Málaga with Stephen

Last weekend eleven of the students from the Texas Tech engineering study abroad program in Seville spent the weekend exploring Málaga. There were no Friday afternoon classes so we left Seville after lunch and took the 2-hour train ride to Málaga. Málaga, which lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, is a beautiful city and the sixth largest in Spain. During the weekend we managed to visit all the main cultural attractions while also enjoying the beach and delicious seafood. After a lengthy check-in process at our hostel (the front desk lady didn’t speak English or Spanish well) we spent the afternoon relaxing on the roof of the hostel and eating the local tapas.

Friday evening we ate at this amazing Mediterranean restaurant, which was relatively inexpensive.

Later that night some of the students checked out the Málaga nightlife. Going to bed required great fortitude because our rooms were insanely hot and we were soaked in sweat. Saturday we climbed up the hill in the middle of the city to the Gibralfaro castle built by the Moors. The climb was intense but on top you get an amazing 360-degree view of the city.

We had kebabs for lunch, took a siesta, and spent the rest of afternoon on the beach. That night we had another great dining-out experience, but it was the ice cream afterwards that I thought was the best. Sunday we explored the Alcazaba (the Moors’ governers palace) and the Roman ampitheater, which was built in the first century A.D. and directly in front of the Alcazaba.

From an engineering standpoint it was interesting that they had a small stream of water running throughout the palace. This not only watered all the plants easily, but also kept the Alcazaba surprisingly cool despite the fact that we visited during the hottest time of the day.

Afterwards, we checked out Picasso’s house where he grew up. There wasn’t much to see, it looked like a typical Spanish home, but it was cool to walk through the house where Picasso lived as a child and teen. Lastly we ate some Spanish pizza and hit the beach one more time for good measure before we caught our evening train back to Seville. Overall, we had a great time and it was my funnest weekend of the summer so far.