It was already Tuesday and we would be leaving Malaga for Cádiz on Thursday. So much more to see and do in this lovely place. But at least we will be back for a few more days at the end of our trip.
It had been a big walking day the day before as we left the bikes at home. Our feet and lower backs hurt in the way they never do after a day of cycling. Actually, nothing hurts after a day of cycling. And the bikes enable us to see so much more. So we saddled up Shirley and Fidel today and first on the agenda was to head down to the big covered market, the Mercado Central de Ataraznus, which is open Monday - Saturday, 8-2. We love the markets in France and were interested to see how Spanish markets compare. It was early and the streets were still quiet. A lovely and now familiar cycle into town.
Market halls are always surrounded by cafes so we had breakfast at one before venturing in. Very happy to find very good croissants here.
This market hall site dates back to the 14h C when it was a boatyard. The sea came in much further inland then, right up to the southern wall. After the Christian conquest, the building was used as a warehouse, an arsenal, a convent, a military hospital and barracks. When the food market was constructed in 1876, the old Moorish marble gateway was preserved in the construction of one entrance and the market was designed in neo-Arabic style but using a 19th C building material, iron. The market is distinctive for the melding of 14th C Moorish architecture with 19th C industrial design. The opposite entrance references its boatyard origin in a beautiful stained glass facade. It has had a few dismantling close calls but fortunately wiser heads prevailed and what remains is both very functional and very beautiful.
It was a great market with all kinds of intriguing and perfectly arranged seafood, produce, meats including of course the famous Spanish jamon, and little eateries. The variety of seafood is astounding. Lots of buzz with everyone happily jostling for access to their favourite venders.
Back on the bikes and next on the agenda was to see how far we could cycle west of Malaga, having gone in the other direction a few days ago. We wondered if we might even be able to get to Torremolinos along some kind of coastal path. After continuing along another wide waterfront promenade with excellent winding bike paths, we reached a protected wetland area with hard packed dirt paths and then a beautiful and very long wooden bridge over part of it. We had seen this bridge and cyclists on it when we drove in from the airport. The path took us down to the sea again and into another residential community. We could see Torremolinos but it was not clear how we might get there without having to go onto roads so we headed back to Malaga. In fact we were able to bike almost 20 km, basically as far as the Malaga airport, before running out of what seemed to be a good bikeable path.
By the wooden bridge, we ran into the only bike tourists we have seen so far, a couple who looked to be in their thirties. Their bikes were really loaded and they told us they were from near Hanover in Germany and had been cycling all over Europe for 8 1/2 months with more to go. They were heading for Italy. They were camping when they could. We loved camping on early bike trips in France and Germany but it does mean packing a lot more stuff. I really tried to reduce my load as much as possible this time and feel pretty good about it. I actually have some room to spare in my panniers this time. But I am going to be really sick of the clothing I brought by the end!
Back in town, we decided to have an early dinner at La Canasta, a cafe by the marina where we had had a coffee and where we had noticed people eating that looked like great club sandwiches. It seemed they served food all day unlike most restaurants which close at 3 or 4 and don’t reopen until 7:30 or 8 and even then no one seemed to be eating in them, just drinking and socializing. Their sandwiches were fabulous, with a long list of filling combos and came with perfect little potatoes and salad. We felt we deserved a cold beer too. Jim, the beer drinker says the Spanish draft beer is excellent and the cost is always between 2-3E ($3-4.50). Dinner problem solved and very inexpensive too. We got some pastries to go for a Netflix evening.
This featured blog entry was written by Jenniferklm from the blog Cycling in Andalucia.
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