January 19, 2010
After a busy week supporting the conference in the previous week and a couple more airport runs to Málaga it seemed to be time for us to take a few days of holiday. As long as we were making an airport run there on Tuesday it seemed convenient to stay there for a few days and see the sites.
Málaga is a port town along the southern coast of Spain known as the “Costa del Sol” {Sunshine Coast]. Many nearby towns offer winter relief to freezing northern Europeans and damp Englishmen all year around. Although in January it is cool for the region it is a far cry from the deep snow that is covering Germany as I write this and the North Atlantic gales that have shut down London’s airports for days at a time over the last two months.
If historic sights are not your bag and you are just looking to escape an Pacific Northwest USA winter Málaga may be the place for you. A few years ago some friends of ours had a chance to have their honeymoon here in a friend’s condo but circumstances prevented that. Such a shame! I know they would have enjoyed a week here.
January is not the time to sit on the beach, even if the temperature reached 21C [70F] so we took in the local historic site, the Castillo de Gibralfaro. There is a castle part way up a hill with a fortress at the top connected by a walled passageway. The British territory, Gibraltar, got it’s name stems from “Rock [Gibel] of Tari [al Tari]”. Gibralfaro is derived from Rock [Gibel] of the Lighthouse [al faro]. There was apparently a lighthouse on this high rocky hill built by the Phoenicians and in the 14th century the castle was built by the Moors who then occupied Spain.
Well preserved plus well restored the castle and fortress are remarkable places. We [Robert especially] felt like running all around imagining the life and struggles there during the seige against it by the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. It seems like Pirate’s Island at Disneyland were years ago our boys ran freely imagining pirate adventures.
Notice the orange trees in the photo above. These trees were much loved by the Moors due to their year around leafs, sweet smelling blossoms and long lasting fruit.
Typical Moorish [Mudejar] ‘keyhole’ entry above.
Above right and below the fountains and flowing water loved by the Moors.
