Day trip to Malaga

February 15, 2015 bashack

Lots to see in the big town of Malaga. Found some interesting graffiti. Thankfully both cities – Malaga and Fuengirola – have next to zero litter. Odd that Madrid, not that far north, has so much.

Your guess is as good as mine on this ‘piece of work’, and the next one.

Mmmm.

As seen inside a take-away store. Recognize anyone?

Malaga is a beautiful city, with an awesome waterfront (above) and over 30 museums! We’ve only been to 2 so far. On the to-do list is the Picasso Museum (he was born here) and (of course) the Wine museum. Others are Automobile, Airports and Air Transport, Bullring, and Contemporary Art museums, just to name just a few.

No real place to lock up your bike outside your apartment.

I snapped this photo in the Carmen Thyssen Art Museum – before I was reminded it was in the special exhibit, and not to be photographed 🙁 She looked familiar..

Dave has caught a cold – rare for him. Here he is in his new favorite sunny spot. – Laura

Fuengirola, Spain

Market talk

February 14, 2015 bashack 1 Comment

Grocery stores in Spain and Malta are smaller, with a de-emphasis on pre-packaged food. Meat shops abound where they’ll cut your chops or ribs to order. Fish markets and produce shops are also common. A practice I haven’t seen in the states is the locking up of grocery carts.

So, to use a cart, you insert a coin (a 50 cent piece) into the slot in the black box. This releases the chain that links it to the cart in front of it. When you’re finished with the cart, you reinsert the chain from another cart, which slides your coin back into your hand. Result: no stray carts. The smaller plastic hand baskets are ‘free’ to use, but will set off an alarm (personal experience) if you bring them through the checkout counter. You leave them at the beginning of the checkout belt. (They’re very tolerant of us rookies. Either that or they’re cursing at me in Spanish with a smile 🙂

Walking to the market is the norm here, so these pull carts are common. The larger markets provide a means to lock your cart up while you’re shopping. You retrieve it and load it up after check out, and you’re on your way. Our apartment includes one, but I haven’t used it yet, as our grocery lists are short plus the store in only 1 block away.

If you happen to have the pups with you, appears to be no problem to leave them tied up outside or inside the store while you gather your goodies. Laura

Malta

A toast good bye.

February 13, 2015 bashack 1 Comment

And this was only a medium!

Sunday found us on many modes of transportation:

1) An early bus (6:40) to the airport allowed us time for a coffee (!) and snack. 2) A full, and uneventful flight to Madrid on Ryanair. 3) An airport bus from terminal 1 to terminal 4, 4) where we caught a train to the main train station downtown Madrid. 5)A reserved seat on the high speed train to Malaga, on Spain’s southern coast. Dave’s eyes widened when we topped out at 199 MPH!!! (not a typo). The most comfortable ride ever, NO roads crossed these tracks. 6) Finally, a 43 minute ride on a commuter train from Malaga found us in our destination – Fuengirola! Two blocks from the train station we found our apartment (at 7:30 p.m.) minus internet:-( Our host seems slow to fix it. Otherwise, a delightful home.

Malta

More of Valletta

February 12, 2015 bashack 1 Comment

What are the odds we would be there when the art came to life…Appropriately made out of limestone, as is most every building on the islands.

Seems the skies are so dramatic here. Near sunset they cast some beautiful light.

Never far from sweets!

The Maltese are all about the ‘love locks’, where sweethearts fasten a lock on a bridge symbolizing their love .

More happy dogs! till next time. – Laura

Malta

Valletta visit

Image February 10, 2015 bashack

A gap between two buildings had been made into a stairwell. It ended at the marina where some humungous yatchs were moored – see below. And this wasn´t even shot from the top of the stairs.

Did they build the bus to just fit through these archways? As noted before, these ancient fortress walls remain all over the island. The narrow streets always find vehicles giving way to busses and trucks that could otherwise not manage a corner or intersection.

Golden girl.

We will miss Malta’s Carnival by a week. It´s the same as our Mardi Gras, the free-wheeling festival before the beginning of the Lent in the Catholic tradition, and a very big deal here. Above: We´re guessing this fella was doing his sound check in preparation for the festival. The venue was an ancient ruin where modern seating was being set up.

Flying buttress in the Naval Museum, which is housed in the former Navy bakery building next to the harbor. We estimated this fella was 13´tall. Malta of course has a very long naval history.

Almost caught up! – Laura

General info

footwear

February 7, 2015 bashack 1 Comment

A common packing challenge for any trip is what shoes to bring. It’s a bigger challenge when you’re only bringing a carry on.

Dave’s solution: He wore the brown, newly-soled slip-ons, and didn’t pack a second pair after a last-minute decision to leave the little-too-tight hiking shoes at home. During a visit to Valletta Thursday these Clark hikers were spotted at 1/2 off. Now the slip-ons are taking a well deserved vacation.

Laura’s solution included these two pair which so far have worked out well. The purple ones have a very flexible sole, and are light and squishable for packing. My last minute decision was to not bring a nice walking sandal, even though there was room in the suitcase. They won’t be needed until later in the trip, and I’ll go shopping for a pair (souvenir!) when the need arises.

Malta

Clear skies persist

February 6, 2015 bashack 1 Comment

Our wanderings Tuesday brought us to the Dingli Cliffs on the SW edge of Malta. Perfect spot for a radar installation.Here’s where those giant squash came from! Young ladies from France, waiting for a bus and having Dave (and me!) take their picture.The edge of a cliff – odd place to put a church.Again we’re racing the sun, and wander into Rabat to catch a bus very near dark. – Laura

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Thought You Had A Steep Driveway?

February 6, 2015 bashack 1 Comment

…. think again. Lots of garages are in the basement with about 15 feet to get from the road to the basement. There are hundreds of driveways like these. -Dave

Malta

Continuing the coastal walk

February 5, 2015 bashack 2 Comments

After leaving Marsaskala, we hiked south along these beautiful cliffs.

Malta truly is a happy place.

Looking back at St. Thomas Bay. We still haven’t figured out what the blocks attached to the posts/rods are for. We asked on our last visit (10 years ago) and were told they are bird traps. We’ve never seen anything on top of the blocks, so maybe (hopefully) they’re not used anymore. Either way, we couldn’t figure them out.

Old and new. Looking at the port across Ramla Ta’ Birzebugga, which translates to “Pretty Bay”.

Dave found a would-be souvenir, but I reminded him our storage units were full. – Laura

Malta

Strays

February 5, 2015 bashack

As in Italy, there is a bit of a stray cat population. Just this morning we ran into a gentleman who was setting out a dinner plate full of cat food – “Breakfast time!”. They all look healthy and well fed.

Some locals even spend time creating and maintaining kitty condos, though I’ve never seen one occupied.

And if you’re a real cat lover, you take the time to level out their water dish. 🙂 – Laura