Time to Catch Up Spain Part 3

It's been quite awhile since I wrote on here, but I have a good reason. I was working at a Girl Scout Sleepaway camp here in Germany for a month. I will write about that soon! But first, I must finish what I started, and that was writing about Spain. 

On my third day in Spain I started early with a walk up Alcazaba, castle ruins that were originally built by the Hammudid dynasty in the 11th century. The walk up and around it was absolutely beautiful, and some of the details were stunning. My only complaint would be there was next to no information in English at the displays of artifacts. Afterwards I took a free walking tour that was advertised in the hostel. Although I had already seen so much, it was great to learn some of the history of the city. After a short lunch break I set up the very steep hill to the other castle ruins, Gibralfaro, which dates back to the 10th century. Even the views from the hike up were absolutely stunning. The steep hike up was well worth it. The site was beautiful and peaceful. The scenery was perfect, hills to one side, city, and ocean to the other. 

After all of the sightseeing, I decided to take a break from it all and check out the shopping mall in town. This took me to the other side of town that wasn't for tourists. As you could imagine, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing where real life took place in Málaga. I found the mall, and it had many shops I had never been to before, and some that don't have locations close near me in Germany like Zara and Primark. While I was in Primark, a super cheap (hit or miss) British store, I found a Ryanair carryon size suitcase that I bought on impulse. I already paid to check a bag on the way home, so now I didn't have to worry about cramming my stuff into the backpack. 

On my last day, Friday, I started the day with a visit to the Museuo Interactivo De La Musica. The museum had exhibits of instruments throughout history as well as different types. There were some parts of the exhibit that were interactive so you could test out the sounds of unusual instruments. The museum was good and quick, so I went to another museum, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga. That day was free entry which is always a bonus! It was one large room with dividers, but the modern artwork was really awesome. It was also displayed really well, which is something only art geeks like me could really appreciate. I would definitely recommend checking it out. My memory is a bit fuzzy about what I did the rest of the day, but I'm sure it had something to do with shopping. My brain was fried from all the museums and history, so I believe I went back to the mall, since I now had more space in my luggage :) 

 And my lunch! Roast beef with arugala and cream cheese. yum.

Overall, Málaga might not be Barcelona or Madrid, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were many other things to see on the list, but I had to pick just a handful-the ones I could understand and the ones I could afford. I would definitely recommend visiting this city if you ever travel to Spain. It was absolutely beautiful and charming, and being on the water is an added bonus. 

Màlaga, Spain! Part 2

Màlaga is a city on the Costa del Sol of the Mediterranean Sea, and is one of the oldest cities in the world, having been founded in 770 BC by the Phoenicians. It has been under rule of different empires including the Romans and Islamics. It's colorful and long history makes this city a very interesting place to visit.

I had half the day left after I arrived, so after getting settled into Feel Hostels City Center, I walked around the old part of town for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day to walk down the streets and explore. This part of the city had beautiful and detailed buildings, narrow windy roads, and historical sites everywhere. I even made it down to the shore and walked along the beach. I had an early dinner of 'way too fresh' mussels, and called it a night. It had been a long day of traveling. 

For my first full day, I started out with Picasso's birthplace (Casa Natal De Pablo Ruiz Picasso). The museum was very interesting, offering background information on Picasso and his family, and their life in Màlaga. They didn't stay long but the city is proud to claim Picasso as their own. The museum also had a special exhibit next door featuring the art of Ramón Gaya, who was a follower of Picasso's style. Next I was off to the other Picasso museum (Museo Picasso Màlaga), which had a decent collection of his artwork. This museum was less informative, and the most expensive one I visited. It seems necessary to go because you are in his birth city, but it wasn't worthwhile in my opinion. But this is coming from someone who has seen plenty of Picasso paintings in the museums in New York City. If you haven't seen any of his work in person, this would be a must see. Keeping with the theme of the day, I checked out another art museum, Museo Carmen Thyssen Màlaga. This museum featured work of different periods and mostly Spanish artists. The art was beautiful, and it was nice to spend an hour or two inside. 

The rest of my day was spent trying to read menus and just walking around the streets discovering cute shops everywhere.

Picasso's birthplace

 Some really neat antiques in the window 

Màlaga, Spain!, Part 1- Ryanair travel tips :)

Two weeks ago I took advantage of the army taking away my husband to a boring class for a couple of days, and decided to take the time to go on a trip. I chose Màlaga in Spain for a few reasons. 1, because ryanair (a discount airline) flew there right from Nürnberg, 2, because the weather was going to be nice, and 3, because there was lots to see and do there. I definitely was not disappointed with the trip. But first, lets talk about Ryanair.

For any of you who might be planing to plane hop around Europe, Ryanair is a great choice. Easyjet is another discount airline to use, but does not fly many places from Germany, so it's not much help to me anymore. Ryanair has cheap flights, and can get you almost anywhere you want to go, and many places you didn't know you wanted to go to. When I looked at where they flew to from Nürnberg, I was originally disappointed that it was so limited, but now I can see it as a positive. It allowed me to think outside the box-see a city that wasn't necessarily well known, but still had a lot to offer. One thing I always do before I book my flights, is to check the public transportation options from the airport to the place that I am staying. Everything has to work with each other. The hostel I chose had a 24h reception, so I didn't have to worry about a super early or late flight, but I did have to make sure that I would be able to get to and from the hotel at a strange hour. I did my research, and was able to confirm that the train opened early enough for my early Saturday morning flight home. Okay, so the times worked out, so I went ahead and booked the trip! My next dilemma was Ryanair's super stingy bag limitations. I get it, it's a discount airline, so they need to make their money somewhere. Their carry-on size is significantly smaller than most airlines. To check a bag, it starts at 20 euro, and can be 60 euro if you decide to check it at the airport and haven't prepaid. Really? 40 euro's because a person has to ring you up. So when I got to the airport, I had to rearrange some things to make my backpack fit. Hint-don't use a backpack-use a suitcase with the limitation dimensions, and don't pack it full so it doesn't expand. I also went online on my phone, and paid to check my bag home because at that point, if I bought even one thing, it wouldn't fit, and I did not need to pay 60 euros.

Besides the bag limitations, I have nothing else to complain about Ryanair. Boarding is different than other airlines - there are no assigned seats, first come first serve - which works out well for me because I am always early. The flight was smooth and on time, and they had reasonably priced food available to buy on the plane.

Beautiful scenery from the airport in Màlaga

Weekend adventures

We set off this Saturday to check out a location of something for Alex's work. We ended up near Ramstein Air Base, so we checked out their Exchange store...which was more like a mini mall...ate at a Johnny Rockets (foodcourt style) and then tried to make our way back. We stopped in Mannheim, but it was late and raining. Did manage to get a few interesting pictures. Okay...wasn't much of an adventure but it was better than just sitting around all day. Sunday I drove through the back way to a local town that was having a small Spring Fest. I stopped and got some pictures on the way. So here are a couple of photos.

These horses wouldn't stop staring at me! 

Würzburg

After our stop at Ikea, we decided to check out some attractions in Würzburg, which is about 45 minutes from us.

First we went to the Würzburg Residenz, which is a palace built in the 1700s. It is one of the most important baroque palaces in Europe, and was the former residence of Würzburg prince-bishops. The palace had a handful of decorated rooms to view, and nice gardens to tour. Guided tours were available, and we would probably have been able to see more rooms, but we were too late.

If the day had been nicer, we would have checked out the Marienberg Fortress which is close by, but it was too rainy. Can't wait to head back on a nicer day. We did walk around town for a bit though.

Freilandmuseum

This Friday we visited the Freilandmuseum right in our town, Bad Windsheim. It's an open air museum   that features houses and mini villages ranging from over 700 years of Frankish history. Our visit was part of an FRG (family readiness group) meeting. We were given time to roam the grounds, then sat down for the meeting, and then had dinner in the restaurant on the museum grounds. It was a nice day out, and very enjoyable, but a bit hard to get the full effect of the museum because there was no information in English. It was neat to see the animals and some of the houses, but we really had no clue what we were looking at as far as history goes.