Malagueta, welcome to Malaga, sunny sea in the heart of winter.
Wandering about sunny Malaga we found ourselves at the Malagueta on the beach. Not particularly hungry, we stood for a moment at the bar area and were soon drawn in. The people working there are like a floor show behind the scenes. First there is the old guy who likely owns the place and was bottle/glass washer, drink maker (never saw him wash his hands once in nearly 2 hours) and all around whatever needed to be done man. Watching him make a Mojito, I was tempted to having one. Claudio got a beer from the thin red headed cashier, order announcer, beer and soft drink pouring, everything else. In the kitchen, the size of a postage stamp, were 2 people non stop and a young boy who was in and out of the kitchen fetching the octopus.
This is what got our attention to the guy, literally on the beach grilling the fish in the most original way we had ever seen, in a hollowed out old boat. While Claudio chilled in his Cavaletto shoes, we enjoyed the bliss of La Malagueta welcoming us.
Overall an entertaining 2 hours at the Malagueta on the sea. Loved it so much we returned on our way home for another Mojito and some of the padrons grilled peppers, divine! We caught a look at the sea covered in perched birds too.
From here we wandered back to town and enjoyed a wander inside the old area, a glass of white and then dinner at the Cosmopolita.
This proved to be another entertaining gastronomic event. First our waiter was helpful in a quirky and fun way, then when he stomped heavily on my foot and I delicately, barely touched his foot in the spirit of an old Russian superstition , he went bananas. From that moment on he would not only not look at us, he spoke to us indirectly through the couple next to us. The upside of this, they were a lovely couple. He Spanish, she French. We spent the entire evening with them, including a shisha, Turkish coffee, and sweets at Teteria El Haren.
Next day we had a slow start and then met up with friends for el Pimpi and a drive along the coast and a bit in the mountains. This tired us out and Claudio stayed in the night. I went out for a meander and found myself in Meson Mariano where I stood up and enjoyed goat pate and a house speciality of artichoke with ham and sherry sauce. Next to me a local couple, living in Madrid and home to Malaga for holiday, share their infectious joy with me. Claudio and I returned to this place on our last night in Malaga and he loved it too! The grilled artichokes were a particular treat.
We returned to the shisha place too, and I relaxed into the cushions and simultaneously enjoyed the experience, and recalled fond memories with friends in Istanbul. The next day, I went to the sister of this place, a fantastic cafe and tea house, where I got us sandwiches for our Easy Jet flight and the most marvelous tea to start my detoxification from this decadent trip.
Overall, while we did not see the Picasso museum, the Thyssen, or even the Roman theater from the inside, and we enjoyed Malaga as a fun, easy place to visit and relax completely.