I was so surprised...we walked a very long way up a winding, slippery-rock-paved road, in the very hot Malaga sun...to look at walls and trees and puppets...
Yeah, well, that one was due to our excitement at seeing the "castle" down there...But I'll get to that shortly.
After a very late start in Tarifa, Russ and I were off for Malaga--a city I wasn't terribly excited for, but still: Mediterranean views and old, Moorish architecture.
Well, we kind of hit the ground running in Malaga, walking off for the Alcazaba (fortress) and Castillo (castle) after lunch. (Which, by the way, is getting on track with the Spanish schedule, with lunch at about 2 or 3 pm). Though at first we were under the impression that these sites were closed on Mondays, so we were actually on our way to the Roman Ampitheatre (which we actually never found). On the way, we stopped for some pretty souvenirs, and came across the entrance to the Alcazaba, found it open, and bought our tickets.
The Alcazaba itself was mostly gardens and winding stone pathways and small plazas, surrounded by tall, stone-and-brick walls. It was pretty cool, especially with the Moorish details, but it was also very hilly and filled with stone staircases. Very tiring, especially under that hot Malagan sun. We were sweating (and slightly panting, on my part--I am definitely not the soldier haha).
After we wandered through the Alcazaba, looking for the walkway that would lead to the Castillo (which we finally, after a lot of stair-climbing, found out were not connected for tourists), we stopped back at the hotel. The light, breezy t-shirt and short skirt I had on were not cutting it and I was in desperate need of free underarms so as not to completely die of heat exhaustion. Plus, skirts are not conducive to long walks with some uphill battles.
And they were certainly uphill battles. I really mean that. Haha The road leading to the Castillo, which sits atop a tall hill overlooking the ocean and the city, is long, winding, and extremely steep. Russ joked about wishing we'd had segways for the walk up, but I honestly don't think those things could make it up those hills. We'd have to lean onto the ground to go forward. Haha we had to stop several times so my heart didn't burst of of my chest and beat me with its tired, angry arms, and we were both drenched in sweat by the time we mde it to the top. My legs were ready to collapse.
"This castle better be worth it," we both chanted. And what did we find, you ask? More stone walls surrounding sparse trees and bushes, around tiny stone buildings with no access to the inside...Oh, and the information center, which showed us the various items and military uniforms for the first several centuries of the castle's existence (it was built in the 14th century!). It was cool to see...however only if it had been at the bottom of the hill...the only thing the castle really could have boasted, in my opinion, would be the views. I'm sure they were beautiful, but Russell and I were not climbing another ten feet of stairs up the walls...I would've collapsed.
And then we had the walk back down the steep, slippery rocks. By the time we made it back to the city, we were starving and decided to try a BBQ restaurant, which really just means grilling the meat in Spain, not being drenched in BBQ sauce. Haha Basically, we ate a lot of meat (pork and duck) and drank a pitcher each of sangria and tinto de verano (which is just red wine with carbonated soda mixed in).
Unfortunately, we woke up feeling a little sick to our stomachs this morning, so, though we'd planned on going down to the beach, we headed straight for Granada, which thankfully was an easy drive--not too many crazy roads/drivers. After buying tickets for the Alhambra for tomorrow and very slightly attempting the cathedral, we returned to the safety and comfort of our hotel to recover a bit.
Now Russ is saying he's feeling better, so we'll see if we can tackle at least the cathedral tonight before dinner. If not, we still have tomorrow! Hopefully we'll be feeling better by then, because I've dreamed of going to the Alhambra for years. So, anyway, hasty mañana, compadres! Que tengan in buen dia! Besos!
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