The Capital City of the Costa del Sol

The very first day that I went to the city of Malaga to look for an apartment I was devastatingly disappointed. I stayed around the area of the train station the entire time and perceived the city to be an ugly and polluted port town. I thought it was one of those places that had never been the destination but the rerouting station to head somewhere else. I was pleasantly surprised the next time I went back to the city to dig deeper for its charms. I couldn’t believe that the city where Pablo Picasso so proudly came from could be such a dumping ground. As soon as I crossed the Rio Guadalmedina, which cuts the city in two, and headed north into the center, the city took on a new face.

The city center had a briskly modern yet historic feel to it and it pulsed with colorful and vibrating life. The historic center is full of little winding alleys that shelter quaint tapas bars and cafes. The streets don’t go predictably straight, but weave around in an interesting pattern, leaving a newcomer slightly lost. But I was thinking just how amazing it is to let yourself get lost in a city in order to learn it. When I started walking the streets at the beginning of the day, I had no sense of direction or orientation but by the end of several long hours of wandering and looking, I felt like I knew the city.

I went into a few ancient cathedrals in the historic center and wandered through many plazas and gardens, watching people in their chatter and their cerveza drinking. I soon found Malaga’s big outdoor food market Mercado Atarazanas and weaved all around its crowds and noise – people buying fish, meat, eggs, vegetables, and all the most colorful fruits. I bought a kilogram of little avocadoes and a large, ripe pomegranate, which to my splendor is native to this part of the country. Pomegranate trees line the steep walk I take every day back up to my village from the train station. I’ve often picked the fruits, but they never seem to be the perfect ripeness in the trees.

After a loop in the market I headed to the Plaza de la Merced, Malaga’s haven for counterculture residents. Here I felt quite at home, surrounded by vegetarian restaurants, little art shops and a multitude of little stores selling incense, colorful dresses and purses. Hippies with dreadlocks and long, flowing skirts hung out in the park at the center of the plaza. For a moment I thought I was back in Carrboro. There was a theater (Teatro Cervantes) just down the street At the back end of the plaza in a white corner sat the home of Pablo Picasso, which has been turned into a museum and just down the street the Museo Picasso, where a huge collection of his work can be found.

My walk naturally took me towards the Roman Theater, an ancient ruin, above which an old palace-fortress towered. The Alcazaba was the home of the city’s Muslim governors in the 11th century. The huge structure has meandering waterways, beautiful terraces full of leafy plants that rise into the heights of the mountain that it was built on. After the palace, I walked along the Paseo del Parque, a beautiful walkway shaded by tall palm trees with benches and fountains lining the path. Green parrots flew from tree to tree and the colors of the purple, pink and red flowers stood out from the greenery of the trees and bushes that lined it. Walking down the path felt like walking through a completely tree surrounded tunnel. Even above my head the trees knit together to create a shelter. The ocean sparkled in the distance; I was on my way to the beach.

La Malagueta is Malaga’s beach district and it unfolded before me as I walked out of the Paseo del Parque. The land of Malagueta juts out into the sea and the coast is lined with sandy, public beaches. I walked down the beach for a while, letting the grainy sand fill my shoes, and then took a looping path back towards the city center, passing Malaga’s Plaza de Toros, where the annual bullfights are held. One thing that I have absolutely no desire to see while I’m here in Spain is most certainly a bullfight.

I walked all the way back to the river that cuts the city into two and headed in the other direction to see the more residential area. I was pleased to find the University of Malaga here. I could tell I was in a university area because the people walked faster, holding books to their chests, and blocking out the city noise with their Ipods. I found the Center for Foreigners at which they have a great institute for learning Spanish. On the bulletin board here I found a lot of announcements of Spanish-speakers seeking English conversation partners to exchange language practice. My loop took me back to the centrally located train station and I jumped on my Renfe to return to Alora, happy now to know the city of Malaga as well. After having a month of isolation and village life here in Alora, I will be happy to move to the city for a more upbeat and exciting life. But to experience both is certainly fulfilling and irreplaceable.