The Life & Adventures of a Military Wife: Girls Trip to Malaga, Spain

May 30, 2014
Day 1: My friends Sabrina, Amber and I planned a trip to Spain as a be-lated Mother's Day gift from our loving husbands. We used www.airbnb.com for our accommodations and RyanAir for our flight. The day of our flight, we drove to Allgäu Airport in Memmingen, Germany. It was a three hour drive but with our excitement about the trip, it felt like it took no time at all. After we got checked in, had a cup of coffee and then boarded our plane on RyanAir, we relaxed for the three hour flight. Amber got a great picture of our first view of Málaga, Spain.

Let's start with a little lesson about Málaga. Màlaga is a city and a municipality, capital of the Province of Màlaga, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. It is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. The southernmost large city in Europe, it lies on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) of the Mediterranean, about 62.14 miles (100 km) east of the Strait of Gibraltar and about 80.78 miles (130 km) north of Africa.

Màlaga was founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC, on the lower slopes of the Mount of Alcazaba. Romans came at the end of the 3rd century BC. In 711 AD, it fell into the hands of the Arabs and became a part of the Cordoba Emirate. From the 10th century AD, it became prominent again among the Southern peninsula towns as a harbor of the Moorish kingdom of Granada. The Catholic Monarchs conquered Màlaga in 1487.

Now back to fun stuff! It was our first time in Spain and our first time using Airbnb so we weren't sure what to expect. We opted to spend the extra 15 euro for Elizabeth & Fali (our hosts) to pick us up from the airport. It was so worth it, although there are plenty of taxi's at the entrance of the airport, it was a much more personal experience to meet them right away. When we got to the house, Fali showed us the whole house, our room, and then took us out for Tapas at Dospor1 with one of our amazing co-house guests, Leon. It was the perfect start to the best vacation we have ever had. The house was clean and comfortable and looked exactly like the pictures showed. It was also centrally located to every single sight we wanted to see. Everything was within a 10 minute walk.

Our hosts Elizabeth & Fali.

Our lovely Fali & Elizabeth, our Airbnb hosts.

How cute are they?

Our first Airbnb experience. The rooms were clean and inviting!

It felt like home right away.

The cute patio under our bedroom window.

Our living room.

It was nice to have wifi available too!

The patio on the roof!

Fali took us on a tour of the city and walked us through city center, the Plaza de Merced, and Marques de Larios (the main shopping area).

Fali then took Sabrina, Amber, Leon, and me to a great little Tapas restaurant. We ate until we were full and us three ladies enjoyed three whole bottles of white wine for just 42 euro!

Leon & Fali.

Sabrina enjoying the wine.

The ladies at Dospor1!

Unbelievable food!

My favorite was the eggplant with honey drizzle...and the wine of course!

After we walked back to our place, we checked our email and re-energized for a couple hours. When we were ready for dinner, we walked back to city center and thought we were purchasing a slice of pizza for 2 euro but it was actually individual pizzas! Gotta love cheap but good Spanish food!

The Teatro Cervantes in city center at night.

June 1, 2014
Day 2: When we woke up and got ready for the day, we thought we would stop in the Plaza Merced and get coffee. We stopped at a little Irish Bar since they seemed the most ready for service. We just drank coffee and enjoyed a little conversation...hours later we realized we had been there all afternoon and we broke down and got Sangria. It was absolutely delicious and our waitress even brought us Spanish olives. The best I've had yet!

The freshest orange juice we ever had!

Oh those olives!

While we were eating breakfast, we noticed a procession of people dressed in traditional Spanish clothing, to include beautiful Spanish ladies in Flamenco type dresses. A gentleman told us that is was the El Rocío pilgrimage.

The El Rocío pilgrimage is the most famous in the region, attracting nearly a million people from across Andalucia and the entire country, and beyond. Every Andalucian city, town and village has its own pilgrimages, for its patron saint, virgin or other much-loved local figure. The El Rocio or the pilgrimage of the Virgen del Rocio (Virgin of the Dew), is the most important and most colorful.

This pilgrimage dates back to the 13th century, when a hunter from the village of Villamanrique (or Almonte, depending on which version of the story you follow) discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary in a tree trunk in the Doñana park. A chapel was built where the tree stood, and it became a place of pilgrimage. Devotion to this particular version of the Virgin was initially a local affair. Then, by the 17th century, hermandades (brotherhoods) were making the trip from nearby towns at Pentecost; by the 19th century, they came from all over Huelva, Cadiz and Seville, on a journey taking up to four days. Over the next century, the pilgrimage of the Virgin del Rocio became more and more widespread, and these days participants come from as far away as Barcelona, the Canary Islands, and all over the world. It was very cool to be witness to.

After our terribly long breakfast, we decided to go see Pablo Picasso's birth home and some famous Spanish artists work. Of course we had to say hello to Pablo too!

The birth place of Pablo Picasso.

Sabrina and her Pablo!

Whispering sweet nothings into Pablo's ear.

Amber kissing her Pablo!

I wasn't really impressed by either the Spanish Artists exhibit or Pablo's birth place but I'm glad we did it. After that exploration, we walked around the Plaza Merced and admired the Torrijos Obelisk and the beautiful trees.

The Torrijos Obelisk.

We thought we would go check out Gibralfaro Castle, the Roman Theatre, and Alcazaba Fortress next. We walked so leisurely and it was all at such a nice casual pace, we didn't realize we actually did as much as we did that day! The theatre was impressive and it was pretty neat to walk through so much history. Alcazaba was so beautiful and I guess I thought a Moorish Fort might be a little boring but absolutely not. I think we could have spent even longer there but we just went with the natural flow of things.

At the base of Alcazaba is the Roman Theatre. It was built during the first years of reign of Augustus (1st century AD). It was kept in use until the end of the 3rd Century. This roman monument is situated at the bottom of wall that surrounds the Alcazaba and its origins date back to the 1st century BC. The theatre was ordered to be built by the emperor Caesar Augustus in Málaga and was used till the 3rd century. The representations that were carried out in the theatre were of religious origin and promoted generally by the rich personalities of the city. The Málaga theatre also has an inscription dedicated to the founders or reformers.

The theatre was abandoned by the subsequent civilizations and ended up hidden underground until it was discovered in 1951. They were building gardens for the house of culture when the ruins were discovered. Subsequently, the house of culture was demolished to be able to continue with the archaeological excavations.

During the Arab reign in Málaga, they used material of the roman theatre for the construction of the Alcazaba. They also found an underground space used as a storage room related with the roman factory, this storage room was built during the 4th and 5th century and for its construction they had also used materials from the theatre. Little by little the theatre was gradually dismantled over the centuries, although luckily a great part of it survives today.

When we were all done with that adventure we slowly made our way back towards our place. On our way we found our perfect sign.

Sabrina getting sassy with the woman taking the picture. :)

Our favorite sign in Spain!

We ended our day with a great dinner in the Plaza Merced. We went home from there and meant to go out later that night but ended up talking for 5 full hours and by the time we remembered we were going to go out, it was time for bed! :) I loved traveling with these ladies. They made me laugh the whole vacation!

Expensive but delicious dinner. Their desserts were unbelievable!

Our waiter brought us after dinner shots to end our meal. So sweet.

The view of Alcazaba at night!

June 2, 2014
Day 3: We once again headed to Plaza Merced for breakfast. We found a great little place right next to the Irish Bar that had a coffee, orange juice, and a sandwich for only 2.50 euro. Glorious cheap food!

After breakfast we thought we would do a little shopping for our kids and our husbands so we headed towards Marques de Larios or the main shopping area. On our way however we got distracted by The Cathedral de Malaga and it's beautiful garden. We stopped and took some pictures of a lovely Spanish painter.

The Cathedral's bell tower.

My first look at a real black olive tree!

The Cathedral de Malaga garden.

Sabrina photo bombing Amber's picture of the pretty Spanish painter.

This was what she was painting.

The alley ways are amazing!

A back door at the Cathedral.

We spotted horse drawn carriages and Amber suggested we take one. We were all super excited about that idea!

Sabrina's first horse drawn carriage ride!

By way of the carriage, we were able to see all the rest of the city that we hadn't yet done by foot. We got to go see beautiful Spanish architecture, the Three Graces Fountain, the House of Parliament, the Bank of Spain, Malagueta Beach, the lighthouse at Puerto de Malaga, the Bull Ring, Botanical Gardens and the Paseo del Parque!

That Spanish architecture...

Looking up towards Alcazaba.

The Three Graces Fountain.

Malaga's House of Parliament.

I love the colors!

Just look at those statues!

The Bank of Spain.

Malagueta Beach.

The lighthouse.

The city!

Heading to Plaza de los Toros.

The Bull Ring!

Plaza de Toros de la Malgueta is the bull fighting ring. It is crowded by tall, modern buildings, yet close to the sea. The Bull ring "La Malagueta" was built between 1874 and 1876 by Joaquin Rucoba. The building is in the shape of a hexadecagon (16 sides) and is 170 ft 7 1/4 inches (52 meters) in diameter. It can host 14,000 people.

Jardin Botanico de La Concepcion, or the Botanical Gardens.

Paseo del Parque.

The park that the Paseo takes us along, called Concepcion Botanical Gardens, was conceived as a botanical garden, and created in 1897, from land that had recently been reclaimed from the sea.

The garden of the Conception was, back in the day, a meeting centre of illustrious personalities, around the 19th century it gathered politicians, artists and the nobility of Málaga who frequented and enjoyed this garden.

Sabrina checking out the gardens.

The amphitheater.

When we got off the ride, the horse got a little fresh with Sabrina and when that didn't work out he went after Amber and then me. He got a little nibbley...

After our ride, we were walking back mass was just letting out at the Cathedral so we decided to go inside and check it out. It was unbelievable. The ceilings were more impressive than the floors and it was decadent in all it's detail.

Cathedral de Malaga.

The Doorway of Chains is the main entrance for visitors and is named after the chains that close off the Courtyard of the Orange Trees. The Doorway of the Sun is more ornate and faces the south side of the Cathedral, so naturally it gets more sun.

Cathedral Basílica de la Virgen de la Encarnación in Málaga, Spain - also known as "La Manquita" (the one armed lady). It got this name because the southern tower never got built. The cathedral, built from the 16th century on. It was built on the remains of a mosque from the Moorish period.

The interior has influences of the Renaissance and baroque styles. The notable 17th century choir stalls of mahogany and cedar wood were designed by Luis Ortiz. After his death the 40 finely carved statues of the saints behind each stall were completed by Pedro de Mena, one of Spain's most celebrated wood-carvers of the time, who spent some years in Málaga. Some of the chapels leading off the aisles also contain works by Pedro de Mena and his tutor, Alonso Cano.

The Cathedral's organ. There are two on either side.

Saint John

Saint Mary Magdalene

Chapel of St. Sebastian

Chapel of St. Raphael

Chapel of the Incarnation

Chapel of St. Barbara

Chapel of St. Francis

Chapel of the Sacred Heart

Beheading of St. Paul, Enrique Simonet, 1887

The Tomb of Archbishop Luis de Torres 1553

After the Cathedral we started heading back to the house. On our way we stopped by a little area where the Palacio Episcopal was located and saw a beautiful fountain. Of course we had to take tons of pictures since it was all so ornate!

The beautiful fountain.

The Palacio Episcopal.

We tended to get distracted a lot but since there was no time frame or agenda, we just went with it! It made for such an amazing adventure!

I just liked the name of the place!

Our sassy Sabrina!

Back towards Alcazaba to see a guy with "man sandals" on.

The very cool and trendy El Pimpi Restaurant.

We even got an impromptu Spanish dance group in the Plaza Merced on our way home!

When we arrived back at the house, Fali & Elizabeth had left a note saying we could all meet there and have another Tapas night with the other house guests. It was the perfect end to another perfect day. We met people from Switzerland, Netherlands, Latvia, Germany, Turkey, and of course our Spanish hosts! The whole Tapas meal and drinks only cost us 5 euro a piece! I can't say enough what an amazing experience this was and how I am just not sure how any other vacation can top it!