Crucian's adventures...: A Spanish fairly tale in the heart of Costa del Sol (part 1)

In the south of Spanish Andalucia, in the heart of Costa del Sol, there is a beautiful city of Málaga. The sun is shining there nearly 320 days in the year, where you can do whatever you dream of - swimming, sunbathing, climbing, ballooning, etc... sounds like a fairy tale?

Welcome to Eden...

Well, it should be, because it truly is a wonderful, magical place, full of Spanish taste, Spanish flavours and finally unique Spanish culture. And it is not only paella (a traditional Spanish dish with rice, seafood or chicken) that makes Málaga so tasty. Rather, it is the atmosphere of Spanish history and tradition surrounding you from every corner.

Calle Molina Lario

There are places like Alcazaba, Tearto Romano, Castillo de Gibralfaro, or Plaza de la Constitución, where you can actually feel the spirit of old , romantic times of love and wars,of Arabic rule in this burned of Sun region of Spain.

La Cathedral - La Manquita

Palacio Episcopal

Mario and I could not miss an opportunity like that to once again feel the beating heart of Spain, the country of Picasso, Sangria and fantastic weather!

Teatro Romano

We spent in Andlucia 7 wonderful days visiting those historic places, admiring Málaga and its surroundings, but most importantly - relaxing after hard-working year in the UK.

M&M in the Alcazaba (an Arabic castle with towers)

Absolutely amazing feeling!
Strongly recommended!

Hello from Alcazaba

Malaga city centre with a view on the city's gardens

Mario in the Plaza de la Merced

millions of shells tempting to collect them

ah, wonderful!

Ayuntamiento de Malaga - City Hall

hiding from burning Sun in Mario's flower hat

Spanish people are absolutely crazy about the food - cooking it, preparing but mostly - eating it. Just watch 'Cook's tour of Spain' (Channel 4) to get the idea of how stubborn and knowledgeable Spaniards can be when it goes to cooking.
Jamon is one of the dishes you just need to try when traveling to Andalucia! and forget about the price!

Jamon - a traditional delicates made of ham -
you can only find it in Spain and Portugal

Next on our tour was Jardin Botanico - a unique garden full of exotic trees and flowers from all over the world. It's worth seeing it, even though you need to travel about 20 minutes from the city centre (after taking bus nr 2 towards Sant Jose).
But don't worry - there are always nice Malagian people ready to help and discuss (argue!) the right way of travel.

Mario in the Jardin Botanico - a fantastic garden of Malaga

Una fresa - a strawberry... absolutely gorgeous!

Wild thing!

Speaking about the food before, Sardinas are one of those dishes you need to try! Ask for 'a la plancha' version and you will get one of those below:....

Perfection of taste!

Sardinas - small fishes but big feast

But don't have any doubts - Spain is all about the beaches (playas) to! Even though this year the weather is crazy (as a nice lady told us in our hostel, Las Acacias), we were blessed with a wonderful Sun and wish you that too!