Our last touch of Spanish fun - Malaga

  Malaga, Spain
Wednesday, September 14, 2005

I didn't come with any expectations of Málaga.
I was told it was the entry for all the tourists to Costa del Sol so thought it would be overrun with Brits and Germans. I have been pleasantly surprised to find it a nice sized town with a very Spanish feel to it, with very few tourists. A touch of real Spain!


I took the bus into town and set about finding Picasso´s Corner Backpackers. Easier said than done, but eventually found the backpackers in a quaint old 2nd floor refurbished apartments, centrally located. Another pleasant surprise! There are a lot of communal areas, so I pretty much made friends with the whole hostel pretty quickly. As in most of the backpackers I have been in so far, I am one of, if not THE oldest, but I enjoy being ´mother hen´ to my flock!


I set about waiting for Kirsty. I went for a brief run around the harbour (first run!) and then set off to the airport at 10.30pm. Kirsty was due to arrive at 11.10. I waited and waited. And eventually got the last bus back to town again at midnight. Still no sign of Kirsty! I checked my e-mail. No mail. I checked my phone. No messages. But there was a missed call at 10.30 from a UK number. I googled the number and realised it was a number from Luton (the airport Kirsty was supposed to fly from) so rang up, established it was a hotel and that Kirsty had checked in.

I assumed she would get on the first flight the next morning, so went for an early morning wander around town. It is a lovely town with small alleyways and turning corners. Not a lot of monuments to see, which probably explains why its off the tourist trail, but it certainly has a lot of charm.

Eventually, at 2pm, Kirsty turned up. She´d missed her flight from London by 2 minutes! We went out for beer and tapas and talks - and then headed down to the port to book our ferry to Morocco for the next day. A bargain at 30 Euro!

We then went shopping for supplies and alcohol, and started drinking. The staff at the hostel then got out the free alcohol - litres and litres of wine mixed with lemonade, so we drank away the hours with the rest of my flock! Kirsty had a brief nap, and at 12pm, in true Spanish style, we headed out in search of salsa. All 16 of us!! Sarah from the hostel took us to 2 bars first where we all got to boogy and were supplied with free drinks.


Kirsty and I were starting to feel a bit old at 3pm and made our way home. After a not-so-good nights sleep (the joys of sleeping in share dorms with youngsters) we headed down to the port to board our ferry to the land of spices! (to be continued....)