Travel Day - Fuengirola to Malaga

Check out time was 10 a.m. and the sky was dark, threatening to rain. Standing at the bus stop on the side of the highway with our luggage didn’t seem like a good idea considering the imminent rain, so we splurged on a taxi ride to the train station. It was only €10 more than what the bus fare would have been and a whole lot easier. The 45 minute train ride to Malaga went smoothly as we had done the trip before. Our biggest challenge of the day was to find our hotel. My data plan had expired so my cell phone was useless and we had no map so I was relying on the directions I had researched the night before. I asked a lady walking her dog for directions and soon learned she had sent us the opposite way. Recalculating....as my old GPS would always tell me. Once we found our way to the Centro part of town, we came across a protest march. Thinking this was political we were going to do our best to avoid it but then as we got closer we realized there were at least a hundred dogs and their owners calmly protesting against hunting and promoting vegetarianism! There was a lot of barking so I’m assuming the dogs were voicing their agreement. One more stop at the Tourist Information office that we were relieved to find and we reached our destination....Picasso Suites Malaga.

We are staying in a studio apartment that is across the street from the Picasso Museum. Each suite has been given the name of one of Picasso’s paintings and is furnished to reflect that piece of artwork. Ours is done in white and gold with a huge Picasso painting on one wall. We have a small balcony that overlooks the street. There is usually a busker below us so we get free entertainment! We’re in a great location in the midst of tapas bars, shops, museums and churches.

Now we feel like we are back in the authentic Spain. We hear the odd British accent and a few German ones but the majority are Spanish and very few speak English. Population of Malaga is 260,000, but 1.3 million in the metro area. Although it’s supposed to be the sunniest area of Spain, it rained quite heavily after we had enjoyed a great tapas lunch. We walked for awhile in the rain because it was the beginning of Carnival week and there were all kinds of groups dressed up in costumes. The group would randomly stop and perform, usually singing. It was cold and wet and I felt sad that the weather had interfered with their fun, although they were doing their best to ignore it.Read more