Our Spanish Hibernation 3:0

It really has been an extraordinary week of weather here in Malaga. A couple of days were quite overcast and Friday was so windy, washing was drying on the lines off the balcony in under an hour. Temperatures on Tuesday and Saturday however reached 23 degrees, with blue skies and a sunshine to burn pale English and Irish skins.

We made the best of both days. Keith and Niall were here on Tuesday, so we meandered our way to Pedregalejo. This neighbourhood of Malaga has a lovely stretch of Chiringuitos (beach bars) and is a perfect spot for some lunch, drinks and banter as you look out at the glittering sea.

Yesterday, Niall was still here for one more day, so we caught the commuter train to Torremolinos. It was baking again as we made our way down from the town to the beach. A gentle winding lane wove down through shops selling leather goods, t-shirts and other tourist paraphernalia. The sea here, again was sparkling and we had a splendid walk down to the marina at Benalmádena.

As expected, there are parts of this region which target the English tourist. Fine. I’m English myself – I just don’t crave pub favourite & chips style menus whilst living in Spain. And, as I’m learning the language, a Spanish menu now and again is a lot more interesting to me than the one with a big Union Jack stamped in the corner.

As we stopped for lunch at the marina, our cheery Spanish waiter took one look at us and asked if we wanted a couple of chicken wraps and a Fish and Chips!! No thanks! He referred to each of us as “mate” and when I asked him where the banos (toilets in Spanish) were, he told me “upstairs, mate. Up the apples and pears”. Not for the first time on this stay (see my blog post on Gibraltar) I am left wondering how the rest of the world sees us Brits!!!!