Day three started out leisurely. Neither Carla nor I slept well, so we were dragging our asses a bit. Dan and Fran were already gone on their morning run when I rolled out to make coffee.

We spent the morning at the Alacazaba,an ancient fortress that dates back to Moorish times in the 11th century. There were many stairs to climb to get to the top so I was grateful for the milder temperatures and the breeze. I was also grateful for the lovely little bar at the top that served a much needed cold beer. What was really cool was that this was literally in our back yard.. just straight up the side of the mountain.

I’m new to this ancient history stuff. Up until today, the oldest buildings I had ever seen with my own eyes were in Quebec City. These go back quite a few centuries more. The views at the top were amazing, as you can see below.  I won’t get into all the history here. You can google it if you want to learn more about it.  Suffice it to say, it is very old and has changed hands numerous times due to its strategic importance and the ebb and flow of political power in the region.

We came down off the mountain and had lunch at our swanky Spanish pad, After lunch we planned to head right over to Gibralfaro Castle, which is connected to the fortress and dates to the 14th century. We did eventually make it there, but all of us crashed hard after lunch for over an hour. It may have been the bottle of wine we had. Checking my Apple watch, it told me we had covered less than 5 km, but climbed 33 flights of stairs, so… yeah.

After the castle wwe walked to the port and checked out some very posh yachts that were moored there. I was afflicted with a very irritated eye, the source of which I still haven’t figured out for sure, but I think may have been sunblock seeping into my eyeball from sweat pouring down my face. Anyway, it hurt. A lot. Carla picked up an eyewash and we parted ways with Dan and Fran so I could go home and shower and get some drops in my eye. We ended the day eating rather disappointing take out at the kitchen table. My eye was already feeling better by then, though, so I was grateful for that.

Tomorrow we have a big day. Cycling down the coast and a nighttime football match to go to. Time to sleep.

Our second day had us on a variety of missions, one of which was getting hooked up with data plans so we could stay in touch with one another, navigate using maps, and, of course stay in touch with people back home. 30 euros get you a month of unlimited calls and 100 GB of data. 

Once that was accomplished, we headed to the Mercado Central de Atarazanas ( the big market in Malaga) to check that out and buy some food items. This was a full on sensory experience. The sheer variety of everything from produce to seafood to meats and cheeses was amazing. Prices seemed very reasonable for the most part. At one stall we were buying strawberries and the vendor, without being asked, offered us some to try. I had forgotten what a real strawberry tasted like. In North America our produce is geared more towards looking good than tasting good. 

Brunch was next on the agenda. We ate at an outdoor table on one of the many beautiful marble paved streets here. There was a big construction lift right next to us that suddenly started up and blasted us with noise, making conversation almost impossible. The locals eating there seemed completely unfazed and carried on enjoying their food. I guess this is how they roll here.  

I had forgotten the backpack I was carrying back at the mall we bought our SIM cards and data packages at. It had an air tag in it which popped up a notification on my phone that I had left it behind. Technology, eh? Just as we were rolling up on the shop, they were calling us to let us know it was left behind. 

On an interesting side note, we’ve found that almost every place we’ve been to here, people are quite fluent in English. The one exception was this Orange cell phone store. Still, bvery nice people. 

Oh yeah, on the way to get the forgotten bag, I got a quick lesson on how the traffic lights work here. I’m used to the ones back home that turn amber and start counting down how many seconds you have to get across the intersection. Thinking it was ok to scoot across with 8 seconds left on the clock, I almost got mowed down by a speeding car. He let me know with his horn that I had effed up. 

Later in the day, we hit a local supermarket for more provisions. I always feel like you haven’t really visited a country until you’ve bought toilet paper there.  

Generally, I thought goods and necessities were surprisingly affordable. They sell booze in their grocery stores here and it pretty inexpensive. 

I let the rest of the gang go to the beach while I stayed back at the condo. I’d had enough sun for a while and thought I would do the traditional Spanish thing and have a siesta.  Turns out I didn’t miss much. The beach right in the heart of the city is crowded and not the greatest. Apparently they get much better further out to the west where fewer people go. 

We finished off the night by heading out for Tapas. Dan and Fran’s friends Maggie and Greg joined us again. The place we went to had a bewildering menu entirely in Spanish. We knew some of what we were ordering, but not all of it was clear, or how much of it to expect. They kept bringing food to the end of the table that Dan and  I were sitting at, and I think we may have eaten quite a bit of the others food. By “we” I mean me.  Sorry, guys.

After that we finished off the night in another small bar with a “zarpe ”, which , if I have this right, is the last drink of the day in Spain. 

Then it was time to stagger home (getting gelato along the way, of course).  

With all of the eating and drinking it’s good that we are doing lots of walking as well. I was surprised when I looked at my watch and it told me that even though  I opted out of the beach and Dan and Fran’s morning run,  I clocked over 20,000 steps and more than 18k. 

Tomorrow is another day.