered 60 years ago! It was very interesting to walk along the historical site, on stage and all (on protected boardwalks of course). 
By this time we were very hungry. We found a table at nearby Pimpo- an old mansion converted restaurant through which we walked last night. It was so jammed last night I was surprised we found a seat. Luckily this outdoor table was near the heaters and the server was very nice to seat us without waiting in line. We got a tortilla- Spanish tortilla (like an omelette)- along with baked cod and clams. The clams were like the ones you find on the shore, very small, yet still very good! The tortilla was great, it reminded me of the nice tortilla dinner Carmen made in Berlin :) oh and we had red wine and a mimosa of course!
After dinner we took a stroll around to see what we could see and stumbled into a Mass. This church was in incredible shape- much better than the cathedral! It was also home to many of the statues parades through the city during Holy Week. Really incredible! 
After the quick Mass we walked back home, stopping by a restaurant for a quick crème brûlée and cannoli. Both were super yummy and set us up well for a good night’s sleep. On the way back to the apartment we noticed that the nearby church was open, so we took a look inside. Turns out (we think) it’s not a church, it stores much of the equipment for the Holy Week parade. It also housed an impressive nativity scene, the real reason for its opening. After being thoroughly doused in incense, it was time to head to the apartment and watch some crazy ice skating on television :)

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2025-02-08

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