Torremolinos: mass tourism

Discouraged by the weather situation, we're happy to take the first bus to Torremolinos. Tarifa’s station terminal is rather basic: the reception is closed, chairs are non-existent, and the terminal’s cleanness surely is not what you would go for. We get our ticket (about 10 euro) on the bus, we get in line and... goodnight everyone!

Torremolinos is just as I expected it to be: touristic, very touristic. It’s nice for a one-day stay, but nothing more. We chose it as the last stop of our Andalusia’s tour because the following day we would have departed from Malaga airport (approx. 10 km away) at 9 am and therefore, it was convenient. In fact, you can safely take the train (1 € approx.) that takes you directly to the airport.

As I said, since the town is very touristic, it doesn't stands out for its architectural beauty; on the opposite, you can see stretches of beachfront hotel tower blocks that litter a landscape, which is already not great.

Once we take possession of our room, we go to eat at the restaurant on the opposite side of the road: we don't even have all the money to pay the bill, as we’re missing about 70 cents, but with a little blink of eyelashes and an apology, we make it out of there :D

We spend the rest of the day at the beach, which is very crowded, with a slight sea. It’s almost impossible to swim, each wave pulls my bathing suit down... it’s better for me stop showing off!

In the evening, we take a beautiful paseo in the center, which is filled with shops, then we go for a walk along the beach, we do some last minute shopping, and then we head to bed. Our vacation's over.

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Total cost per person:

Easyjet flight round trip 240 € Milan Malpensa-Malaga

hotel approx. € 300 for 11 nights

buses and other public transport approx. 60 euro

trip to Tangier: 55 €

Lunches and dinners: average 25 euro per day

One day in Morocco (Tangier)

We bought the 55 euro tickets for the one-day tour to Tangier from an agency, but to tell the truth, we could have also used the do-it-yourself formula. In fact, we could have bought a ferry round trip ticket for € 32 and then visit the city center on our own: of course, we would have probably ended up lost in the narrow and crowded streets of Tangier, and also we would have certainly had some security issues, but at least we would have been spared all the demonstrations of carpets, essential oils, natural pharmacy etc. .... In the end, I wouldn’t know what to go for, well, probably security.

However, before visiting the city, we were put on a bus and taken to the suburbs to see a cave that has an opening shaped like Africa, and that carries its own traditional story, which, to tell you the truth, I didn’t even feel like hearing.

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserverd. Moroccan coast near Tangier

Me in Morocco

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Shaped cave Africa ORIGINAL

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Shaped cave Africa RETOUCHING

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The second stop of our Moroccan tour was right in town. We reached the center all together, where we briefly assist to a public speech made by a local leader, surrounded by his group of supporters. In order to help us to not get lost, another Moroccan guy, beside our official tourist guide, closed the group and made sure that nobody got missing: of course, at the end of the day he would ask for a (lavish) tip for his valuable help. Then we passed through a myriad of narrow streets, to end up at the restaurant booked by the agency: a typical Moroccan place with a lot of traditional musicians. There’s a waiter so weird that he looked like someone who’s full of heroin… Our cous-cous based lunch, which I would say was very good, was consumed fairly quickly. Then it was the turn of the exhibitions… and that sucked! First, we stopped at the carpet exhibition with its attached shop, then we moved to the exhibition of pseudo-natural products for the body, face, hands, for the treatment of headache, toothache and just for the treatment of everything. Our third and final stop (thank God, or I would have made a mess!) was at a magnificent room with a panoramic terrace looking over the port of Tangier and that was it!

Agitators and supporters

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Tangier's Square

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. At the market

 

When the boarding time arrived, we had a moment of semi-panic mixed with hilarity: on the ticket issued by the Moroccan transport, Sebastian’s last name was misspelled… but no worries, nobody noticed the difference apart from us!

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Tarifa what a price!

Tarifa is the southernmost country of the entire European continent and, for some reason that I can’t explain, this filled us with great expectations. Being only 14 km far from Morocco, Tarifa is considered as the meeting point of two continents and two cultures, the European and the African one. This small town is very nice, with its low white houses, narrow cobbled streets, pubs, restaurants, and clubs to no end. A paradise for surfers and for the lovers of the most fun parties of Andalusia. However, if you don't belong to any of these categories, you're screwed.

We stayed in Tarifa for 3 days, 2 of which were literally spent in the wind and, therefore, we were unable to go to the beaches. We tried, but believe me, it was a disaster! So if you aren’t into extreme sports and you don't like to stay out until 5 in the morning, there isn’t much to do here. Not to mention the fact that Tarifa it is a very expensive small town! The standards are even higher than our Italian ones. We spent 83 euro per room per day for a 2 star hotel; yes, it was nice and clean, but still a 2 star! Eating is certainly not cheap as well: so consider a budget of at least 100 euro per day per person if you come to Tarifa in August! And have fun.

Tarifa, the European homeland of surfers

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved

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The rooftops of Tarifa

Among the narrow streets of Tarifa

Too much wind!!

Too much wind, but the beaches are deserted!

How bad is Gibraltar?!?!

In the early morning we took yet another bus to go back to Malaga, then from there, our journey would have been Malaga-La Linea de la Conception-Gibraltar. When we arrived at the Line, we headed straight towards the big hotel I had booked on the internet seizing a super deal: 30 € per room for a 4 star hotel with swimming pool (not used), wellness center (not used) etc. .. We deposited our bags and immediately went out to find a restaurant to have lunch: man, what a sad place! Although it was 4 pm, everything was closed, even the restaurants seemed to be ready to kick people out: it’s siesta time. We stopped at a little place downtown, where we had a decent meal, and then we moved towards the border with Gibraltar. We walked through customs, where the policeman asked us for the documents, and then we found ourselves on the famous runway aircraft that divides the border between Spain and Gibraltar. What a cool feeling! We could immediately see the Rock of Gibraltar that I would have liked to visit, but since we were staying there only for a short time, we simply observed it from below.

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The track that divides Spain and Gibraltar

The Rock of Gibraltar

As soon as we passed through customs, we saw the first signs of England: the red telephone boxes, and Sebastian didn’t  miss the chance...
We reached (after a couple of miles) the city center. It’s nice, if you want, and it’s typically English, but other than that, there is really nothing. We had a quick walk through the streets of the city, we stopped at an internet point and then we went back. We’re tired, it’s evening, and we chose a little place to dine in La Linea, which I would say was very good if it hadn’t been for the surrounding area ... which I would define as disturbing. We’re in the middle of summer, but it was foggy and the atmosphere was the one of a horror movie ... Better eat and go straight to bed and forget this terrible village!

 

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Nerja, The balcony of Europe and the crystal clear water

When we left Granada, we would have never imagined to arrive in a small town so nice that we regretted that we had spent there only a little over two days...

Nestled on the coast, Nerja has a very enviable sea. Turquoise blue waters invite you to enjoy long and relaxing days on the beach. And we did. In these days we spent in Nerja, we did nothing but eat, sleep and rest… exactly what we were looking for. Also, the accommodation wasn’t so bad; even if it was far from the center, it was very clean and comfortable. The price was about 40 euro per person but you have to keep in mind that it was August!

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Nerja. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

The cristal blue water of Nerja. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

The cristal blue water of Nerja. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Nerja. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

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The Alhambra in Granada

Since the bus to Granada didn’t leave from the bus terminal in front of the train station before mid-morning, we had all the time to stop and have breakfast with some fantastic churros (fritters for dipping in hot chocolate). In less than two hours we arrived in Granada, we left the station, took a bus to the city center and we were lucky enough to get down right in front of our "hotel". The quotation marks are a must, considering the accommodation we had been given: a small room, minimum standard cleaning, a super noisy fan, and the view.... oh well, should I go on? However, the most spectacular thing was the distorting mirror, at least we laughed a little.
We walked up and down the main street of the city, following signs for the Lonely to nibble some great tapas in a place crowded also with locals, where everyone screams and you must scream too and elbow if you want to be served.... well, let’s go with that! Sebastian was not very happy with his lunch though...

Granada, Albaicin’s district.  2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

The distorting mirror

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Granada is the capital of Andalusia and, a part of from the Alhambra, there’s nothing else spectacular to visit. Sure it is nice, but it’s not worth more than 1-2 days of stay.
The Alahmbra is a whole different thing, this place alone is worth the trip.
Etymologically, Alhambra is "al-Hamra '" (the Red الحمراء) in Arabic; in fact, its full name was “Qal at al-Hamra” (Red Fortress).
According to some versions, the name derived from the pinkish color of the walls surrounding the Alhambra. It’s a real walled city that occupies most of the Sabika hill. The Alhambra style represents the supreme apex of the Andalusia’s art.
The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO has nominated the Alhambra and Granada’s Generalife Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I will not indulge in telling the whole Alhambra’s story because it can be read in any guide or source from the Internet.
I had to book the tickets 3 months (the maximum) in advance to be able to visit them, and I did that directly from the site www.alhambratickets.com, where I had to choose at what time we would have been at Palacios Nazarios. We got there at a decent time, around 9 am, and there’s already a long queue to get tickets. I had to witness to this scene where an Italian woman, in her bad Spanish-English, was expressing her displeasure, saying that it was inconceivable that she had arrived at 8am and all the tickets were already gone! The guy tried to explain to her that we’re in the middle of August and there’re people who had been in line from 4am (I would have been happy to intervene to shut her up) .... what the fuck was she expecting?!?!? Anyway, in the end I didn’t really care and I happily went to collect my ticket directly from the ATM: you simply insert the credit card which you bought the tickets with and voilà, you have the ticket in your hand in 5 minutes. We entered at 9.30am and we went out at 2.30pm; we were tired and hot, but satisfied. It was just a shame that the best thing to see in Palacios Nazarios, the fountain with lions, was in the process of restoration ... :(

Alhambra, the Palacios Nazarios. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Alhambra, the Palacios Nazarios. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Alhambra, the Palacios Nazarios
(work in progress at the fountain of lions).
2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Alhambra. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Alhambra, Generalife gardens. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

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My love was born in Malaga

I'm not crazy, but when I think of Malaga, I always think of this song. And it’s from this city, which many consider ugly, that our tour in Andalusia and Morocco started.

Let’s discredit the rumors: Malaga is pretty, I would say that it’s at least prettier than Granada. We arrived in the evening with a direct flight from Milan Malpensa. We took the bus to the city, then we walked for a few miles until we reached our hotel in the city center (Hotel Carlos V, about 30 euro per person per night). The room was clean and well equipped. A very cool program that should be aired in Italy as well is on television; it's called "1000 stupid ways to die". They show you true stories of death that are so absurd that they are almost ironic…even if the thought of death is not so funny…
We went out to find something to eat, it's almost 11 pm and we don’t want to be left empty-handed. Seba, overwhelmed by his hunger, ended up into one of the many tourist traps: a restaurant with plastic chairs, dirty tablecloths and unhelpful staff. Not to mention the food. Ok, the following day I would have chosen where to stop eating!
The following day was completely dedicated to the exploration of the town, from the beach to the main square.
Our first stop was Malagueta beach, which couldn’t be defined fantastic but nice and perfect for a little relax. Then, we took a walk along the Paseo Maritimo and explored the narrow streets of the center. A day of sightseeing, nice and quiet.

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La Malagueta Beach. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Malaga by night. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

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