Spain 2023 Málaga

Málaga is a bigger city just up the coast, with quite a lot to see - we've decided to take it easy, and go several times instead of trying to cram everything in at once 🙂.

Alcazaba (urban fortress)

Today, we decided to wander around Old Town!

Follow along; here's our route (as always, see more photos in the Spain 2023 album) 🙂

Fun sculpture advertising a restaurant 

Designs made of stones (tricky walking, but interesting to see!)

We came upon the Santiago Church...

Roman amphitheater at the base of the Alcazaba 

Fig tree

Our first glimpse of the cathedral - beautiful gardens 

Had to stop for lunch, of course!

La Bougainvillea's Paëlla 

We went even deeper into the historical old town center - this is Constitution Plaza.

Then! Back to the *Front* of the Cathedral! This was just massive!

Here it is, next to the Cultural Center 

And! Another side...

We walked back towards our car via the urban park, and saw these folks.

We decided that (1) we had enough feet left, and (2) we should delay driving for another hour (due to the graciously offered, giant glass of sherry at the end of lunch). So, we toured the Alcazaba 🙂.

We took the elevator up, and caught the views (see the cathedral?)...

The Bullring 

This model shows how the Alcazaba was laid out. You can see the usual entrance here at the lower right, and follow the path that any invaders would have to use - several 90° turns, and many sections covered by defenders. It sure wouldn't be easy!

Still, once inside, it had beautiful gardens!

This day trip definitely makes me want to come back for a longer stay - I'll be looking into how to do that!

Meanwhile, we're planning another day to see the Picasso Museum.

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Alcazaba and Gibralfaro - https://alcazabaygibralfaro.malaga.eu/en/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga

Picasso Museum - https://www.museopicassomalaga.org/en/ 

Spain 2023 Ronda

Ronda is famous for having a fantastic bridge crossing a deep gorge to connect both sides of the city.

To get there, we drove for an hour and a half, winding first along the Mediterranean coast, then up through the mountains. I have to say, the roads were good, and plenty wide. But I still practiced deep breathing and humming, and drove quite a bit slower than the 60 kph limit (there were plenty of turnouts to let others go by).

Somehow (my fault, as I didn't double-check the chosen route 🙄 ), we ended up on the opposite side of town than I had planned. The plus was, free parking; the negative, we had more walking. Still, we're getting better at the whole "you drive, you navigate" process. 

Anyway, we found a place for coffee and a bathroom, and got pointed in the right direction for the town center. We detoured a bit, as we glimpsed this church.

And again, when we saw cliffs...

Right about lunch time (1:30!), we got to the Plaza del Socorro, and stopped for tapas.

A bit further, and we got to the Bullfighting Plaza, containing the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain - this had the arena and park, as well as an overlook of the valley below.

Orson Welles 

Here's Rick, completely ignoring the many-meters drop from the overlook.

The surrounding mountains 

So you get an idea of how deep this gorge is!

See the house at the bottom?

We walked along the cliff edge (sidewalk and wall, so no worries) to the bridge.

You can see here a lookout point - you would walk down the stairs and ramps, the look back at the bridge.

Here it is!

There's an information area and museum inside the bridge - you go down the stairs, then in the door. We didn't do that.

Look at how close those houses are to the cliff!

Feel like a carriage ride?

Looking down at the gorge through the metalwork of the bridge.

Here's the other side of the bridge - see the other bridge in the distance?

We found the quick way back to the car, then drove home, stopping for Indian food take out on the way. Now? Feet up, relaxing to the sound of the Mediterranean waves 🙂.

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Orson Welles quote from the sculpture:

“A man does not belong to the place where he is born but to the place where he chooses to die.”