After traveling a lot already this year, I realized I couldn't really join in on the entire Spain trip with my mom and brother; they started in Madrid and went to Barcelona and Grenada before Joe and I arrived. We tagged along just for the second half and it worked out so well! We stayed in Malaga, but we took little day trips to Marbella, Peurto Banus, and Mijas.
Wednesday, September 20
Joe and I landed Wednesday morning, my mom's birthday, in Malaga. We took the train from the airport which only took about 15 minutes and was super easy to navigate! We walked into the town for churros and coffee at Casa Aranda to start our day. The churros are amazing in Malaga (not sure if it's a Malaga thing or all of Spain?) but they're lighter than American churros and come with a big mug of chocolate to dip them in!
We dropped our bags at our Air BNB after coffee. The location of where we stayed could not have been better! Here's the link to our Air BNB; it was absolutely perfect for us and being right on the block of the Cathedral, it was so easy to find it every time we headed back to it! Malaga is Spain's 6th largest city and the downtown is full of tiny streets packed with bars, shops, and restaurants. It's such a cute, fun place, but would've been easy to get lost had we not had a landmark to guide us home! We couldn't have loved this location more.
the view out our bedroom of the cathedral gardens during the sunset one night
We changed and explored before meeting my mom and brother for lunch in the afternoon. They drove in from Grenada and it was sooo nice to have a rental car throughout the trip; we ended up driving out to Marbella, Peurto Banus, and Mijas throughout the week and it was really nice to see other parts of the Costa Del Sol! We had lunch at La Deriva, which was really delicious and in a different part of town from where we spent most of our time.
Afterward, we were desperate for a nap, so Joe and I slept for like 3 hours before dinner. We had dinner at Vermuteria La Clasica - fun fact, they drink vermouth over ice in Spain like it's a regular cocktail! It's surprisingly delicious. To end the night, my brother, Joe, and I went out to a few clubs!
We, unsurprisingly, slept until noon the next day LOL.
Thursday, September 21
When we finally woke up and got going on Thursday, we drove out to Marbella! I am so bummed the trip wasn't longer because I definitely think we could've spent at least another full day or two here. The town was just so cute and there was so much to explore!
We had lunch at Bar Altamirano, which was one of my favorite meals of the trip! The menu had every type of fish, prepared simply in so many ways. I went with grilled whole sole, Joe had razor clams, and my brother and mom had different types of fried fish. Everything was amazing, delicious, and so fresh!
After lunch, we explored the town a little, got gelato, did a bit of shopping, and then spent our afternoon at the beach! It was so relaxing and lovely. The entire trip we just had the best weather!
We came back to Malaga and had a late dinner in town. We saw a Coton De Tulear one night which was so exciting - we've had our Beau for 15 years and have always kept him short so it's fun to see a Coton with a long coat!
Friday, September 22
Friday was our day of exploring Malaga! My mom, Joe, and I set up tours at the Alcazaba and the Malaga Cathedral. The Alcazaba is similar to the better-known Alhambra in Grenada; a fortress and garden that is absolutely beautiful and full of history! We booked a guided tour which was great because we were able to learn more history about the Alcazaba, and Malaga in general.
After the Alcazaba tour, we had lunch near the water at a fabulous restaurant called Kaleido, where we had more seafood: octopus, clams, and anchovies, and more Spanish wine! It was delicious and beautiful right at the harbor.
In the late afternoon, we did a tour of the Cathedral. The Malaga Cathedral is absolutely gorgeous, and it was especially worthwhile to do the tour because they let you go up onto the roof of the Cathedral, where you have amazing views of the city! At the Alacazaba you also get great views, so it was kind of cool to see Malaga from both angles.
Saturday, September 23
We started our Saturday by checking out Malaga's market called the Mercado Central de Atarazanas. It was so cool to explore the market; we got smoothies and juices and donuts and just admired all of the fish and meat counters. It's kind of crazy how inexpensive Spain is; the entire trip I was blown away by the prices! For example, a glass of wine was typically around 3€, and smoothies were like 2€! Even a coffee would be around 2€... crazy! In NYC, a smoothie is literally $14 - criminal!
always coordinating :)
After the market, we drove out to Puerto Banus, which is a really, really bougie part of Marbella. It's a strip lined with yachts, some of the fanciest cars I've ever seen, restaurants, and designer shops. It was cool to see! We had lunch and bopped around for a bit. Surprisingly I didn't take many photos this day!
We then drove to a small town called Mijas. This little town is adorable and all whitewashed as it's built inside the mountainside, inland. It had a couple spots to see really cool views of Marbella and Malaga and other towns on the Costa Del Sol. There were so many donkeys too and people taking donkey rides around the town!
Sunday, September 24
On Sunday we packed up, grabbed coffee and a little breakfast, and headed back home! Overall, it was such a lovely trip and so nice to spend time with my family. We had a great time and I feel so grateful we all got to spend time together somewhere so beautiful! I feel like this part of Spain is not somewhere I otherwise would have ever thought to travel, so I'm so glad my mom picked it out and brought us along on her birthday trip.
xoxo
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