Málaga Part 1: Castles and Cathedrals

For Semana Santa I decided to get out of Córdoba and go check out the coastal city of Málaga! I've been told it doesn't have the best beaches in Spain, but I wanted to check it out since pretty much everyone had been there. I'm glad I did, too, cuz it turned into an awesome day. For a proper introduction as done by some fancy-shmancy Spanish narrator, check out this vid:



I started off the trip bright and early, getting to the train station at 7:30 before the sun was even up. That means, you guessed it, I got to watch the sun rise over the plains of Spain. The plains really are beautiful, they seem like endless green fields of olive trees.

I arrived early in the morning, and the weather was cool, and I knew three things. First, that there was a castle on a hill. Second, that there was a huge cathedral to investigate. And third, there were beaches. Okay, so I've got my plan down. First: The castle.



Now, the Málaga castle, like most Spanish castles, is at the very top of a gigantic hill over looking the city, which you must hike up to the top of if you plan on feeling like you actually achieved something and deserved to be there. (On a side note, Germans think its hilarious when some skinny American is very carefully scaling the pathway in his sandals).



Now, this thing is beautiful. Old, full of history, and full of fountains. The Spanish do love their fountains and they'll put them any place they've got a spot for one. I don't mind, myself, since I do love a good fountain, too. Here are a few!







Now in actuality I pretty much had this entire place to myself for most of the morning. I mean, who else is going to be at this sight at 9 on a Wednesday morning? And let me tell you, having an entire castle all to yourself to wander around in is pretty fantastic, if you ask me. Not to mention you essentially get a complete panoramic view of the entire city from way up on that big hill you just hiked up!

So after spending a few hours there and dining at the cafe at the top of the castle (I had a Bocadillo a la Manchega, or a sandwich with a few slices of tomato, a big hunk of Manchega cheese, and olive oil. It was awesome) I decided to head on over to the Málaga Cathedral. Now, this Cathedral holds a special place in my heart for a few reasons. First, it's the most beautiful cathedral I've ever seen and -- dare I say it? -- I actually prefer it over Notre Dame in Paris. Now it's pretty much impossible to get a picture of the entire thing up close because it's surrounded by buildings, so here's one of the towers....



And here's one from up on top of the castle:



You'll notice I said towers, even though there only seems to be one. Well, apparently when the Malagueño Bishop had the money ear marked for the completion of the second tower, a little country known as America was fighting for its independence from Britain, so the Bishop took the money for the second tower, gave it to the US to help fight our war, and then just basically said "Towers? What do we need two for? We've already got one!" And so, the castle forever remains incomplete. It's pretty cool though, you can see the the spokes for where the tower was supposed to be.

In any case, as I get up to the cathedral I'm greeted by a sign that says "Today is not a tourist day, please do not enter the Cathedral" right in front of two open doors. Well, frankly, this is my only day in Málaga, and the doors are open, and figuring the WORST they could do is throw me out, I go in anyway.

Well it turns out there was some meeting with all the bishops from all over Spain that I just happened to walk in on, but seeing that there were a ton of tourists doing the exact same thing as me anyhow, I decided to wander around for a while.



This cathedral is lovely. No picture I have can do it's interior justice, as it just reaches up for the sky above you. I was so struck by how beautiful it was that it gave me shivers for at least the first thirty minutes I was there. Now, to give you some sort of scope as to how huge this church is, click on this picture here:



So I sat here for a little while, listening to some Spanish Bishop's sermon echo through the cathedral (which was actually really neat) and it was here that it dawned on me: places of worship always have the most beautiful architecture. Gaudy or not (c'mon, some of the Catholic cathedrals are awfully gaudy), they're still really something to behold.



So that was it for the first two sights, next comes the beach and the adventures with the Spanish Parachuter's Brigade!