Feliz Navidad

First up, let me say Malaga was an immense surprise and probably one of the Top 3 cities I’ve ever visited. Awesome place.

With the taxi booked for 6.30am on Friday (although he turned up 30 mins early!) it was nice to escape the sub zero temperatures with the forecast of sunshine in the teens promised when we got there.

Our flight left on time, all de-iced and ready to go. 2.5 hrs later we landed at Malaga and unfortunately had to endure a lengthy queue through passport control but it was ok. Just a lack of staff. The airport is massive and the walk to the terminal exit was a jaunt. It felt like half a mile probably more with the walk from the plane too.

First up, one of the coolest parts about Malaga is the public transport. It is immense. On a par with the Netherlands. Out the front door you walk across the road and down into the train station. From here it was about 10 mins to our stop.

TIP: Ignore the ticket machine queues, what they don’t make obvious is you can tap in and out easily with your contactless card. Easy.

The trains are pretty regular and clean. Busy too but not oppressively crammed. We got off at our stop (1.80 Euro) and walked upstairs to a shopping centre which hosted the train station, a bus stop, the Metro, taxis and our Barcelo hotel. It couldn’t have been a better location.

The hotel was really nice as you would expect from the Barcelo chain. Upmarket but not 5 star. This one had some quirks like a slide from the first floor down into reception which was cool but the toilets freaked you out when you walked in a cubicle. For a split second you thought you were all sat together lol.

Friday evening we got the train part way into the city centre and walked the rest and found the main street where the Xmas lights were. We were hungry so we found a nice place down a side street that served Pintxos which are like large canape’s. Each had a different wooden skewer which determined the price. It was self-service and when you paid the waiter just totted up what you had had from the skewers. Good value too.

After food we enjoyed the amazing Xmas light show and took a walk up to the main square and another drink in a bar there.

The light show plays to music and runs three times a night. It’s really popular and it gets all the crowd singing and excited when it comes on.

TIP: The lights are changed every year apparently so it’s an excuse to keep going back!

Tired from travelling we headed back to the hotel. We found the Metro which was just two stops and 5.70 Euro for 4 of us. Public transport done right!

The next day we chose to buy a 48hr hop on (about £27 each), hop off bus pass which gave us access to 3 routes, a boat trip and a free drink and snack at the Hard Rock Cafe too + free access to loads of museums but we didn’t have the time. It turned out to be great value and a great way to see a snapshot of the city from the open-top bus.

Highlights included the beach, a mix of architecture including the unfinished cathedral and the views from the castle that sits overlooking the port and the bay. We enjoyed a nice lunch among the back streets overlooked by the cathedral and stayed out into the early evening again.

Sunday was boat trip day. Back on the bus we got off at the Marina and took a trip around the bay before back for a snack at the Hard Rock Cafe and a walk around the shops and Xmas Market. All overlooked by a £200m super yacht moored alongside the quay. What a thing!

A beautiful day too. It felt like 20 degs in the sun.

We stayed out again and had some more Pintxos before trying to negotiate the huge crowd enjoying the light show as we tried to get around the corner to the Cathedral which had it’s own light show projected onto it’s side.

This show was really good. A very clever use of 3D imagery set to a story. Then it was off to an indo-mexican restaurant for dinner. Fajitas and curry on the same menu. Weird but works.

Monday morning was a quick trip into the old town to visit Malaga’s famous streetfood market and then coffee and breakfast at a cafe aptly called Santa’s.

The weekend done we got back on the train to the airport and left an overcast but warm city to be met by 5 degs and rain when we got back to Birmingham. A lengthy queue at passport control was made worse when my e-gate attempt failed and I had to queue again to see a border guard for all of 30 secs. Mental.

Malaga didn’t feel like a city. Busy but chilled. Plenty of space, Light on traffic, green and warm. It had a great vibe. In fact we bought a coffee off a Dutch guy who had been living there for a couple of years and said it’s better to live there than holiday there which I think says it all.

I felt we never got to see it all, so I am definitely going back.

Adios.