Our Andulician Adventure: Málaga

"To travel is to live" -Hans Christian Andersen

Leaving Munich in the early morning, with sub zero temperatures, and arriving a couple of hours later in warm sunny Málaga was something of a shock to the system, albeit a pleasant one. Neither Rob nor I have ever visited Spain, it had always slipped under our radar being somewhat out the way, but I was keen to tack a visit to Andalucía onto the very end of our odyssey as a taste of something new and different.

And spectacularly different it was from the other places we have visited, it seemed as though we had left Europe entirely for somewhere new and intriguing. It was as if we had arrived in the Middle East and this prompted me to do a lot of reading into the history of Andalucía, or Al-Andalus as it was known to the Muslim rulers of the Iberian Peninsula for a period of nearly eight hundred years.

Our plan was to arrive in Málaga and make our way immediately to Granada for a few days, to see the amazing Alhambra, before heading on to Seville. I had come up with this plan a few months earlier, with lots of help from my favourite travel site (slowtalk.com) and I had even corresponded with an apartment there I liked the look of. It therefore came as quite a shock, especially as I had already booked train tickets, that with a few days to go I remembered that I was supposed to book pre-book Alhambra tickets and they were completely sold out. I understand that you can buy tickets on the day but at New Year could just miss out and as I had also not booked the accommodation we were obviously not supposed to be visiting Granada this time around.

I say this time around as Spain now rates very highly on our where to go next time list. Apart from the delightful weather, around 16 degrees and sunny every day, the food was sensational, the people friendly, the sights fascinating and the atmosphere relaxing. A perfect holiday location for the end of our European odyssey. Luckily our train tickets, though booked well in advance, were refundable with only a small penalty, and so we had a day and a half to explore Málaga and I am so pleased that we did.

 We had some mild drama that morning in Munich that had me on edge throughout the flight. It wasn't lengthy delays so that they could spray the plane with anti-freeze on the runway before take off on a -11 degree morning, that had me worried. Instead it was a stupid mistake that I had made whilst juggling the ever increasing quantity of luggage we had. We had caught a train out to the airport, which is someway from Munich itself, and due to a unscheduled stop in the middle of nowhere we were pushed for time when we arrived. So I just slid my Ipad, with every bit of important detail about our travel plans and more, inside a zipper section on the back of my suitcase (where the backpack straps are stored) just to be safe for a few minutes until I could retrieve it. Of course I didn't remember the need to retrieve until it was checked in. The lovely girl from Norwegian Airlines couldn't have been nicer but there was not much that could be done but to cross our fingers. So to cut a long story short someone must have been looking after us, as I had no idea even of the name of the hotel we were staying at that night, and miraculously I retrieved it undamaged.

After all the excitement we decided to splurge on a taxi, which is not a bad idea in Spain where we discovered everything is much cheaper. The beginning of our ride was through the uninspiring areas of the city that you find around most airports and it didn't take too long to arrive at our hotel near Maria Zambrano train station. The kids loved the hotel (Silken Puerta Malaga booked through Hotwire) as a family room turned out to be adjoining rooms so quite a lot of the afternoon was taken up with necessary holiday fun, like choosing whose room was whose and jumping on the chosen bed.

We finally convinced the troops that it was time to head out when tummies were beginning to rumble. Having relaxed for most of the afternoon there was time to research dinner options and we combined sightseeing and a search for marvellous tapas by choosing Restaurante Toro Muelle Uno, a short taxi drive away in the newly developed Muelle Uno, translating to Quay One port redevelopment at the Málaga port.

It was not a budget option but for about seventy euro we had amazing tapas, that arrived over two course followed by desert and for Rob and I we decided to try our first Sangria and they were so delicious that they were not to be our last. Tapas is a brilliant option with kids as they can try a little of everything but not be stuck with a large something that they dislike. We are really lucky that the kids love food and trying new things and we all really enjoyed the meat and cheese platters, scrambled eggs with potatoes prawns and gulas, flamenquins and particularly the grilled vegetables with Romesco sauce. Of course the dish the kids remember the best was of course the icecream.

 

We had wonderful views over to the Alcazaba, an 11th century fortified palace built by the regions Muslim leaders and it is said to the be the best preserved alcazaba in Spain. We were very excited to visit the next morning.

Our full day in Málaga was full indeed and we headed straight for the Alcazaba, where we spent close to three hours exploring.

It also gave us the opportunity to begin our home schooling discussion of how during the dark ages in Europe the knowledge of the Roman Empire, while lost in Europe, was preserved in the Middle East in places of learning such as Bagdad and Damascus.

We spoke of the great figures of the Enlightenment, such as Leonardo DaVinci, who rediscovered the work of the great philosophers such as Aristotle through the work of Islamic scholars such Averroes who was born centuries earlier in nearby Cordoba. We learnt that Spain, like the Middle East, represented a arc of learning, where knowledge was preserved while the rest of western Europe wallowed in the middle ages.

 There was also time for a lot of running around, taking in the amazing views, marvelling at the beautiful architecture and even time for a rest with a good book.

At the base of the hill that is home to the Alcazaba we found a Roman amphitheatre from the 1st century BC, where running around was frowned upon so our visit was fairly brief.

We planned a walking route next that would lead us past the Málaga cathedral, where I wandered at it not being particularly old, with the earliest stage of construction beginning in 1528. It has suddenly dawned upon me that as a Muslim city until the Reconquista by Isabella and Ferdinand in 1487 there was little need of a Christian cathedral. The kids were keen for a visit, though Rob, bless him, has had enough of churches and opted to sit in the sun amongst the orange trees whilst we took a peek.

We were particularly impressed by the trampolines stretched out high up to catch the falling masonry and so we decided a short visit and then to go in search of tapas for lunch was a good idea, though it was a beautiful cathedral with a lovely nativity.

If you are travelling in Spain with children it is a good idea to plan meal times carefully or you may miss out. Dinner generally starts at 8 o'clock, which is bedtime in our family, which is no problem as we have gotten used to our main meal at lunch at 2ish to overcome this problem, and to have had time to walk of breakfast and built up an appetite. So it was a real disappointment to discover that our long walk to lunch ended with a closed restaurant.

Luckily the areas we had walked through were lined with tapas bars aimed to tourists and we were able to fill up on delightful dishes such as potato omelettes or meatballs for only two euro a plate.

We have long learned that a morning of sightseeing must be followed by an afternoon in the park, which was very easy request to fulfil as we had noticed Paso del Parque near Muelle Uno the evening before. Our walk there took us past many market stalls selling fireworks, which got me very excited until Rob reminded me that our luggage would be x-rayed before catching the train to Seville the next day, which was to be New Years Eve.

After a short play in the park Julian remembered that he had seen a huge bouncy castle at Muelle Uno and Emma joined in the begging to "please please" go back there. And so the kids bounced on the bouncy castle, for about an hour as it appeared that there was no time limit, whilst Rob and I enjoyed chatting with the parents of some children the kids were playing with. Shamefully our Spanish in non existent, apart from the polite basics, so luckily it was an expat English family we were befriended by and learnt about life as an expat in Spain, a marvellous life it seems.

We hopped on a bus back to the train station and opted for the food hall there for dinner, which was typical takeaway choices and nothing to get excited over, though I had to laugh at a poster at the McDonalds, back at home they offer 50c ice creams here in Spain at McDonalds it was 50c beers.

And so after a long absence, and a very lengthy post to accommodate all the photos I didn't want to leave out, here I leave Málaga. The next day we boarded a train to Seville and I shall be back soon with our adventures in that special city.

Checking In

Today I received a very kind message from someone who has been enjoying reading about our travel adventures, and in my excitement I managed to delete rather than publish the message. Luckily I could copy it from my email notification:

Thanks for sharing your fantastic 12 months - became hooked after researching for our europe 2016 trip. Would love to hear about Spain and your trip home ! 

I was so pleased to hear from you, and must admit that since arriving back in Australia and returning to the usual routine of home and school, not to mention the never ending unpacking I have neglected to finish off this mammoth project.

However seeing you asked so nicely, and of course because I want to finish the record of our utterly amazing year, I solemnly promise to write the last few instalments in the very near future. Without risking spoilers let me tell you Spain was marvellous and the trip home eventful.

If I can ever offer help or advice to you or anyone else out there reading this you have only to ask and I would be delighted to offer my assistance if I can.

A Magical Sojourn in Munich

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment where is it to be found"- J B Priestley

The children certainly had their Christmas wish come true and the snow that began on Christmas night continued throughout our stay in Munich. The only disappointment they had was that our stay was so short, only three nights, and then our white Christmas would be over.

We had turned to Hotwire again to find a hotel and were very lucky to get a lovely room with a mezzanine bedroom for the kids at the Hotel Exquisit. Accommodation in Munich is frightfully expensive but the lovely breakfast, which on the weekend was a delightful brunch, was included and so we enjoyed our treat.

We had two days for exploring and being so far behind on my blogging and in need of a quite day, Rob and the kids set out on an adventure by themselves. Firstly they found the local playground and delighted in playing on a playground thick with snow. Apparently sliding down a slide covered in snow is simply wonderful and we stopped complaining about they snow clothes which had filled our heaving suitcases.

The Christmas Markets had been and gone in Munich before we arrived but the kids were not complaining having seen so many before. I told them about a wonderful museum I had visited in Munich many years earlier, called the Deutsches Museum, which sounded great to them and proved to be a wonderful afternoon out with Dad.

Rob had no problem navigating Munich's excellent transport system and they made good time getting to the museum. I love when our day trips fit into our home schooling so nicely and this was another great example. This year Emma studied "Time, Weight, Mass and Measure" as our focus for maths and here the kids found wonderful hands on displays that tied in nicely.

They tell me it was too hard to chose a favourite exhibit but said that the aeroplanes, including the Wright Brothers first motorised plane, were terrific as was the kids hands on area called the "kids kingdom" down in the basement.

The following day we took our time over breakfast and decided to spend the afternoon at the Munich Zoo as we had read that it was the home of a family of Polar Bears and we didn't want to miss them.

Munich Zoo,a snowy winter wonderland, was filled with beautiful animals from around the world. It was very strange to see not only Flamingo's but also Emu's and Zebra all out in snowy enclosures looking very out of place.

It was very cold, -11 in the morning, and so many of the animals were not in their lovely open enclosures. It was not so nice seeing the animals in small concrete enclosures, reminiscent of old style Zoo's, but obviously this was so that animals such as the big cats could be kept warm.

We thought the indoor primate area and adjoining aquarium were wonderful, it was certainly a terrific place to keep warm on a chilly afternoon. We sat for some time watching the antics of some very cheeky monkeys and our own cheeky monkeys enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

 

There were very few visitors at the zoo while we were there but last, but by no means least, we found our way to the Polar Bears and found the other tourists milling around, jostling for the best view of these delightful cubs.

 Tramping around in the snow was certainly a new experience for us. Luckily the kids and I had shoes with good grip, but Rob had decided to bring only one pair of shoes on this part of our travels as his size 12's certainly take up some room in a suitcase. And so his trusty Doc Martins, which had served him so well throughout our travels let him down, literally let him down onto his bottom again and again.

I found myself always nervous of falling and found myself stiff and sore from tensing up all the time. The kids didn't give it a moments thought and loved tramping around, slipping and sliding from time to time but this was all just part of the fun for a couple of Aussie kids.

After the zoo we decided we couldn't leave Munich without having visited Marienplatz and the Hofbrauhaus, those icons of Munich. I do apologise to anyone reading this hoping to find lots of wonderful things to see and do in Munich, having been on the road for over twelve months at this stage we were very good at doing nothing more that what we felt like, we were living in the moment and regretting nothing.

And so our very short stay in Munich ended with some wonderful oompah music, huge pork dinners and huge steins of the local beer in perhaps the world most famous beer hall. It was noisy, overcrowded and a total delight to all of us, a perfect end to our wonderful white Christmas in this corner of the world.

At so very early the next morning, and cold and very snowy one it was, we headed to the airport, where our plane was sprayed with antifreeze on the run way and we were off for our final hurrah..this time Spain.