Málaga 26th - 29th

We arrived in Málaga in the late afternoon and tried to follow the directions to the hostel but we took the wrong bus in the opposite direction to the way we wanted to be going and so we ended up on the other side of town. Luckily the bus driver would be going in the reverse direction after a short toilet brake so we stayed on the bus and he then told us when to get off at the right time. After settling into our new hostel called Oasis we went for a walk around the pier and onto the beach where we ate our packed dinner of Christmas leftovers. On the way back to the hostel we detoured past a Christmas market which had nearly one hundred stalls. I managed to find some really nice wooden hairpins which I was keen to try in my hair.

On the 27th we had to change hostels so we walked with our bags to the new place. It was very hard to find as there was no sign and it was in a very rough area. We left our bags here and then went to explore. We found some old roman ruins and walked around the Alcazaba their. We then returned to our dodgy neighbourhood before heading back out to go to the top above the Alcazaba. Unfortunately we didn't know that it closed at 5.30 and we arrived at 5.45. But it was a good walk back down the hill. Fr dinner that night we went to a restaurant which was very American and we shared a pizza and I had a pineapple juice and mum had a mulled wine.

That night we also went to the birth place of Picaso which was also a museum. I found this place really interesting as I prefer places that give you an audio device as I can listen to everything rather than just breeze past all the exhibits.

The next day we had to change hostels again so once we woke up we went to pay the chain smoker (the owner and the only other resident) but he was no where to be found and we had no idea what to do. In the end we left him a note and put the money in his letter box and hope he got it.

Our new hostel Casa Al Sur was very lovely and very nicely presented. After we settled in we purchased some food from they market and then went on the special bus to the Verdiales Festival. Here we saw and listened to a lot of traditional dancing and music. It was like a big competition of musicians castanets players, dancers and flag wavers. The musician wore colourful hats with ribbons on them and the dancers wore very traditional outfits which were quite pretty. It was a really sunny day and the festival was held in amongst an olive farm. For lunch we had a picnic while sitting on the grass while enjoying the music.

For dinner that night we had a very disappointing paella that was undercooked and very badly seasoned and it was very crunchy. However the sangria was really nice. The next morning we walked along to river past all the new buildings to the bus station so we could catch the bus to Sevilla.