Málaga: Our New Retirement Plan
Who loves sunshine?! Same. Unfortunately, the Netherlands keeps the sun in hiding most of the year. It’s rough. Especially for this spoiled, West Coast baby. Winter felt like it would never end, but I can’t blame it all on the grey, rainy skies. It didn’t help that Luke was submerged in a hardcore busy season, while I was working on building my client base at the gym, either teaching classes or training early mornings and late evenings. So we didn’t see each other much January through February. We needed alone time and the sun on our pasty faces. Thank God for Málaga, Spain, a gorgeous, laid-back town off the Costa del Sol..
We ditched the foggy gloom on a Wednesday evening and flew south, not knowing at the time just how special this place would become. Our flight was delayed, so the already late arrival time was now even later. Thankfully, the angel of a Hertz representative stayed open until 1AM to ensure we were able to retrieve our rental car. The 2nd Málaga angel, our Airbnb host (who quite fittingly is named Jesus), waited for us in a parking space so we wouldn’t have any issues, then greeted us with hugs.
Day 1:
View from the Airbnb!
Our Airbnb was just north of the city center of Málaga, near “Playas Del Palo“. We walked down to the beach for our first course of action: order all the sangria and tapas. It’s never too early, right? Also, let’s be real, we slept through “early”. This mission was quickly accomplished due to the plethora of bars and restaurants along the coastline. Confirmation this was exactly the location we were hoping for.
It was a quick drive to the center, with plenty of parking in the shopping mall garage. We walked to El Pimpi for dinner, which was known for its various themed rooms, excellent seafood dishes and, more importantly, Antonio Banderas sightings. Even though Antonio was nowhere to be found, this was a great way to start the holiday.
Day 2:
I quickly researched a breakfast joint to start our road trip to Gibraltar, which led us down the street to the “best breakfast” in the area….We arrived at a hole in the wall bar, pumping out breakfast sandwiches and espresso to locals. Luke will never let me live this down, but honestly it was awesome. We sat at the bar, ordered 2 euro sandwiches and chatted up an old, Spanish man taking “morning” shots with the bartender. In my opinion, I won the day with this little gem. It’s unnecessary to ask Luke for his opinion.
Marbella
We bid adieu to our new friend and sped off in our rental car down the Costa del Sol. On the way, we stopped in Marbella, a colorful flower-lined, coastal town about halfway to our destination. If you plan on visiting Marbella, don’t be surprised if you hear Dutch echoing through the whitewashed cobble-stoned streets. The only reason we knew to visit was because many of my Dutch clients vacation there with their families. This is a popular destination for resort-seekers, golfers, and yacht owners. It’s marvelously chic and filled with upscale boutiques and tapas bars. We loved it; it was adorable (especially the old quarter). But Málaga was much less touristy, just as adorable, and, come on, we all know where to find the best breakfast.
Gibraltar
If monkeys are your thing, then boy do I have the place for you! Personally, I’ve been traumatized by a man throwing a monkey at me in the Caribbean. It bit my finger. And didn’t have any teeth. So, anyway. You get it.
Aside from the wild monkeys tormenting me and stealing food out of tourists’ backpacks and bare hands on the Rock of Gibraltar, we really enjoyed our visit. It is a British Territory, so the first thing you notice as you cross the border is the street signs are in English, not Spanish. As you drive further into town, you feel like you were somehow transported to the Southern British seaside – pubs serving proper fish-and-chips, red phone booths, pints of beer…it’s bizarre.
What to do:
The Rock of Gibraltar is the main attraction and where we spent the majority of our time. You can either hike the whole thing, or take the cable car. We have this thing for cable cars, so we opted for both options: cable car up, hike down. The Rock is thought to be one of the two Pillars of Hercules mentioned by Homer, with a known military history dating back to 1309. At the top, you’ll find the Upper Rock Nature Reserve (included in your entrance fee), home to the wild monkey population of Barbary macaques, an overpriced tourist center, and insane views. With Europe below, Africa in the distance and the Mediterranean and Atlantic surrounding you on either side, it’s worth stifling a fear of unpredictable, cheeky monkeys.
On the actual trail, you’ll find the ruins of the Moorish Castle, Mediterranean Steps, Saint Michael’s Cave (a network of limestone caves). There are also the Great Siege Tunnels from 1780, as well as the WWII tunnels, neither of which we had time for unfortunately.
We decided to hold out for more tapas and sangria rather than visiting a pub, so we left town once we reached the bottom of the rock. We randomly stopped in the small, underrated town of Estepona and found a tapas restaurant by the water where we literally ate an entire meal of the BEST fried padron peppers we had all trip. I’m drooling just writing about them.
Day 3:
We started the day with crepes on the coast, then fried sardines, paella and sangria after some sun lounging. Did I mention we like food?
Later that day, we raced into old town Málaga to check out the Picasso Museum before it closed. The most extensive Picasso museum is in Barcelona (Museo Picasso), but, as Málaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, there is a quaint museum in the city center filled with 133 of his works that were donated by his family.
We were then sent on a mandatory pastelería (Spanish pastry shop) expedition to order cristina de nata and tocino de cielo, instructed demanded by my Great Aunt (who happens to be Spanish) and we were happy to oblige. On our pastry hunt, we stumbled upon the Malaga Film Festival. Crowds of people taking photos of Spanish actors and actresses posing on red carpet in front of a beautiful theater. I ordered Luke to scan above the masses for Antonio Banderas. Unsuccessful yet again, we turned back to our more important pastelería venture, and honestly this was the better outcome. Take my aunt’s advice and order these pastries! You won’t regret it.
After dessert, we continued through the streets in search of dinner. It was a busy Saturday night, people spilling out onto the tiny patio tables of every restaurant through old town, including our accidental chosen spot – El Guacamole Autentica Comida Mexicana…Don’t judge us! We LOVE tapas, but we’re suckers for Mexican and we’re starved and sad in Amsterdam. You should feel bad for us really. So, we ended the night with margaritas and tacos, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Day 4:
We ended our holiday on the beach, as one always should. Soaking in the sunshine one last time, we reveled in the wonderful memories made in Málaga, scanned the housing market, and brainstormed our new retirement plan.
