Day 6, Saturday - Malaga
Automobile & fashion museum, wanderingn around

If you look at my original itinerary, we were supposed to go on yet another day trip today, to Nerja, the caves and Frigiliana. I was going to book a guided tour that takes us to all 3 (found via get your guide). The company is called All-in-Malaga. A few days before we sere to depart for our trip, I went to their website with the intention of booking, but realize every single day for this specific trip, they still have 50 tickets available, even for the very next day. Finding this a bit suspicious, I went on Tripadvisor for its reviews, and most gave 1* saying that their guided tours were cancelled. So then I decided that we can visit Nerja caves and Nerja on our own, as it's not that complicated by taking the bus there.

Well, my son's tiredness has compounded day after day, and the thought of another daytrip isn't appealing to him, esp given the day before we had a long day trip to Antequera, and the following day we are planning a long day trip to Ronda. I'm okay with skipping Nerja since I've been inside caves before and I don't mind a relaxing day in Malaga.

As a reuslt, my son slept over 12 hours and finally woke up close to 11am. My SIL had no interest in the automobile museum so she went out to venture on her own. Before we finally are ready to head out, I grabbed a couple of leftover foods from the fridge. As we were walking from our apartment to the bus stop for Bus 7, we stopped at one of the bakery chains, La Canasta (c. Lairos location) to buy a local pastry called Torta Loca (€1,90)

Bus ride to Automobile & Fashion Museum is v straight-forward, the the bus stop is directly across the street from the museum entrance. It was lunch time when we arrived, so we sat at the tables outside the museum entrance and had a quick snack with the provisions I grabbed from the fridge, plus the torta loca as dessert. This museum closes at 2:30pm for siesta and I was worried if we have enough time (2 hrs) to see it. Turns out I needn't worry, unless you are a car nut. I really enjoy how the classic cars and fashion are displayed side-by-side. The museum is bright and airy, and overall just very pleasant to visit. We spent 1 hour there. (€12 adult, €8 youth).

Love the juxtaposition of classic cars and fashion

Love the juxtaposition of classic cars and fashion

Today is yet another beautiful day weather-wise... we took Bus 7 back to the center but got off at the big El Corte Ingles just on the other side of the river. I read about the "Gourmet Experience" on the rooftop and wanted to check it out. But first, we headed down to the basement level supermarket to get a couple of food souvenirs at the "local" price. When we got to the top floor, it has several restaruants, with one of them having an outdoor setting (rooftop). But the menu prices are high and the lines are long, so we decided against it. The top floor also sell premium food gifts, at many times the prices of what we got down in the basement.

We then walked across the river back towards Plaza de la Marina, and finally decided to have lunch at Illari Puerto, right behind the tourist info center. This was 3pm already and after a week we finally were ealitng like locals at 3pm lol. We shared a number of dishes, including boquerones (fried anchovies), 6 croqueetes, tortilla espanola, and something called gilda matriomonio, a pintxo pairing both anchovy and boquerón(marinated white anchovy) with guindilla peppers and manzanilla olives. Lunch was €24,70.

Boquerones - becomingn one of my son's favorite

croquettes and tortilla espanola

gilda matrimonio

I had considered visitng the Museum of Malaga after lunch, but the weather was so beautiful that I was reluctant to spend time indoors (esp knowing that once our trip is over, we will be returning to wintry weather). Son and I went inside the TI to buy some more postcards (for him) and an xmas ornament (our tradition of travel souvernirs). My SIL met up with us and we had a long walk from Plaza de la Marina, through the promenade by the waterfront (Palmera de las Sorpresas), which connects to Muelle Uno where we had gone on our arrival day. Today being a beautiful Saturday, the area is particularly lively, bustling with locals and tourists alike. We continued to the Fagola (lighthouse), and then continued walking all the way out to the cruise terminal - thinking it might be a nice spot to look back towards the city (it is not). We walked for 2 hours! Neither my son nor I were hungry given our late lunch, we decided we will have churros con chocolat for dinner, at the origianl Casa Aranda. on C. Herrería del Rey. This time we each ordered 2 churros instead of one. It is shocking to see how big this original Casa Aranda is! The actual restaurant isn't that big, but they have outdoor tables lining almost the entre block, and over time they must have bought up a few additional storefronts across the street, as they have a couple additional indoor seating areas across the streets. We retired early this evening.


Promenade "Palmera de las Sorpresas"

Did I mention it was yet another picture-perfect day weather-wise?

Travelling with our boys as teenagers also meant compromising with later morning starts every now and then, it’s great you made it work for you.
In Italy, we would head off to our favourite espresso bar and an early wander, and let them sleep in.

Yes, I totally would have done something similar now that my son is finally old enough to be left alone in a hotel or apartment. Originally it was only supposed to be me and my son on this trip and we would each have our own bedroom. In that case, i could get up early and head out without disturbing him. But because my SIL came too so my son and I had to share a room, and I did not want to wake him up by turning on the light/making too much noise... defeating the purpose of letting him sleep in.

What a treat to have wonderful weather. Malaga seems to be a great base for exploring. Really enjoying all of the pictures and places you explored.

Enjoying your TR enormously ... I have only been to Spain once and that was a kind of stopover so I have only seen Toledo and a little bit of Madrid. You inspire me to see more! I am also wowed by what a bargain you seem to have nabbed with your airfare. It costs us a minimum of ~ A$2500 to fly from Sydney to say Frankfurt, RT with only slight variation depending on the season, so I am very envious of you! But I will think about bidding to get a better class of travel, that seems entirely doable. I had an offer from KLM last time I travelled and I did not take it up - very small plane, I didn't think it worthwhile, but next time it might be fun!

Lavandula

Paqngo, YES! I'm well aware of how perfect weather enhances one's impression of a place and the whole trip experience. Thank you for following along.
Lavandula, I could hardly believe the $377 airfare... I don't think I have seen anything this low since right after 9-11. Looking back at my trip reports from 15-20 years ago, I have always regarded plane tickets around $700-1000 to be "reasonable," though Feb is considered low season but I'd say $500 is already a good deal.

Day 7, Sunday - Ronda

Today is our day trip to Ronda, visitng on our own. We bought our tickets about 36hrs in advance directly on Groupo interbus website. There are other 3rd party websites that sell tickets as well but they charge additional fees. The total r/t bus fare was €25,22pp.

On weekends, the bus departs from Malaga at 8:30am and 10:30am. With my son's need for sleep, we opted for 10:30am departure, and 6:00pm return. The bus ride is about 2 hours.

We arrived in Ronda just around 12:30pm, and started walking towards the New Bridge. En route we stopped at one of the many miradors (viewpoints), and at the TI by the BullRing. At the TI, I got a map and asked the staff for the route that makes most sense for us without backtracking. Enroute to Arab Baths we passed through Jardines de Cuenca which offers a good view of the New Bridge. Arab Baths, €7,50,closes at 3pm. The Baths is one of the best preserved thermal baths from the Muslim period. I thought it was well worth visiting, and definitely watch the movie in the last room, which gives you more information about the structure, how it works, how it was used etc. After the visit, my SIL mentioned she would also want to see Mondragon Palace, which also closes at 3pm. I didn't not put that on my list because I didn't think we could fit everything I wanted to see in and it got dropped off from my list. I wish she had mentioned this sooner as we could have parted ways and do our own thing. By the time we finished the Arab Baths it was already 1:30pm and we haven't had lunch yet. So we grabbed lunch at a random place called Bodega Tita Pepa so we could be done quickly. Son and I each got a quick sandwich (€17) but my SIL ordered a salad, which took time to make and took time to eat. By the time we finally arrived at Mondragon Palace, they were ready to close up so we didn't go in. I was honestly a bit annoyed because we could have used our time better (eg more leisurely lunch at a place I had researched beforehand).

View of new bridge from Jardines de Cuenca

Arab Baths

Next on my must-do list is the new Desfiladero del Tajo (€5 pp) which opened in 2024. It is a cliff-side walkway that takes you all the way underneath the New Bridge for excellent view. However, when my SIL saw it, she didn't want to go because of the helmet-requirement. Not that she didn't want to wear one, but she perceives it to be dangerous. We asked the ticket office how long the walk takes, and they told us 25 minutes, so we agreed to meet in 1/2 hour.

Once my son donned our helmets, we got on the path and reached the New Bridge. Then we realized Phase 2 of the path has actually opened as well (this is not indicated on its own website). Phase 2 goes along the narrow gorge of Tajo canyon and goes to the Old Bridge, and is double the length of Phase 1. By then I realize it will take us at least twice the time to complete so I texted my SIL to alert her. The walkway along the canyon actually connects with the Water Mine of Casa del Rey Moro. Normally there is a locked gate separating the Water Mine and the Desfiladero walkway but when we were there the gate was open. We actually had no idea where the steps in the gate lead to, so we started climbing the steps... many floors later we finally realized we were in Case del Rey Moro. The reverse is true — visitors of Casa del Rey Moro were able to get on the Desfiladero path and you can tell that because these people don't have helmets on. It was really confusing for all of us.

Eventually we reached the end of the path at the Old Bridge and turn around (currently it is a dead end, not sure if in the future it will continue to the Arab Baths). I have to say, the stretch in the canyon between the 2 bridges is very pretty, and definitely worth seeing. When we returned to the entrance to return our helmets, the couple in front of us had no helmets as they came through Casa del Rey Moro water mine. They got yelled at but honestly not their fault as there was no sign. When I asked about the gate, I was told the gate normally is locked but someone broke it.

View from the start of Desfiladero de Tajo — you can see the walkway on the right side of the cliffs

Phase 2 of Desfiladero de Tajo, walkway along the Tajo gorge between the New Bridge and Old Bridge

My SIL was a bit annoyed at us because she wasted an hour waiting for us; at first it was 1/2 hour so she decided to wait, then when it got extended, she decided she couldnt accomplish much within half hour so she just kept waiting. Oh well. After that my son and I decided we didn't need to go visit Casa del Rey Moro, and we just went along with wherever my SIL wanted to see. We walked back to the New Bridge to a few viewpoints, then through the maze of narrow streets full of souvenir shops over to Plaza del Socorro. I have to say, Ronda is the most touristy places we visited on this trip. The entire town is packed with tourists, including many tour groups (esp Asian tour groups). By then it was close to 5pm (our bus is at 6pm) and I have read that La Ponderosa by the bus station has good churros, so we headed there. But turns out they only serve churros in the morning, so we ended up just getting a couple cups of hot chocolate instead.

Our 6pm bus left on time and we were supposed to be back by 7:45pm, but there was an accident on the (2-lane) highway which caused quite a back-up. Eventually our bus driver took a detour and we didn't get back to Malaga until 8:15pm. For dinner, my SIL suggested finding a place on C. Cuarteles, which is the street we take to walk back to city center. My son wanted Italian but SIL wanted kebab, so we went to Restaurant y bar Alepo. It was probably the worst meal we had on this trip (€24) for 2 kebab plates.

In sum, while we had about 5.5 hrs in Ronda, it was not nearly enough. If my son didn't need to sleep so much, I would have preferred us to take the 8:30am bus and return at 6pm, giving us 7.5 hrs which would allow us to visit some additional sights.

Beautiful photos! I realize it was not possible for you, but an overnight stay in Ronda gives a less touristed view and also it can be beautiful when the sun shines through the morning fog over the gorge.
This is a photo I took some years ago.

Day 8, Monday - Malaga
Biking to Rincón de la Victoria

Hard to believe today is our last FULL day in Malaga! When I booked the trip, I was worried 8 days would be too long and we would run out of things to do; but then the days just went by so quickly!

Knowing my son will probably sleep in until late (esp after getting home late last night from our Ronda day trip), I told him I plan to get up early and slip out for sunrise. I looked online before and saw that Malagueta beach is a great spot for sunrise, and it's an easy 15-min walk from our apartment, AND sunrise in winter in Malaga is close to 8am!

I sneaked out of the apartment around 7:15am and got to the beach by 7:30am. I wanted to capture the pre-sunrise light and it was perfect timing. The weather was good too with temps in the 50sF. The light at this hour is almost magical with shades of orange, purple and blue. There were only a handful of people by the Malagueta sign, though more came just before sunrise at 7:56am. Here the sun rises from the horizon, and the water reflects the sun rays. Even though I live near the coast on the Eastern seaboard, I don't think I have ever watched sunrise right from the horizon.

Love the twilight colors

Close to sunrise

Sun coming through the "a" of Malagueta

Sunrise on the horizon

On the way back to the apartment, I came across a bakery Fermento right across the street from Malagueta sign, where I picked up a couple of croissants (€5,60) to take back to the apartment. It always strikes me how cheap croissants (<€2) are in Europe , as compared to here back home which easily run $5 for a croissant.

My son finally got up around 10am, and after breakfast we headed out to Malaga Bike Shop, located by the Tourist Info at Plaza de la Marina. 2 days earlier when we were in the vicinity, we stopped into the shop and reserved 2 regular bikes for today. I don't think reservation is necessary for reg bikes at low season, but we did it anyway. Malaga Bike also offers bike tours, but I have done my research and figured we can DIY. One of the routes they recommend is heading East along the coast to Rincón de la Victoria, passing many beachers and fisherman's villages of Pedregalejo and El Palo.

After getting our bikes and helmets, we crossed the main avenue (Paseo del Parque) to get on the protected bike lane. The protected bike lane goes behind the bullring and then connects to the beach where I was earlier - by the Malagueta sign. Then it stays on the walkway along the beach (people are very respectful of the bike lane and stay off it). We made a couple of stops along various beaches for photos and water break. When we get to Pedregalejo, the bike path ends (I knew about this) and we had to bike on the roadway. It's a 2-lane (one-way) road and at the 11am hour traffic was light and we felt fairly safe (as compared to back home). I would say we stay on the road for about a mile before we found something that resembles a bike path and we got back on it, past El Palo. I have to say though, the wayfinding for bike path isn't the great, and a lot of times it was guessing. Some parts of the walkway along the beaches prohibit bike-riding, but we still saw people riding their bikes. Also, part of the bike path is packed sand, and isn't in the best condition (perhaps due to the recent storms)? After El Palo, we had a snack break of Rondeña olives, before continuing on. Just before we reached our destination, Rincón de la Victoria, we pass through a couple of tunnels, and then we got to the next beach. Even though this was only 8 miles total, it took us 1hr 45 m to get there, due to frequent breaks, uncertain of the path etc.

El Dedo 👆 Beach

Snack stop

By then it was 1pm and we settled for lunch at Aqui te espero right on the beach. We didn't see any diners, but the staff seemed welcoming and they have lovely outdoor tables (with shades). While not exactly a chirinquito (beach side bar), they do have an open fire where they grill fresh fish on a boat on the beach. Well it turns out the restaurant opens for lunch at 1pm and we were the first customers. The restaurant filled up a lot as lunchtime goes on. Since my son is now a fan of boquerones, we ordered a plate of it, plus a plate of grilled sardines. Just this 2 dishes were plenty enough (€21,20).

Grilled sardines

open charcoal fire on the "boat" where they grill the fish

At around 2pm we got back on our bike for our return trip. Initially I had told Malaga Bike we would rent for 4 hours (11a-3pm; €10/bike), I realized we would not make it back in time. But they did say it's not a problem if we take the bike out for longer, so we leisurely made our way back, not before stopping for ice cream at Helado Cremades in El Palo (€6,20 for 2 small cones). Finally we got back to Malaga Bike at around 3:30pm and we ended up paying for the full-day rate (€15/bike).

Overall, it was very fun to do the biking, despite feeling a bit unsure at times where the bike path is. Since we know we are biking along the coast, there is no way we can get lost And no one yelled at us for biking on the "wrong" path. So this is definitely something I would recommend if you enjoy biking! The entire route is flat, so regular bike is adequate.

BTW, my SIL did not join us for the biking. After returning the bikes, I thought we could hop into the Museum of Malaga for a look. My SIL went a few days prior and raved about it. Well turns out the museum is closed on Mondays (which is today) so we are out of luck. We were pretty beat by then so we went back to the apartment for a rest. My son was behind on his travel journal writing as well as his postcard writing, so he stayed in to do that. I was tired, but it was also our very last day and the weather is so beautiful, so I went out for a walk. (SIL stayed in the apt with my son.) While we were enjoying the sunshine and the fine weather, back home in Boston the Feb blizzard was in full force, which in the end dropped 2 feet of snow where we live and >3 feet in Rhode Island. Knowing this, I needed to soak up every bit of warm air and sunshine before heading back home to face the snow.

I had no real agenda besides walking around the old city center. The streets are maze-like crisscrossing at odd angles, so it's pretty easy to lose your bearings. OTOH, the core is so compact that sooner or later you will run into C. Larios or can see the water. I had a lovely time just wandering, looking at shop fronts, people-watching etc. After an hour or so, I met up with SIL and son for our final dinner, at the original Casa Lola on C. Granada. But not before I spotted a v cute souvenir shop called Rincón de la Biznaga directly across from El Pimpi that sells items souvernir items in shapes of Biznaga, one of the symbols of Malaga. There I found a small porcelain biznaga ornament for €10.

For dinner at Casa Lola, we finally got to try the other boquerone dish - this one is marinated in vinegar. Plus more croquettes, and salad. SIL treated us for dinner as a thanks for all my planning. After dinner, we wandered a little more and stumbled onto a t-shirt store, Pampling, that sells really funny Tshirts. My son wanted to buy one of each! Finally he settled on 2 for €25.

Boquerones en vinagre at Casa Lola

One of my friends from Boston was vacationing in Bilboa this same week, and they were scheduled to fly home today (blizzard day Monday), and of course their flights were canceled. The next available flight they were booked on was the following Saturday, so they were "stuck" in Bilboa for 5 extra days.

I was half hoping our flight home on Tuesday would get canceled too so we could get "stuck" in Malaga, or even in Zurich. I wouldn't mind terribly (we have travel insurance) but to jinx ourselves, we ended up doing another load of laundry in the evening, mostly our socks and underwear, so that in case we are stuck we won't get caught in dirty clothes.

YK, beautiful photos!

Teens are good sleepers. Do you ever feel it is unfair how much they can sleep and how little they seemed to sleep as babies/toddlers? I had a 5 am riser anyway.

Croissants….you made me laugh. My now grown daughter recommends those at Lidl, if you have this food market near you, and they are 49 cents!?p. Believe me, NYC has plenty that cost much more…and may be oversized.

natylou that's a beautiful photo. Yes, I'm sure Ronda is much more peaceful and enjoyable in the mornings and evenings when all the daytrippers are gone!

NYCMOM50, ha, yes, but I'm grateful my son loves to sleep and recognizes he needs his sleep. A lot of teenagers don't get enough sleep for a variety of reasons but my son willingly goes to bed at 9pm every night at home. I don't think we have Lidl near us, tho I occasinonally get the frozen croissants from Trader Joe's. They are not bad. I cannot justify paying $5-6 for a croissant here. The other day I was at a bakery that specializes in babka, and one piece (about size of a cinnamon role) was $7.

Day 9, Tuesday, Heading home

For the past 24 hours, I kept checking our flight status wondering if our flight (ZRH-BOS) would be canceled due to the blizzard back home. They had cancelled 2 previous flights on Sunday and Monday. Regardless, our AGP-ZRH is ontime and if we get stuck, we will likely get stuck in Zurich. Our AGP-ZRH flight is at 1pm, so we had a fairly leisurely morning. My SIL left a bit earlier to catch her bus back to Seville. We tidied up the apartment, took out the trash, and checked out around 9am. We walked a few minutes to the Airport Bus (Line A) and took the bus back to the airport.

Another beautiful day in Malaga! Waiting at the bus stop for the Airport Bus

We could have taken a later bus (it runs 3-4 x an hour), but I'd rather go earlier than rushing, espeically not knowing what airport security lines are like there. The return bus ride was a bit faster (35 minutes), and once again it seems to mostly service locals than visitors.

Security line was okay and not long, and we had plenty of time to chill in the Sala VIP Lounge at the Malaga Airport. I think it's the only lounge at the airport so it's fairly busy, but it is also very big and airy that it actually was a pleasant place to hang out. The rest of our trip home was fairly straightforward; connecting in Zurich again was easy, short immigration lines, but we did not have time to visit the lounge in Zurich because of the US entry requirements (we had to stand in line at our gate to have our passports checked). Our flight home was full (because of the 2 previous cancelled flights) and our cheap seats landed us way back, 3 rows from the rear of the plane, very unglamarous compared to our outbound flight 😅 This longhaul was A333, which is their older plane and the business class (we walked past it) was rather mediocre, so I was glad that we upgraded on the new A359.

Soon after takeoff from Zurich; love seeing the Alps peeking above the clouds

Chasing sunset on the flight home

Arrival to Boston was also uneventful. Althought we had global entry, it was suspended due to government shutdown. We lined up in the regular lane (there was no MPC lane either) which moved fairly fast. I had no issues with the food I brought home (tinned pate, tinned sardines, vacuum packed olives, chocolates, torrones) I did not attempt to bring home cheeses or iberico ham.

Our "official" souvenirs from our trip: a Malaga ornament and a porcelain Biznaga ornament

Thanks for following along! Will post more about my thoughts and how much we spent. Happy to answer any questions you might have!

Thx for the great report and lovely photos.
blue sky , sunshine , and Spain ..so inviting!

Thanks for a great TR!

Final Thoughts

1. I am really glad we went to Malaga in February. It was the perfect antidote to an unusually cold and harsh New England winter. I needed the sunshine and the warmth, and we definitely lucked out with weather (Malaga boasts 300 days of sunshine annually). If you look at my photos, we had blue skies every day and not a cloud in the sky.
2. I really enjoyed Malaga - it works really well as a base for exploring. The historic center is really compact and mostly pedestrian zone. While it didn't really feel like we were there in the low season (there were plenty of tourists around), I do see that, as we never had to wait in line for anything. There are many restaurants and even the popular ones we didn't have trouble getting a table. Most of the tourists are from other European countries, most spoken English I heard was from British and Irish visitors.
3. People are friendly and welcoming.
4. Prices are higher than Portugal but still cheaper than here back home.
5. All the organized tours we took were well run and informative. I felt it was worth the price.
6. We only went to 2 museums in Malaga while we were there — automobile/fashion museum, and Picasso museum. I wouldn't mind going to the Cathedral and the Museum of Malaga; timing just didn't work out for us, and I simply would rather be outside enjoying the sun than being indoors.
7. All 3 day trips were worth doing: Caminito del Rey is really unique and fun; Antequera is awe-inspiring; and Ronda is really dramatic (deserves more time than we gave it)
8. I did not find any Malaga-speciric apps particularly useful on this trip. I downloaded EMT Malaga (malaga transit app) which I used a few times to look up bus lines, but you can do that on google maps anyway for directions. The other app I had was Consorcio Malaga, which I used to double check the bus schedule coming back from Antequera.

Cost of the Trip (for 2)
Airfare: $756 base fare + $1466 biz upgrade = $2222
Other transport (Bus to Ronda, bike rental, plus local bus & metro) €108
AirBnb: $684 (8 nights total was 1368, my SIL paid 50% as she took up one of the 2 bedrooms)
Food: €310 eating-out + €55 dine-in (Dine-in = breakfasts in the apt plus 2 homemade dinners)
Sightseeing entrance fees: €79
Tours: €350 + €80 tip; breakdown:

• Aloratur to Caminito del Rey & Álora €114
• Antequera €100
• Food Sherpa tapas tour €136

Shopping: €120

€ conversion rate was about €1 = $1.18

Total = $4200 for 2, for 8 days. If you deduct the biz class upgrade, the total would have been $2740, which is actually less than our average trips to Europe, thanks to the very low airfare I got.

In comparison
April 2024 to germany $3517 for 2ppl for 6 days
June 2025 to Porto $3000 for 2ppl for a 6d/5n trip

Excellent trip report. It was fun to read along on your adventure, see the pictures. I also like to read your thoughts on the trip and the costs involved. Thanks for putting it together!

"Do you ever feel it is unfair how much they can sleep and how little they seemed to sleep as babies/toddlers?"
Hilariously ironic, NYCMOM50!

I want to see your holiday tree, yk! As I keep saying to dcd about his bird photos, I'm running out of the right words to adequately compliment your planning and pix.

What's next?

danon Once again, a Million thanks for your thread which gave me the idea of this trip!

Thank you joannyc and mare0520!
Next is April vacation and we are going to Hong Kong to see our relatives; and a 36-hr stopover in Istanbul. Of course all depends on what's going to happen in the Middle East.
Here's our tree from this past xmas. It's such a joy to be reunited with all the ornaments we bought on all the trips! Some of the obvious ones include the red tori from Japan, felted Arc de Triomphe from Paris, wooden Grand Teton. Towards the bottom you can see Kenai Fjords, Olympic National Park, Saguaro NP. There is also a Danish flag (from copenhagen), an irish harp (from Dublin), cork ornamnet from Porto, various 3D metal ones from Smithsonian (DC), charleston SC, Monticello, Also various baubles from Tivoli (Copenhagen), Marksburg (Germany), Peña castle (Sintra, portugal), etc etc

xmas tree 2025, with ornaments collected from our travels

What a magnificent report, yk, and what fantastic photography. Sorry I´m so late in reading it! Your description and photos of the Caminito del Rey brought back so many memories (with my vertigo, my memories are a bit foggy, other than those of sheer terror!) I'm so happy that the weather Gods protected you from Andalucía's February torrential downpours, especially during your Caminito excursion. Also happy that you opted for an organized excursion, because it´s so very tricky to do a DIY to the Caminito from Málaga, as timing of the trains/shuttle buses is really tricky. As I've said before, you're such a terrific travel planner, always creating maximum joy for m-yk. Kudos! Now, I'm going to re-read every sentence!

The credit for information about southern Spain goes to Mirabel.
As always, she provided excellent ,useful information to my inquiry.

Foolishly , I made plans for mid October not thinking about the weather .
A week before my trip the forecast was 30+ every day , which I cannot handle any longer.
.I went to Barcelona and spend more time in Madrid instead . Worked for me !

ps. I hope your son continues learning Spanish. I am reviewing “ my Spanish “ before the trip in May.
Fourteen tenses🙀