Malaga, Spain
Known for: The Airport to fly to, in order to reach Marbella, Antonio Bandereas, Pablo Picasso
Hola from the Andalusia region of Spain. This is my second time to Malaga having visited their early October 2012.
On my last visit, the weather was slightly cooler and less busy as it officially the offpeak season. I met some very cool peeps in my hostel (Oasis hostel for those looking for a good clean place to stay. On the top of the hostel is a uptown chic rooftop bar which you should definitely check out).
I also explored a few of the main sights (moorish castles), went on a walking tour (see below for details), tried some tapas and went on a 2 man pub crawl with one other person who didn’t’ drink at all. A ‘Wild’ holiday you could call it & Real character building stuff lol.
So a disclaimer that this post is kind of boring I’ll admit, but probably useful if you are wanting to get some a rundown of the main sights in Malaga!
One tip I can give is to take the subway into town, it’ll cost you less than €2 and will have you in town in less than 15 minutes (much quicker than the cab). A cab ride into town will set you back €15. To get to the train station from the airport as you come out of arrivals head toward you left and cross the two streets in front of you. There you should see a subway sign.
http://www.gomarbella.com/malaga-airport/trains/trains.htm
Click on the link should you wish to view more detailed directions
Main Attractions
I managed to track down a site which summarised what I thought to be the main sights. Instead of re-inventing the wheel I’ve included the link below.
http://www.spain-holiday.com/blog/photographical-journey-through-malagas-top-15-sights.php
Some of the highlights for me.
Teatero Cervantes:
Antonio Banderasis rumoured to come back to his hometown once a year and this theatre is where it all began for Mr Bandereas. Though he has been away from the big screen for a while now (though I could be completely wrong as I hardly watch movies) he’s still one of the cities favourite sons. Now adays the theatre hosts opera’s and other popular events.
Plaza de Constitution:
One of the main squares in the city centre. The distinguishing feature about this square is the renaissance styled fountain to the left of the square. Now if I remember correctly my walking tour guide mentioned that the fountain has travelled the world more than most of the city’s citizens. It was built in Italy and later shipped to Malaga, however during the first voyage the ship was attacked and the fountain was lost. It was then re-commissioned and ship again to its final destination. Now if anyone goes on the walking tour, please feel free to comment so that I have the story right! I tried googling the history but couldn’t get anything!
http://www.panchotours.com/tour/7/malaga.php
Magaluetta Beach
The City’s local beach. Not the cleanest beach, as the sand is quite dirty but hey a beach’s a beach. Don’t be surprised if you see more flesh than you would at the beaches back home as female beach goers tend to sunbake “euro style” (tops off)
There also a pier on near Magueletta beach which has high street fashion shops as well as quality restaurants to view the sunset.
Malaga is often a forgotten destination as it is the gateway to other popular tourist destinations such as Marbella, Torremolinos and Granada. It’s a town where you can relax, enjoy some good food, weather and mix in and amongst the local crowd. Once again Spain has another city that I would happily come back to!
JD
Venice, Italy
Destination: Venice, Italy
Other names: Venezia, Queen of the Adriatic,City of Bridges
Notable people: Marco Polo (explorer), Antonio Vivaldi (muso)
Other known associations: Masks, Blinds lol
Links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAPFM3dgag (vivaldi)
Did you know that the city of Venice actually sits within a lagoon? It is made up of roughly 120 islands and to manage your way across the various pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is ‘Venezia’, you must navigate one the 400 odd bridges that be found within the city. Now while I come across as extremely worldly person :P, I must admit I have plagiarised these facts from our lovely tour guide on a recent trip to Venice.
Now I have seen many photos and paintings of Venice but it is a very surreal feeling to see the famous city of canals in real life. Visually, it is a city like no other….
The first thing, I noticed about Venice was how few venetians actually reside in the city. Whilst there are many rustic residential homes it feels like a ghost town (in winter at least). It feels like it a grown up “Disneyland” in that it is set up for tourists and is bustling by day, however at night all the locals go home to the nearby town of Mestre. Now this could be Combinations of factors including;
a) Time of year – Apparently in summer it is almost claustrophobic with the amount of people in the city.
b) The fact that it’s a pain in the bum to get home from a big night out as gondoliers only work during the day. The other alternative is a water taxi but no one wants to pay €100 to get home!
c) All those car lovers who refuse to live in a city where they cannot drive their luxurious European cars, as cars are banned.
d) The smell – some parts of Venice city have a very ‘funky’ smell that have you covering your nose and mouth almost immediately.
I found Venice to be a city rich in culture with opera and classical music performances being a major centre piece of the city’s entertainment offering. There are hundreds of little alleyways and shops where you can easily lose yourself. Venetians masks, Casanova hats, Quill pens are among the more popular venetian souvenirs that are sold all over the city.
The iconic gondolas can be seen moving effortlessly almost anywhere throughout the city. Although, I think it is a myth that all gondoliers sing opera, our gondolier instead whistled the Popeye theme song for our 40 min journey,( but was entertaining nonetheless). Rustic and beautiful baroque style churches are fairly common in the city landscape as well.
Most importantly Seafood and traditional Italian food is done so well it is easy to see why this city has been so popular with tourists for decades.
For the coffee lover, it is a well-known fact that Italians are the masters of coffee and the coffee here definitely did not disappoint. We were recommended café del doge by a friend (thanks Anne!) which served the perfect ‘wake-me-up’ cappuccino.
An interesting fact is that during the winter and autumn there is a phenomenon know as high tide where water levels rise and parts of the city begin to flood. To allow people to traverse the labyrinth of passage ways and bridges, planks are strategically placed those common routes tread by tourists.
My good deed this weekend was to piggy back a Singaporean aunty onto one of these planks because my shoes were fairly waterproof and she was stuck….I was also tricked into carrying my 80kg travel buddy as well…only to realise later had we turned the corner we could have easily access the planks. #sorebackfornothing (I’m new to the hashtagging thing so forgive me if it’s wrong!)
5 observations.
1. Seafood is amazingly fresh
2. Almost all the pasta is homemade – delicious
3. Even in winter gelato is still in demand!
4. Tap water is not drinkable
5. Venetian blinds are not commonly found in Venice!
A city like no other and one that would suit the hopeless romantic and curious traveler alike with its majestic buildings with hundreds of canals and bridges scattered throughout this stunning city.
JD
Belfast, Ireland
I recently took my first UK trip which landed me in Belfast, Northern Island. This was my first trip in 2013 and hopefully the start of a jammed packed year full of travel!
Having grown up with an Irish godmother I’ve always thought the Irish people to be the friendliest people in the world. From the moment we landed, the locals were more than happy to help and point us in the right direction. They did so with a big smile, a sing-a-long voice and a jig (okay so maybe the jig is a little embellished lol).
We hired a car and went on a road trip around northern Ireland. Below I’ve listed a few of the places we visited.
Mussenden Temple:
Built in 1785 as a Library, it sits atop a 120 ft cliff face with ocean views in the backdrop. There was sheep poo all around for some reason that day which made the walk there slightly harder than anticipated.
Dunluce Castle:
An impressive medieval castle perched atop another cliff with spectacular sea views. It was however extremely misty that day and visibility was not the greatest, but still worthwhile checking out.
The Giant’s Causeway:
A Unesco heritage listed site with 40,000 interlocking basalt columns formed from volcanic eruptions which covers the Causeway Coast. A stunningly beautiful site and scenic walk to get to the causeway.
Carrick-a-Rede:
Unfortunately this bridge was closed and we were not able to cross, but this was my favourite place of the trip, the views really highlight the natural beauty and coastline of Northern Ireland.
Titanic Museum:
A very interactive museum about one of the greatest love stories ever known (Jack & Rose), and also something about a ginormous ship too.
Chinese New Year – Irish style:
What I didn’t realise was that this weekend also coincided with Chinese New Year. Having been described as a “banana” (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) and someone not in tune with their Chinese heritage, this was certainly not helping my case! We did manage to bring the new year with some lobster noodles at a surprisingly authentic Chinese restaurant in Belfast, so all was not lost.
The great thing about flying back from Belfast is that it is considered a “domestic” flight and therefore no immigration checks necessary Woohoo!
Belfast is an underrated destination which you can explore at your own pace and enjoy the natural beauty and history.
JD
The JD Chronicles 