As we were winding down last night, we decided to share a Portuguese tart. I ran out for a bottle of Spanish brandy. The town was buzzing with packed restaurants and the sound of lively conversations. I took a few pictures.
We were up early to catch the train to Málaga, a half hour ride. On the way, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of red and pink bougainvillea adorning a building. The walk from the train to the Fortress was magical. Flower vendors lined the beautiful tree lined boulevards as we marvelled at the stunningly beautiful architecture. We found our guide after wandering the sleepy streets. Alcazaba fortress is an 11th century Moorish palatial fortress built upon Phoenician-Roman foundations. The Roman Theatre outside of the fortress walls was built in 206 BC and held 3,000 Romans. The tour took an hour and a half. The palace reflected various architectural styles as each conquerer destroyed some of the unique designs of previous inhabitants. From the fortress, we could see the rooftop holiday home of Antonio Banderas. After the tour, we looked for a place to eat. Tapas was on offer everywhere. The streets and alleys were alive with tourists and locals enjoying food and drink. Oh, and it was also cruise ship day. The hoards had descended onto the hot spots. It was also Sunday. We checked out several busy tapas bars but they were far too noisy for a relaxing meal with almost double the prices of Torremolinos, so we took the train back. We settled on lunch in the old town. Jill had a burger and I had calamari which were not as good as Greece. We shared a plate of fries.
The beer we are enjoying is Victoria Málaga. It’s story began on the 8th of September 1928, the feast day of Santa Maria de La Victoria, Patron Saint of Málaga. It was created by German master brewers combined with Málaga’s essence. It is one of the most important breweries in Spain. Not that we knew any of this when we were attracted to buying a few cans to try on our first shop. It was the graphics on the can that caught our eye and the price which was a little over one Euro.
Last night, we had a bottle of 3 Reinos Rioja. The colour is a medium dark rosé using Viura-Tempranillo grapes. Viura is a white grape variety grown in the Rioja region, while Tempranillo is a full bodied red grape native to Spain and is the main grape used in Rioja wine. It was excellent and was on special for €2.99 ($4.87 CDN) at the local grocery store. Start the car.
By the way, Torremolinos is extremely popular with LGBTQ+travellers and is widely considered one of the top, most inclusive gay destinations in Europe. It boasts a long history of queer tourism making it a premier European “gaycation” spot. How wonderful.
We were still full from lunch so Jill prepared a snack plate of Iberico cheese, made from cow’s, sheep’s, and goat’s milk, and dry Iberico ham, olives and a delicious pork/bacon Spanish salami. Why not homemade Spanish tapas with lovely wine?
Tomorrow we are going up to Mijas Pueblo, a typical Andalusian white-washed village.
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