12th – 14th of December – Welcome to Costa del Downpour

The plan was originally to fly out on the 12th early morning directly to Malaga, but a few weeks after booking my flights I was informed that my flight to Malaga had been cancelled and I was moved to a departure on the 10th instead. With a bit of back and forth with the airline I ended up getting a ticket on the 11th in the evening – to Stockholm and on the following morning I would then get a connection to Malaga at 0600. Easy! Having to get up at 0330 to catch a flight should be illegal, but otherwise the trip to Malaga went without a hitch.

We arrived in Malaga a few minutes ahead of schedule and were met with pouring rain. I collected my bag, walked outside and managed to find a covered spot while waiting for the airport bus to get to the city. Getting onto the bus all the windows instantly misted over as everyone, even those that managed to only be in the rain for a few moments to get to the bus, were completely drenched and thereby humidified the entire bus. Luckily the bus’s last stop was a short 5 minute walk from my hotel, so I managed to get there without completely drowning a few minutes before noon. Official check-in time was at 1400, but fortunately they already had a room ready for me so I was able to check in early.

Sitting in my room looking out at the rain I realized that despite napping on the flight I was completely exhausted and couldn’t muster the energy to go out and dressing to handle the weather. So I waited. And waited. It wasn’t until around 1800 there was a break in the rain for more than 5 minutes, and at around 1830 when it was still dry I got my stuff and went for a walk. I wandered down to the harbor front a few minutes away checking out the restaurants before turning around and going up to the central old part of the city that turned out to be filled with restaurants. I found a place and was seated outdoors under a tarp with a plate of paella. And maybe half an hour of sitting there we got a couple of extra buckets of rain but at least I stayed dry while eating and seeing people running around trying to find cover. Fortunately it didn’t last too long and had stopped when I had finished eating and left the restaurant. But the temperatures had dropped quite significantly since I had arrived so I decided to just head back to the hotel.

Pathways at Alcazaba.

 

The following day I went down to the runner’s expo at the cruise terminal and picked up my kit for the brunch run and marathon. I successfully managed to changed my L shirt to an XL – the shirts were quite smaller sizes than I had expected, relatively to the sizes you were handed for the Valencia half.

View of the old part of the city from Gibralfaro castle.

From the cruise terminal I left the harbor area and walked up to the Gibralfaro castle which gave some nice views of the city and surrounding areas despite some dark low-hanging clouds around the nearby mountains. The castle itself was ok – it isn’t much more than a slightly bent rectangular shaped outer wall with the occasional tower so after the walk along the walls there wasn’t much else to see. It does sound a bit boring but the views you had from up there were quite nice. From there I descended to the central part and entered the Alcazaba, another castle further down and closer to the harbor. The two are connected originally – and still are with the walls going all the way – but the ground conditions between the two are so poor that you have to visit them separately. While Gibralfaro didn’t have much to see, Alcazaba was significantly more interesting to walk around in. There were a lot of different buildings, narrow walkways and gardens so it was fairly easy to get confused about where you were in the moment. It wasn’t much of an issue, though, as there was plenty to look at, and only paying €5,5 for a double ticket it was hard being unhappy with the experience.

Alcazaba with the roman theater outside.

I spent the remainder of the day walking around in the area before getting dinner. Following this I wandered around enjoying the Christmas lighting and having a walk up to the castle to see mostly the harbor area by night.

 Two towers in Malaga.

 

Christmas lighting.

The following morning at 1030 I left for the cruise terminal where the brunch run would start at 1100. A short 4,5km run along the harbor front back and forth was a nice shakeout but at this time of day it had gotten quite warm and humid, and it made me worry that the end of the marathon tomorrow would be as bad (relatively speaking). Crossing the finishing line we got a banana and a bottle of water. Amazing brunch! Too be clear; I don’t expect a complete buffet but calling it a brunch run you can’t not get some kind of expectation – otherwise why not just call it a morning or shakeout run? I remember the end of the Berlin and Paris breakfast runs, and especially the latter’s challenge wasn’t completing the run but rather balancing all the stuff you were handed afterwards without dropping anything. 

Returning to the hotel I went out for a short walk, intentionally staying outside of the old part of the city, but honestly those areas didn’t seem particularly interesting. I definitely preferred walking around in the old part. Dinner was had at the water front near the hotel so it was quick and easy to get done and return to the hotel afterwards.