What's up, guys? Another week, another couple hundred meltdowns from exam stress, social obligations and probably an unhealthy sleep pattern but hey, it's all about having fun in university, right?... Here's to a good study period and good luck with any exams or presentations.
So this is the second part of the Road Trip diary on what we did and where we went on the 6 day Road Trip in the Andalusian area of Spain. In the previous installment, you would have read about things like; Turning a normal Skoda into a dope trap car full of bangers, the different cat-related restaurants and the relaxing experience looking at the Alhambra.
With Granada now behind us, let's move on to the next stop and the amazing experience that is... Malaga!
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As the last part ended, we just finished eating in 4Gatos and picked up Olli and Frans, the two Finnish guys that joined us in Granada. After picking them up, our plan was to take the really coastal road to Malaga so that we could get a good look out at the sea and have some really nice views. As we were just leaving the city of Granada, a semi-coastal and not nearly as winding road was offered up as an alternative route. We would still get the views and get to see some mountains and lakes. Trusting the direction of Olli and Frans, we took their route towards Malaga. This route was in the direction of Motril. We followed the directions and we weren't disappointed. This route for sure gave us some of the best views I think I have seen in a really long time. The sun was beating down hard but the sunshine was just perfect as we came towards the coast. As we drove, on the right were sights like the Embalse de Béznar, the Sierra Nevada mountain range and other bodies of water that was just a treat for the eyes.
There were no stops on the way to Malaga, as it was just a 2 hour drive. We left Granada at around 2:30 and were in Malaga at around 4:30 in the afternoon. When we got to Malaga, the sun was still high. As we were in separate groups
The idea to walk around was somewhat squashed by the fact that we had our luggage and were also just tired and as soon as the word "beer" was mentioned, it was the priority. We left our car parked in some unmarked parking area that still had an attendant, or maybe he was just there wearing a visibility vest... He still took a euro from us but hey, the car was parked straight so no complaints. We walked around the corner and up the street to the nearest cafeteria. The place was kind like the typical cafeteria/bar places you'd see nestled beside an alimentacion or something. However, we went in and ordered a beer each and decided we'd have a look at the fruit machines they had.
Man vs Machine. That's the best way I can describe what happened at the fruit machines. "Everything on red" at the roulette games just wasn't working for us. Our money and game credits were like sand in our hands. If anyone could fish out 50 cents, then were betting all on red and still losing 😂 We watched the locals and how they were just constantly winning. I took a chance at the fruit machine with absolutely no clue whatsoever but still managed to turn 50 cent into €3.20, so not bad but... it immediately went on all red and I lost it as quickly as I won it. Frans was the only other one of us successful on the games. But the Man vs Machine was not about the game but the battle to get a container of snus (tobacco powder for your upper lip) out of the cup holder of the fruit machine. After admitting it was a bad idea to do so but persuaded to do it anyway, Max slipped the container into the holder. It was pure comedic gold to watch him get it out 😆
Before getting into the apartment, we walked towards the street of our
The apartment we booked was a pretty cool place. The place we got was a loft apartment with ability to host 9 people. One bathroom, two rooms and a lot of beds. The bed I got was sharing the sofa bed. It was one of those pull out beds. But we didn't do anything with it as we were all looking to get out and take a look around the marina. We left the apartment and walked towards the town center. The town was full of people celebrating and there were large processions of people in their celebratory garb for the Santa Semana. It was
Eventually making it into open space, we made our way down and reached the Paseo España, a nice walkway parallel to the marina. We stayed there for around 10 to 15 minutes, looking out at the marina as the sun was setting. It was really perfect actually and it was really beautiful to watch. But soon, the beauty of the marina and the sunset was soon overshadowed by the hunger that was creeping up on us and also the Barcelona v Juventus match that was soon to start. So realizing we were all hungry, we left towards the boardwalk area of the Marina where the restaurants were. We didn't really had to walk terribly far because as soon as we came onto the boardwalk, we spotted The Good
Two burgers, a couple of beers and 90 minutes later, we were full and happy with the 3-0 win from Juventus. The girls sat outside during the match, which was a nice place to sit with the marina just beside them. So after a quick chat, it was decided that we would continue on to find a bar and have a couple of drinks before going back home to bed. Walking through the streets now loaded with people, it was hard to find a place. Passing by Irish bars (breaking my heart), we eventually found a place that had seats outside. The bar was called "Baraboo Gin y Copas" and one of the main draws is that the place had Finnish Gin, Napue Gin or the best Gin in the world. We sat at the Baraboo bar, ordered a round of drinks and shisha. Perfect setting to chat and let Olli and Frans get to know those of us they didn't know. As we drank, the Santa Semana celebrations continued behind us. We smoked the shisha and had our drinks. Maybe getting a bit of the buzz. The Napue Gin, I have to say
We got home, cracked open some beers and played some bangers. Two different conversations happening, all while Teemu prepared himself for a job interview the following morning. Some of us were talking about different music. Speaking about German music, the musician Scooter came up in conversation, prompting me to ask an open question "Do you know Scooter?" followed by me playing one of his tracks. Long story short, my right to play bangers was revoked... After this, it was kind of a blur as we all headed to bed.
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The next day we woke at around 10-ish. The girls were already up and out, going to see some sights around the city before they headed to the beach. We all got ourselves ready as Teemu took his phone interview. Realizing I didn't pack any swim shorts, I had to borrow some sport shorts as a substitute from Teemu (Thanks man 😊). Lathering myself with sun cream because I easily burn with my pale, Irish skin and packing a duffel bag, we were all set to go.
On our way to the beach, we decided to stop not far away from our apartment for some breakfast. Not too far away and on our way to the beach was a little corner place called "Cafe Baena". Immediately when we walked in, we were greeted by the cook, a British lady. Their advertised English breakfast now got me excited, knowing a British person was cooking. Most of us ordered the English breakfast with coffee, juice and toast. The juice was fresh, coffee was helpful in perking us up but the breakfast itself was kind of a let down. There was a lot of space on the plate they gave us as the portion was actually just quite small, I thought. It was like... half an English breakfast but I wasn't 100%
After this, we walked down towards the beach, looking for a place in which we could purchase some beach equipment. Coming to the Marina, we came to a beach side alimentacion, just off of the beach. We went and bought a beach ball and bought matching hats. Cause you know. All gangs need to have a thing. Sun lotion and hats is ours. I wasn't complaining about the hat, it was quite helpful when you wanted to relax.
We got to the beach and to the place where the girls had rented sun loungers under the sun. We set out our beach towels, got ourselves covered up in sun lotion and laid in the sun for a little while before making it to the water. The sand was hot, the water was initially cold. The run to the bathroom was difficult with the skin burning on the bottom of your feet. Playing in the water with the ball was difficult, being blinded by salt water made it quite hard indeed. But the coolest thing we saw however was when we were just laying out, noticing a helicopter circling the beach. We thought they were searching for something but people came parachuting out of the helicopters, which was really cool! We watched as they landed not too far up the beach from us.
At around 4 was when hunger struck. Behind us was a beach restaurant called "El Cachalote" where we had to make a reservation 30 minutes before eating. We waited with beers, Max, Jan and I as they got our table ready. We eventually sat, next to the girls who were eating here also. At this place, they were serving grilled fish which attracted a lot of attention. Teemu and I ordered the grilled chicken while the others grilled fish, I want to say Seabass. Half of our fries
As we went back to relax, coming towards us were the people we were waiting for. Morten, Stephan, Sascha and François. The boys from Madrid on a road trip themselves. They laid out beside us before a game of football started up. Finland v Others. Jan, the girls and I laid spectating at the comical sight. But when the game was coming to an end, so did our time at the beach. The girls already left, as we had a dinner reservation in the evening. We weren't long following them back. We arrived back and got ready for dinner.
We made the reservation for the restaurant on TripAdvisor. So with this, we got a 30% discount on our final bill. The place we reserved dinner was a restaurant called "Sabor a Fuego" on Paseo de Sancha. A bit of a walk from our place but it was a nice walk. At was on the next street from the beach, so we were quite close. We got there at 9:30, in time for our reservation.
Probably the nicest meal we had on the trip. The waiter was really attentive to our table. Telling us the best offers and combinations of things to get, personal recommendations with the food and with the wine. The food. I ordered the Beef Milanese. A breaded cut of beef with a side of butternut squash pureé and mashed potato. It was amazing. The beef was well done and exactly how I like
After dinner, it was drinking time. Deciding what to do was the hard part. Not wanting to go all the way back to our place but with no where else to go, buying from an alimentacion and going to a park was just the answer we needed. It was hilarious there. Conversations ranged from: Favourite Superhero to If we should save the pigeon that a cat is chasing... As we got drunker, the pigeon definitely needed to be saved. So, before leaving. Lotta and I almost went into the bushes to find either the cat or the pigeon... Yup. Almost IN the bushes.
"I'm loving angels instead..." We sang walking from the park near the marina to the center of town. Our destination, Sala Gold Night Club. Did I bring my ID? No I did not. I had to walk all the way back to the apartment to get my ID while the others went in, which ended up in me taking a wrong turn and what was supposed to be a 20 minute venture for my ID, ended up being an hour. But when I got to the club, it was pretty awesome! The boys were still on the dancefloor. I joined them, ordering my drinks and dancing a bit. When we noticed the girls in the VIP area, our mission then was to join them. A guy offered the girls to come into the VIP section, who then managed to get us into the area also, which I give good credit for because the bouncer was a hard-faced man.
The guy whose table we kinda crashed, had 2 big bottles of gin (Bombey Sapphire and Beefeater), two shisha and a lot of glasses. The only conversations he seemed to want was to just tell us to drink up. Good chat. I didn't disagree with what he said, nor did the rest of us.
Two bottles of gin and two bottles of champagne later, it was 7:30 already and we had to be up in a few hours to be out of the apartment. We left the club and went straight for kebab. A place in the center was still open, so we bought our kebabs and made our way home. On the way home. I'd say two meters of police tape just laid on the ground. So, being a good person, I picked it all up and took it into the apartment. Someone could have tripped on that on the street...
Going to sleep was a blur. But waking up 2 hours later with the landlady of the Airbnb at the door was also not the best sight. And for her, seeing all of us
Jan, Erika, Lotta and I drove to the beach where we parked at an underground car park and then went to eat at a place called "La Canasta". It was nice but the breakfast was hard to digest and we all just felt bad from, I wanna say the night before but it was just a few hours before. As we ate, Frans walked past us on his way to the bus station as he was leaving for Granada. Hugs and handshakes goodbye as he went his way, we paid and left for the beach.
On the beach, Teemu, Olli, Max, Frank and Morten were there and we all just went under the palm trees and slept for two hours I would say. After the nap on the beach it was a case of dine and dash to get to the next city. So, back to The Good Burger for some road food. It was good food for the stomach. We ate, and then Erika, Jan, Lotta and I were out and hit the road.
Malaga was awesome. The memories from Malaga are just comical. Between the VIP area, Max's Snus/Fruit machine situation, hunting for wildlife with Lotta... It was all pretty amazing in Malaga.
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Stay tuned for the next installment where we eat, drink and laugh even more!
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And remember to hit us up on our social media!
Max: immonenmax
Me: DavidCandyKeane
Erika: erikaojala
And my snapchat: Dave_Keane
Great article almost felt we were there with you @Malagafoodguide #malagafood
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