Breakfast in the Parador is less than stellar and we eat quickly and for sustenance only.
We meet Francisco in the lobby and drive away in the Mercedes. He generously suggests a photo opportunity at the canyon floor. This descent is controlled but nevertheless steep and ends looking straight up at the iconic view of the Puente Nueve, the Old Town and the Parador. We fire off some photos and start the trip to Malaga, the last city on our Trip to Spain.
It is a drive on Spain's highways complete with road improvement operations and a very large wind farm in the countryside. We pass by close enough to see the large boxes containing each windmill's machinery. The arrival into Malaga's industrial city limits is reminiscent of the view on the Peripherique in Paris. But it isn't long before we are in the old city and the view improves considerably.
We bid adieu to Francisco and find our way to the Hotel RM Larios which is not ready for us when we arrive. So we stroll along Calle Marques de Larios, the main pedestrian thoroughfare and stop for a long cortado.
Malaga is ancient city on the Mediterranean Sea isolated from the rest of Spain by the Penibetica Mountain range. Like so many cities in Spain, it has been inhabited by different people and cultures. The Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans all occupied this territory. But it is the Moors who left a mark on the place. It was an important trade center and was one of the last cities, with Ronda, to fall to the Christians in 1487.
We return to our boutique hotel and make our way to our last lodgings of the trip. The room is clean and tailored; a perfect place for one night. We empty our suitcases here since the return to Boston will be easier if our suitcases are well packed and the weight is evenly distributed. We eat paella at an outside tapas restaurant, enjoying the sun and a glass of wine.
We decide to bypass the Picasso Museum and the Carmen Thyssen Museum in favor of walking as we only have this one day to visit. We walk toward the Mediterranean Sea and come upon a huge cruise ship from the Bahamas moored in the harbor.
We return to our space and fall asleep.
We awaken in time to meet our guide for a tapeo in Malaga. Paco, a 70 year old gentleman, greets us and describes the plan for the tour. We visit a tapas bar well before anyone, including tourists, and learn about Iberian ham and how free range black pigs are raised on acorns found in the wild.
We visit Malaga's oldest tapas bar, El Pimpi. It is crowded and noisy with large wine barrels in the main entrance and photos of famous people who have visited as well as old bull fighting posters on the wall.
The next bar is another boisterous crowded restaurant where Paco parts the seas and we find a small table and chairs to sit on next to the black bull statue. He arranges for us to go behind the scenes and choose eight tapas before they are cooked. He secures a bottle of wine and champagne with dessert. We talk for a long time about traveling, family life and his plan to make the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage for the sixth time. We stroll along the pedestrian walkway in the dark and stand for a time before the Catedral de Malaga and notice it has only one completed tower giving it the name La Manquita or "one-armed one." We visit the baroque Episcopal Palace and then take our leave of Paco.
We return to our room and carefully repack our bags for the trip to Zurich and Boston early in the morning.
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