As many of you know I'm never happier than when stopping for a coffee (and possibly a pastry!) and to take the opportunity to people-watch. Mick is a convert too - in fact he usually suggests stopping for a coffee before me (although it might be for a ciggie rather than the coffee!) It's one of our daily pleasures and ir de cafe (to go out for coffee) is part of everyday Spanish life. All tastes and pockets are catered for from the worker's bar/cafe where an early morning cortado and cognac might be consumed, to the hubbub of the local cafe and the bistro-style cafe/restaurants. We are amazed to see that the cities are introducing Nespresso cafes for your upmarket, stylish fix. Somewhat dubiously I tried it and, for me, the coffee lacks that bite which is what coffee is about. Overall I think Nespresso and its outlets are very much style over content but a marketing dream. Try it - you might like it - amazingly, the young, hip Spanidards are falling for it - or are they looking out for George Clooney?
On our weekly tumble-drying day (yawn!) we like nothing more than to decamp to the nearby Cafe Pelayo where the volume from chit-chat is, for me, quintessentially Spanish. The waiters are very attentive - attending to the women's orders and politely addressing their male clientele - its lovely to see that customer service still exists (sadly long gone in the UK!)
Later in our stay we stumbled across this very popular, traditional bar/cafe - you know you're in Andalucia when you see this type of place:
 |
| The Malaga institution that is Casa Lola |
And then there's Pimpi - frequented by the likes of that handsome malagueno, Antonio Banderas, various celebs, world leaders, including Tony Blair (you can always rely on him to be somewhere that he can be seen!) The infamous Pintxo & Tapa will be added to the long list of high-end clientele tomorrow when we have our 'goodbye to Malaga' drinks and tapas.
 |
| The beautiful portico at Pimpi |
 |
| Salud! from El Jardin |
There's a thriving arts scene here but we are still a little over-galleried from Madrid so we were very selective as to which we visited. You can't come to Malaga without visiting the Museo de Picasso, Malaga. Picasso was born here and, as you can imagine, it advertises the fact. The museo presents a small collection of Picasso's work which has been donated by his family and shows the more personal side of his life and relationships. It was a pleasure to see. We also happened upon the Casa Natal (Picasso's birthplace) which is now a shrine to him and, whilst not really our scene, it is open to free visits on Sundays and we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. As nice as it was, we're glad we didn't pay for the pleasure! Outside in the Plaza Merced there is a bronze statue of Picasso sitting on a bench - I couldn't resist a shot with the Maestro!
 | |
| The Maestro and me in Plaza Merced |
 |
| Outside the Exhibition Room at La Termica |
Flamenco
I know you're thinking - 'hang on, what about flamenco'. Well, I've resisted the temptation to go to the Flamenco Museum, preferring to see a live performance and whilst Malaga has a very respectable pedigree, there's nowhere better to see flamenco than in Cadiz and Jerez which is where we're heading early next year. In fact, we're planning to go to the Feria in Jerez late February so more of flamenco later in the blog. In the meantime, here's a taster of some flamenco and sevillana accessories - now where else would you see a shop like this - fans priced from euro 140 upwards!
 |
| A taste of flamenco |
No comments:
Post a Comment