Our passion for Málaga
My ex-wife and I have been traveling to Andalusia, Málaga mostly, since 2007. We have been traveling there before we were married also after we got married and now with the kids as well. After all these years it’s still not boring and we still love the region. There are so many memories we made and so many more to be made, so many adventures and short mini-trips to so many places in and around Andalusia, Málaga will always have a special spot in our hearts.
How did this start?
But how did this passion for Málaga even start?Well, this is kind of a funny story, it was a long time ago, way before 2007 during times where cable TV still was a thing and streaming was unheard of, yes I am that old. I was zapping through tv channels and reached one of those travel agency channels, I usually went right to the next station within seconds, except I didn’t this time. They were presenting an offer for a holiday to a place in Andalusia or a round trip, I don’t recall where it was, at the same time presenting the region. I got stuck and watched the whole sales pitch as well as the short clips of that beautiful region.
Our first trip to Andalusia
It took some years until we finally traveled for the first time to Málaga and I also don’t recall why exactly Málaga. I do recall that my ex-wife and I were looking at a site where they had fincas and rural houses you could stay at. We decided to go to a place called Cantueso in Periana, about 70 km from the airport in Málaga. We never regretted this decision and we came back to Cantueso two more times after that and still is on our my list to go back to very soon. The webcam from Cantueso became a go-to place when I was feeling down due to the weather in Austria.
Great starting place
We used this place as a hub to all kinds of destinations nearby like Granada, Cadiz, Ronda, Gibraltar, Sevilla and many more that I forgot about and even a short trip to Tangier in Marokko, which we never will forget but this is a different story.The road to Granada, if I recall correctly, through the villages and avoiding the freeway was very beautiful, hills full of olive trees, nice small villages with narrow streets and much more I can’t put into words.Since last year we started going again but went for a place in the city center, which is much more convenient when traveling with kids. For one, you don’t need a car in the center, renting cars with child seats is a pain in the but and the second reason is that a place like Periana gets boring for kids during the winter. In summer there’s a pool but in winter you have nothing but a relaxing and beautiful view down until the see if visibility is good and warm weather during wintertime. That being perfectly enough for me but not enough for the kids so a place right in the center makes this experience much better.More advantage of staying right in the center:
- It’s a 5-minute walk to Lo güeno
- It’s a 2-minute walk to el Pimpi
- 15 min walk to the beach which is awesome even in winter.
- In reach of museums
The downside, however, is that it might be a bit noisy in the evening, actually a lot noisier compared to Periana.
The downside of staying in Periana is that you need a car. During our first trip, we had a Ford Ka which we called “Cabra”, we did something around 3500km during our 18 days stay, the driving did get a bit boring after the first days.
My winter getaway
I even had this dream about Málaga being my winter getaway from the grey and cold weather in Vienna. After I quit my job in 2009 and started our own business I thought about living for a couple of months in Málaga during the winter since I could work remotely as well. This is something I regret I didn’t put in practice, I kept putting it off until next year, then next year came, then my first daughter was born but still, it would have been doable until school started. Now with school, this ship has sailed. Maybe it’s also just some romanticised dream that in reality would have played out differently, like dreams of living somewhere outside of the city until reality punches you in the face. Guess I will never know for sure or I can try again after we retire.
So Málaga, ready or not, here we come!