Málaga: el Alcazar

In the middle of downtown Málaga there's what appears, from the ground, to be some sort of stone ruin.  There's a brick path to follow to get in to it; this leads to an office where you have to pay to get in.  We almost turned back, but I'm so glad that we didn't, for two reasons.  First, admission was 60 cents with a student id.  Second, we got to see what was probably the coolest structure that I've been in in Spain.  Inside the alcazar we found beautiful gardins, balconies overlooking the city, and  a palace.  The path inside keeps going up and up, and from the top we could see all of Malaga to one side, and mountains and the sea to the other.  It was gorgeous.

It was hot and sunny, but there was a cool sea breeze rolling in.  All of Malaga smells incredible, from some sort of floral tree; it smelled even better inside the alcazar.  As if things couldn't get any better, from the top of where we climbed to we could hear the music from the processions.  Sure, I'll take a band concert from the top of a tower.  

Málaga: Procession

A big part of Semana Santa anywhere in Spain is the Procession, when the town's Virgin statue is taken from the church and paraded around the town.  From what we discussed in class it's usually a solemn event in the north; in the south, it's a festival.  There were marching bands closing every procession, and street vendors selling roasted almonds and ice cream.  

Catedral de Málaga y Las Tías

Our second day in Málaga Jenna and I went to see the Picasso museum and to visit the catedral with some people that we met in the hostel.  Our new friends were three women around our mothers' ages: Blanca, Mariajose, and Chita.  They were really nice and funny, and we had a great time spending the morning with them.  It was extra cool in that we really weren't having ay trouble communicating.  They called themselves our spanish aunts, and kept trying to convince us that we should meet their sons.  I know that hostels make some people really nervous (hey mom) but you can meet some really cool people there. 

Oh, and the catedral was cool.

Around Málaga

Reminiscing, and the reason I wanted to go to Málaga: start around 5:15.

Los legionarios y el puerto de Málaga

One of the first things that we did once arriving in Málaga was to find the port.  We arrived just in time for the beginning of the Semana Santa activities, with the Legionairios arriving via battleship in to the harbor.  We sat opposite the crowd for a while, enjoying the view of the mountains and the sea, before moving over to be part of the crowd.  

The soldiers were all singing as the ship sailed in.  There was a band with them, repeating the same song over and over.  It would have been really cool if the trumpets had been in tune...

The reason that they were there is that they start the processions toward the church where the Virgin is. From there the Virgin is paraded through the streets all day, followed by marching bands and sometimes crying people.  

La Playa de Málaga

Most of Spain is on holiday during Semana Santa.  Our school was no different.  On Wednesday night, three of us left Segovia at 8pm for Madrid, where we caught an overnight bus to Málaga.  Málaga is a city on the southern coast of Spain, on the Mediterranean   We were lucky enough to be in what might have been the only town in Spain that was not raining this weekend.  Of course, we attempted to swim.  The water was frigid.  I stood in the water up to my knees, and within 10 minutes lost all feeling in my feet.  Matt actually swam, and likely courted hypothermia as a result.  Despite that, it was so nice to be somewhere warm and sunny.