Where: Malaga, Spain
When: Feb 22-24
Why: Why not?
With the endless onslaught of snow, Corinne and I decided to escape to the beaches of Spain and forget our cold troubles. It was a whirlwind trip that ended far too soon and left me longing for a quick return to the coast of Spain so I could enjoy the sand and sangria yet again. The trip began with our beloved Sean driving us to the airport in Memmingen (Munich West Airport - actually about an hour outside of Munich) in our short term rental car. Public transportation is the preferred method, but with an early flight and trains starting at 5am it was impossible to make it to the airport in time. Luckily, our round trip flight was a mere $50, so we didn't mind parting with a few extra dollars. We made the departing flight without any struggles and even had time for a quick "goodbye Germany" beer in the terminal. On empty stomachs we said a tipsy auf wiedersehen, G-town and headed to seventy degree Malaga.
We had our usual moments of being lost and confused trying to find our hostel when a young American girl stopped us and asked where we were headed. She was from North Carolina and in Malaga teaching English. She took the time to show us some of her favorite restaurants, our hostel, the night hot spots, and her flat where we had planned to meet up later to play beer pong and flippy cup. We can never really escape our American ways. After setting down our bags we basically ran out of the hostel in search of food. A long morning of travel left us starving so we were ready to get our tapas on at a nearby local favorite. The waiter knew zero English and that definitely added to the fun of the experience. We ordered what we thought was a cheese dip with bread and chicken tapas. About 10 minutes later our server arrives with a plate of chicken wings, a basket of bread, and mozzarella slices....where did we go wrong?! Obviously, our Spanish was a little more rusty than we had thought and we couldn't help but hysterically laugh at ourselves for about 5 minutes. We then ordered a bottle of wine and several other things off of the menu. Our next choices were better and we left the restaurant full and happy and on our way to the beach. Later in the night we hit up a bar that was having a bluegrass inspired band and cheap cervesas. On the way out of the hostel we ventured down a wrong street and before we knew it we were on unmarked roads with graffiti, suspicious cars, and cat calling porch sitters. This was my first time in Europe that I have ever felt unsafe and it was a real eye opener. I had the feeling that any moment someone was going to slink out of a dark alley or doorway and take my belongings or even worse, hurt us. We discussed why turning around was not an option and both kept silent about the bad situation we were in and marched forward in hopes of finding a busy street with people on it. It was only after we emerged into a more populated pedestrian area that we sighed in relief and relayed to each other all of the horrible scenarios that were playing through our heads. After that we vowed to double check the map before we started walking. Thankfully, I left Spain unscathed and with a little more awareness of my fragility in foreign countries. WHEW. The bar, ZZ Bar, or as Corinne likes to call it after several cervezas, ZZ Top, had a really fun atmosphere and the band was absolutely awesome. To ease our nerves from our frightening walk, we took two shots of tequila immediately upon arriving. Cliche, but also a great idea. The band was more than entertaining - check out this link I found on Youtube of their performance from that night. I'm pretty sure whoever took that video was standing right next to me. Our walk home was just as fun with more giggles than I'd care to share with the rest of the world. Upon our arrival at the hostel we made ourselves sit in the common area until we had calmed down to the point where we weren't bursting into laughter every thirty seconds. And this is not an exaggeration.
Day two was great. We got in lots of shopping with the rationalization that we were spending very little on travel expenses and then spent the rest of the afternoon laying on the beach. Words can't describe how much I needed some good time in the sun. I felt so relaxed and recharged, it was just what I needed to face the never ending winter of mountain town. We successfully only did one toursity thing during the trip and even that was done halfheartedly. While the sun was going down we hiked up a itty bitty mountain where some moorish ruins settled and took pictures of the coast and glowing city.
We wanted the trip to end with a bang, and with a 6:30am flight we decided the only way to do this was to stay up all night. This is better in theory than in practice. Although we had a great last night in Spain, we were regretting our decision the entire travel day. Especially when we had to sprint through the airport because the gate check informed us that the agent who originally checked us in made a mistake and WE had to correct it...10 minutes before our gate closed, of course. Still drunk and running to the absolute farthest possible destination from our gate at 5am was the last thing we thought we would be doing and we made sure to complain about it as we thought we would nearly die. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but we weren't happy. Six hours later we were back in Garmisch neatly tucked into our beds sleeping off our night of party machen.
Something important I should note.....During our party machen on the last night Corinne and I were approached by a group of young Spaniards accompanied by an older British couple. The couple explained that they were teaching the 20 somethings in an intensive English course that consisted of them all living together doing every day tasks for an extended period of time, so that they could learn English in an informal setting that was more appropriate to them. They were all very nice, but Corinne and I both shared a look of apprehension when they continuously offered us drinks and probed us with questions about why we were in Europe and what we did at our jobs. We make it a point to never mention that we work for the U.S. military so we answered their questions in a round about way and continued on with the conversation. I feel very bad saying this because they were all very nice and never did anything to make me think differently, but I had a very uneasy feeling the entire time we were with them. After about a half hour of light conversation they asked us to move on to the next bar with them. We politely declined explaining that we were leaving in about ten minutes to collect our bags and head to the airport. My suspicions were confirmed when they looked disappointed and offered to drive us to the airport because it was "on the way" to the next bar (the airport in Malaga is far from the city out in the middle of no where). They then became insistent that we continue our night with them. Corinne and I shared the look again and made a speedy exit. Although it wasn't a scary situation, it definitely caused me to feel anxious and alerted me to the fact that you can't trust everyone. From the wise mouth of Dave Martin - Always trust your gut.
I failed to mention the overly aggressive nature of Spanish men. If you have low self confidence Spain is the place to go. No matter what you're wearing or how you look these men will make kissing noises at you, whistle, sing, make suggestive comments (in English and Spanish), and make you feel all around uncomfortable. In the beginning we found this pretty amusing, but by the end of day two it was just annoying. Even the youngins playing in the park found it necessary to follow in their elder's steps. Hence the blog title.
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