And that has been where my biggest disappointment came into play. I was so looking forward to spending a day in Tangier (Morocco) but it wasn’t offered by Rafael (our Travel Director). When we asked him why he scrapped it from the itinerary, he stated that he didn’t want us to get stranded like what happened to the other tour group. He explained that a couple of weeks ago, the other tour group wasted a day because the ferry that was supposed to take them across to Tangier was canceled due to lack of passengers, it being no longer peak season.
It was such a huge disappointment, indeed, but there was so much else to see, do and experience that this disappointment faded into insignificant. And so, with that mindset, and since I didn’t want to ruin the remainder of the tour by being unhappy, I promised myself that I would continue to enjoy the rest of the tour. And that’s exactly what I did.
There being no wake-up call that morning, I woke up at 9:30am, had a leisurely breakfast, and then hit the promenade by indulging in my favorite pastime: shopping!
As a backgrounder, Torremolinos was the first resort to be developed on the Costa del Sol. Until the 1950s it was a small village, continuously inhabited for 150,000 years by different civilizations that left odd structures behind them but of little importance to outsiders. In 1498 it served as the base for the Christian Kings who were trying to retake Malaga from the Moors. Thereafter, it languished in obscurity until the advent of the package tour, which brought waves of northern European tourists in the late 1950s.
The peaceful agricultural, fishing and flour producing Andalucian village of 3,000 inhabitants has now grown into a maze of hotels and shopping arcades in which the original fresh fish bars sit incongruously. The people are drawn by the wide sandy beaches, longer and cleaner than in most parts of the coast, and the balmy climate, which offers over 320 days of sunshine a year and an average annual temperature of 22ºC.
Anyhow, back to the event for the day, Rafael offered an optional tour to Malaga, in lieu of Morocco, for which I signed up. And so we left at 2:30pm for a guided tour of the birthplace of the acclaimed painter and sculptor, Pablo Picasso, and actor Antonio Banderas.
A bustling coastal city and the capital of Costa del Sol, Málaga is the second largest port in Spain. It boasts miles of beautiful beaches, picturesque gardens and fantastic weather. Known as the capital of tourism in Spain, Malaga boasts an exceptional weather all year round and offers a variety of tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol.
One of the main attractions of Malaga includes the Castillo de Gibralfaro, an old Muslim castle, which sits on a ridge that features a fantastic view of the city and bay below, and which was our first stop.
We then proceeded to Picasso’s Birthplace House, situated at the Plaza de la Merced and is surrounded by the rest of Malaga’s historic attractions. The house was reopened officially in 1998 to represent the work of Picasso and the memory of his existence. There is an extensive selection of Picasso’s work and information about his life and family. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside the House.
We were then given some free time to wander around the plaza to take some snapshots.
Continuing with our walking tour, we stopped at El Pimpi, the 2nd oldest bar in Malaga, for a glass of sherry, one of the specialties of the Andalucian city of Jerez.
We then stopped to have a look at the oldest amphitheatre in Spain ~
Along the way, one can see lots of jacaranda trees that abound in the area….
… and even a picture of Jesus with the face of Antonio Banderas ~
We then paused to look at the facade of the Cathedral of Malaga, which is one of the most prominent buildings in the city. Built on the place of a mosque, construction of the church had been interrupted various times and finally stopped in 1783 due to lack of funds.
As you can see from the photos below, the southern tower is still not completed, compared to the northern one.
Thereafter, we boarded our coach back to the hotel. We were on our own that evening, so I went out for dinner with the couple from the Philippines, Quito and Malou. We just loved our seafood dinner the night before that we went back to Casa Florido to try their paella. It was sinfully delicious that we ate more than we should! We then walked along the boardwalk back to the hotel by enjoying, once again, the beautiful warm weather of Costa del Sol.
To Be Continued....
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