MALAGA - GRANADA ; SPAIN

On January's 14th, Me and Vaiva flew from London to Málaga Airport.

We paid for tickets very cheaply - 25€ per person (both ways).

DAY 1

Since we arrived very late, it was already dark, and we were tired, we devoted the rest of the evening to a walk around the city. We really liked Malaga for its coziness and abundance of nature. We noticed that the streets were very clean and tidy. It was beautiful and magical to walk along the narrow streets of Spain illuminated by orange lights. I was very reminded of Italy: the pebble-paved streets, the fabulous window shutters of houses, and the windows - opposite each other, seem to be about to merge. We were very surprised that orange trees grew everywhere, along the streets, but we found out that they were almost inedible.

We passed through the Málaga Park, the cathedral of spectacular beauty and all the labyrinths of streets. We passed all the people sitting outside, drinking in bars with the company of friends. Immediately we were captivated by the Spanish language and the loud voices of the people. And especially the girls. I couldn't stop admiring them: women with curly hair and red lips.

Vaiva and I went to the bar, to the terrace of the hotel, from where you could see the tower of the cathedral in front of you, but all the tables were crowded: it was Saturday, nevertheless.

For me, being in Spain was a refreshment for my heart, because I was finally able to experience the European atmosphere again. Vaiva and I were hoping to find live music or dance, but we weren't lucky, so we stopped by one of the other bars: Vaiva was drinking wine, and I was having a beer (it's going to be like that for the rest of the trip). Spanish beer is very tasty, but the best things is that it is so cheap! : only 2-3€, and you get tapas for free.

Tapas - Traditionally they are small savoury dishes, snacks or appetisers of Spanish cuisine. It might be breads and meat, or a selection of dishes from ham, stuffed mussels, fried squid, to olives, sautéed mushroom and other vegetables. Spain is famous because of its tapas. It is the only place where drinks come always with free food.

I would equate the tapas portions to a plate of good breakfast. As a result, the whole trip was so cheap for us, because all we ate was free tapas, and drank beer / wine for 2€. On the way home, we took a small kebab to share (VERY TASTY!) , as well as skiing along the streets, because at that time they were washed xD We returned to Vaiva's friend to spend the night (where we slept all the rest of the nights). We were very lucky because we saved a lot of money. (At the end of this post I will write how much money we spent on the whole trip, get ready)

DAY 2

I was really looking forward to this morning!!!! It was one of the best day of all, as today we are hiking and climbing the San Anton mountain in Malaga !!!!!!!

We got up quite early, the sun was shining, it was a hot day. we exercised, then we had breakfast from the balcony like from the movies, through which the sea could be seen. First we walked along the sea coast, Vaiva and I could not stop jumping out of happiness, because the weather was very good, we saw a lot of palm trees, all the people looked happy, without worries, a lot of them jogging. "Depression does not exist here…."

We walked 6 km towards the mountain, saw lemons, oranges, various colored unseen flowers growing on the street, then we started climbing. The views are spectacular ! The higher - the more impressive it is. The whole city of Malaga, the sea, forests, roofs of buildings can be seen. Incredible! Climbing wasn't hard, but sometimes it was dangerous, we had to climb on our four because the stones were crumbling. After 2 hours, we were already at the very top, from which almost the whole of Malaga could be seen !

After descending to the bottom, we tried to find a place in the cafes to eat, but everywhere were full of people ! It was really hot, I even burned my face, so it's no surprise that everyone wanted to bath in the sun's rays. Finally, we found a place in a café by the sea, ordered croquetas (fried dough with pork and sauce), sweet potatoes bravas (fried potatoes with mayonnaise and ketchup) and potatoes with egg and pork.

Returning home we felt like after the best vacation, very pleasantly hot and tired after a long day. Vaiva lied on the bed, barely fell asleep, although we still had a lot of things to do in our list ! Because of preparation for the evening, we were late for one museum, but went to another : Pompidou museum, where works, sculptures and installations of various artists were exhibited.

After the art exhibition, the next thing in our do list was: the swing dance event, which was actually unlucky because we were expecting a lesson that we either missed or didn't exist at all. After the event, we decided to take a 1-hour walk in the city to the local Spanish pub la tranca. We went around a significant part of the city, and in the pub we had 1 beer and 1 wine. (ofc). It was already 00:00, so we went home to sleep, because we had to get up at 7 in the morning, because TOMORROW WE ARE GOING TO GRANADA !

41,000 STEPS! woho

DAY 3

GRANADA

We went there by blabla car - 16€ for two people forward (8€ each) and 12€ for two people back (6€ each). That is very cheap! You would not find such prices in Lithuania! The distance from Malaga to Granada is 134km

We talked a lot with our driver about Granada, received suggestions on what to visit, and other information from the historical side about Granada. All the people told us that Granada is the place to be! Everyone falls in love with this place ! Being in Spain, and not visiting Granada is like not being in Spain at all!

Granada is very rich in Moroccan/Arabic architecture, because The Emirate of Granada was an Islamic realm in southern Iberia during the Late Middle Ages.

When we got out in Granada, the air was completely cool, it was morning, it was cold. We first looked for a café to eat. We went to some full café full of sweets, where we had a very sweet breakfast, so I felt sick for the whole day :D

The very first major recommendation was Alhamdra Castle.

It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world.

As we walked up to that castle and climbed up, we explored the city, the streets, the architecture. Vaiva and I decided that the city itself was very similar to Madrid or Barcelona or every other European bigger city. When we finally climbed the mountain, we did not get to enter the castle itself, because the entrance 18€ per person, thus we decided that it was too expensive and it is not worth it. However, there was the Palacio de Calros V (the smaller part of the castle wihtin alhamdra), which we visited. From the mountain there was a view of the mountains and tiny white cute houses.

We had all day to explore Granada, so we walked EVERYWHERE: cathedral de granada (we also didn't go inside because 5£), fuente de las batallas (fountain in the park), went to the café in camino de ronda street, where we had 1 beer and 1 wine and 6 different sandwiches for 6€ !!!!! imagine. such prices amazed me throughout the trip. It was good as the sun came out, shining right in our faces, we were smoking and sipping beer. It was so nice.

On the street of barrio del albaicin we looked at all the local small boutiques, where they sell teas, spiritual clothes, incense, beautifully drawn teapots, souvenirs, accessories, a variety of spices and many other exotic things !

We also had a recommendation to climb the mountain to miradores de san nicolas (moroccan district). On the way, we stopped to sit down and we spent good 30 minutes of magic music as we looked at the manorama of the city's rooftops from above ! The Moroccan district was similar to that of the lower part of Granada: narrow streets and cute houses, but the biggest difference: all the houses are white. It looked like a mix of Greece and Spain. We were told to go to san miguel bajo / san miguel alto—both tea cafes, but we didn't find one, but we stopped by another Moroccan tea café.

It was already very cold, so we played techno music through the airpods and started dancing as we walked :D Around 8 p.m., we met my friend Maya, who is studying at Portsmouth (like me), but is now studying with Erasmus in Granada for a year.

She took us to the most popular bar in Granada, where all the cool youth gather, she said that the queue here is so long that you need to go as early as possible. The place is very cool, very loud, but very cozy. Similar to Špunka in Vilnius. Later other 5 more friends of Maya joined, we had a very fun all evening, I couldn't stop trembling with happiness that we were sitting with such nice people and drinking beer (of course, we had tapas again, this time there were quite large portions, couldn't even finish).

A couple of hours later, we had to drive to the train station, from where we were taken by bla bla car again. We came home about 1 am (and so every day, at 8 am we get up and come back at night)

DAY 4

Today we are again in Malaga. Today we decided to devote the day to a simple exploration of Malaga. There is a malaga castle called Alcazaba, as well as its second part - Castillo de Gibralfaro. It's paid, but this time we didn't regret it.

The castle is large, like a labyrinth, with small parks of flower gardens and fountains inside. For the second part of the castle, it was necessary to climb the mountain. But the views that open up are impressive ! The whole malaga was visible, all the forests, the streets, the sea and the roofs of houses. Going downhill, the MOST BEAUTIFUL views of the whole trip opened up. The sun was shining, such the blueness of the sea was indescribable! In the distance we saw small cute houses of different colors, lots of pine trees, listened to a good song, danced, it was max max perfect !! We drank the sun's rays and I kept yelling AT LEAST, IN THE SUMMER I HAVE GOOD WEATHER !!!!! (Lyrics from the Lithuanian song). We were so happy !! aaaahhhh it was a fairy tale, a fairy tale, the most beautiful fairy tale !!!

Then Vaiva decided to take a bath in the sea, I was leaning against a palm tree as I watched ;) As we walked back home, we saw a lot of little baby parrots !!!

We got home, got ready, and flew back home!!

PRICES

With all the plane tickets, train tickets in London, all the buses, ubers, food, alcohol, museums, entertainment, etc. with EVERYTHING, we spent only 120 ;D

I still can't believe HOW, but

• we stayed for free
• 25€ for flight tickets
• 40€ tickets from Stansted Airport and to Stansted
• Most often we ate free tapas
• and alcohol cost only a few euros, as well as all buses.

As my sister said "you are the richest person without money"