My first impression of Malaga is that it is quite a charming place. It is not really big city, but not really small town. Situated beside the Alboran Sea, on the southern coast of Spain, it is a great destination for northern European tourists to (sorta) escape the cold.
So, I’ve seen a lot of families here, beginning their Christmas vacation. (The city is decorated with a lot of lights and giant Christmas trees everywhere.) This makes the streets pretty crowded most of the time (particularly in the heavy shopping areas).
But, I have had fun walking around the historic center for a little while (checking out the architecture, scoping out restaurants, getting the lay of the land).
I’m also observing something interesting. I was never tired in France. I would fall asleep just fine when I went to bed, but I never actually felt sleepy at any other point throughout the day. But, now that I’m in Spain — every single day — I get sleepy around the same time and seriously just want to lie down. What’s that about? Does my body know that these Spanish people take siesta seriously?
And that, they do – take siesta seriously. Everything closes by 1:00 p.m. and doesn’t reopen until around 5:00 p.m. (Some restaurants don’t even open for dinner until after 8:00 p.m.) I love this when the crowds are smaller and I can get my daily explorations with a little less shoving (and less smoke). But, I’m annoyed by it when I need something to eat or to get some groceries, and I wasn’t smart enough to get up and out early. (I’m going to have to change that.)
I can tell that there are plenty of beautiful and interesting things here, and look forward to exploring more.
