Malaga: Very Spanish - 12 November 01

Málaga: Very Spanish
12 November 2001

Location	Málaga, Province of Málaga, Andalucía. On the first day I discovered that I had left my trekking pole in the UK. So the first thing I did on the second day, was find El Corte Inglès in Málaga and buy a new one. The rest of the day I spent exploring Málaga. Overview of my holiday in Spain.

Weather	This was one of the warmer days of my holiday. I even wore only a t-shirt for part of the day.

Click on the images to see larger versions.

	New country, new post boxes. The yellow one on the left is the normal colour for post boxes in Spain. The red one is for express mail. The logo of the Spanish Royal Mail is very similar to that of the Swedish Post Office with a postal horn and a crown.

In a new residential development between the bus station and the Alcazaba I found this hibiscus flower.

	The scarlet flower is large and radially symmetric with slightly overlapping petals - just the way I like it. It belongs to the Malvacea family like many flowers I like.

A closer look at a flower in the sun. It was quite pleasant on the bench by the hibiscus.

	At the beginning of the path to the Castillo di Gibralfaro I found this pink bougainvillaea.

This is the view over the city from the castillo. You can make out the cathedral.

	Looking in the other direction, this is the bull ring. Every little Spanish town has a bull ring. They look exactly the way they do in Ferdinand.

Up in the castillo I found these curious booths. The one in the background covers a well. What the other one is for, I don't know.

	There were narrow openings for archers in the outer walls. This is one of them.

I took a bus down from the castillo. These flower stalls lined the main thoroughfare, Alameda Principal.

	A different view of the cathedral. The locals call it La Manquita, the One-Armed.

And here is the reason why. It was meant to have two identical towers but the money was spent on the American war for independence instead.

	Another church. This one looks more like the Spanish mission churches one can find in California, particularly with the palm tree in front. It was located opposite Tetería El Harén on Calle Augustin. A tetería or tea house is the place if you want tea in Spain. This one was particularly friendly and served great crêpes in addition to a bewildering number of teas. It's also just around the corner from Atlante Mapas where the helpful proprietor sells guidebooks and maps for walking and mountain biking in Andalucía.