It wouldn’t be an A & M trip without some health event mucking things up a bit.

In our last days in Paris, Andy caught a cold and was homebound for two days. Paris was cold and rainy which didn’t help matters and also Parisians apparently don’t turn on the heat til November. 

Fortunately, good food was close by and our last French meal was takeout ramen!

After a long day’s travel on Tuesday,  we traded homes — for the second time — and climate. We were now in a modern apartment in suburban Malaga. And the weather went from a damp 50 degrees the morning we left Paris to the sunny 80’s in Malaga.

We have a Mediterranean view from our hilltop apartment and a short, steep descent to the beach at Pedegalejo.  We looked forward to four full days of fun in the sun and lots of tasty food. 

We ran around Wednesday, our first full day,  in our tiny, tinker-toy Fiat getting food for the house and re-exploring central Malaga.  

We were here 14 years ago on a road trip through Andalucía.  Malaga was then  an under the radar port city with a quiet pedestrian core. But now it is crowded with people both local and tourists and it’s full of fashionable shops in the large plazas and tiny medieval streets of el centro.

We were so tired after struggling that day with driving through town and dealing with the  Byzantine parking situation, that we spent the late afternoon hours at home. We also decided to skip our el centro dinner reservation and just walk down the hill to our local beach promenade. We made the right choice!

We ended up having freshly grilled sardines and shrimp cooked over a fire right on the sand in front of our restaurant.  And we nursed our drinks as the sun set.  A perfect chill end to a hectic first day.

Then, on Thursday with Andy now well on the mend, it was my turn! With only minor sniffles at this point, we determined to drive back to the center to revisit the Picasso Museum where the Malaga-born artist spent much of his later years. 

 After a really harrowing drive through the pedestrian streets which Google ridiculously— and erroneously—sent us through, we once again found our way to the terrifyingly, narrow entrance to the underground parking lot.

We walked to the museum and were in for a surprise. Last time, there was no line to enter. This time there were both timed tickets and a line!  But so worth it. The collection was displayed both thematically and chronologically.  I was enamored of all the paintings of women in all of Picasso’s creative phases.

After the museum, we grabbed lunch at the uber popular Casa Lola, a classic tapas restaurant where we had the requisite shrimps in garlic sauce, patatas bravas and more.

We returned home for some rest from the heat.  By dinner time, we again decided to cancel our plans in the bustling el centro. Instead, we walked to the little enclave of shops and restaurants five minutes from us for a lovely Italian dinner at Ummo.

My cold worsened and today ( Friday) we decided to take it easy and take  a short road trip to the beach towns east of us heading toward Marbella.  We ended up at Torre del Sur, the first bead in the beach  “necklace strand” called La Costa Del Sol.  In our one hour there,  I dipped a toe into the Mediterranean, ate a gelato cone and walked on the promenade.

Then home, where I am writing this post with a box of tissues by my side!

Tonight, we will Uber to the centro for a paella dinner at Taska Laska.  Tomorrow we will take it even slower as we pack up to get ready for our early Sunday morning flight to Amsterdam for the remaining days of our holidays, 

The only thing left for us to figure out in Malaga is what’s for dinner tomorrow!