Malaga

There are some places that you end up rather by accident. For spring break my roommate asked me to join her in the Canary Islands and in Mallorca. I knew very little about either place, but after a trying winter in Madrid, I was eager to spend some time on the beach.

However, as our plans evolved, I began to have second thoughts. While the idea of island hopping was somewhat intriguing, I always like to pretend to be richer than I am, it also seems a bit excessive. I didn't want to spend all this time in Spain without visiting Andalusia.  Especially, as we were going during Semana Santa or Holy Week.

For those that don't know, Andalusia is home to many of the traditions that we associate with Spain. Namely among those are the processions. During the last week of Lent, devout Catholics will carry large platforms adorned with gold and silver. At the center of these platforms, there will be a statue of Jesus, The Virgin Mary, and the patron saints of that particular region.

Participants, called Los Nazarenos, also don robes and pointy hats called capirotes --which are reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan for Americans. This was not something that I was apt to miss. It was an age-old Spanish tradition and it was also the only time that I could be around people dressed like this, but not be in mortal danger. So, I proposed a compromise. We would still head to the beach, but this time on the mainland.

The problem was that I didn't know anything about the Spanish coastline. So, we pulled up Google Maps and I chose the city that looked like it was closest to the Mediterranean Sea. That, quite literally, is how we ended up in Malaga.

It turns out, it wasn't a bad place to end up. Not only because of the beach but because of its famous former inhabitants. It turns out that Malaga is the hometown and Antonio Banderas and Pablo Picasso. An interesting point of fact to find out in the moment.

 It was a good choice as it turned out. We spent our trip by attending church on Easter Sunday and taking a free trip to the Picasso Museum. And much to my roommate's delight, we were able to do all this and also had time to lie on the beach. 

Not a bad place to end up by mistake.