Malaga city, tapas with a twist and Valentin. (Part 2)

In search of cocktails and a little culture of course, we set off on the train to Malaga city.


We've been several times but Sarah and John hadn't. We suggested taking the tour bus but they were quite happy to explore on foot.

First stop was the gorgeous port area with all the lovely shops, bars and restaurants. It's a lovely area actually but quite modern in contrast to the old part of town. I imagine THE place to be of an evening with a buzzing atmosphere.

It was a hot one so an immediate cerveza stop took place. There was an impressive cruise liner docked in the port and whilst we were resting our pins and quenching our thirst Disney buses keep coming by full with passengers delivering them into town. Mickey or Minnie weren't on the bus but it was certainly a Disney ship. 

We meandered around the shops, browsing, oh and buying, admiring buildings and waterfalls and then headed towards the town.

I was a good girl and remembered to take my hat this time. Last time my scalp got burnt so badly and that was in May!

As with exploring any city you need flat shoes if you going to be a proper explorer. And a map. And a compass. Ok let's forget the compass, Sarah and John had us so they didn't need it this time! Perhaps flip flops are not the most ideal footwear but they're all I had and believe me when I say we didn't walk very far anyway before the next refreshment stop happened upon us.

Ummm....try again next year JJ.

Tummies rumbling we went on the hunt for a place to sit and eat. We walked up and down and couldn't make up our mind. Typical Brits we were in and out of bars, and it went a bit like this. "What about this one?" "No, it's a bit full". "This one?" "Erm....no don't like the look of the food". We actually sat down in the next one but oooh no it was too hot at this one!!! So we hopped over to the one next door, certainly a more Spanish looking place which offered us some shade. The place to relieve us of our hunger, where we could relax, chat and watch the world go by in true Spanish style was the fabulous La Plaza restaurant and tapas bar, situated at Plaza De La Merced with a view of the square and the Cathedral and just a few doors away from Pablo Picasso's birthplace and the Picasso museum. We took a pew and John got up to do the tourist-y bit by taking a photo of us all. Seeing what we were doing, and in an instant, a very friendly, and quite handsome looking waiter jumped in John's seat and smiled happily for the group shot!! Cheeky. Well, we immediately knew we wanted to stay put at this one. No more bar hopping. And Valentin was his name. 

Glass of rosé to start.. Oooooh is this the cocktail menu? Sarah and John were quite hungry and thinking of opting for the set menu, Mr C and I not so hungry. Valentin asked how hungry we all were and then suggested we select dishes from the tapas menu, excitedly informing us that everything was cooked from fresh, nothing frozen here! 

Here's the man himself trying to pop our cork!

As recommended we ordered two dishes each from the tapas selection which turned out to be plenty. I'd call it tapas with an international twist but the food was absolutely delicious and very tasty. 

Nothing beats sitting in the sunshine with two of your favourite people, eating beautiful food with your fingers and getting downright messy!

After the rosé we were little devils and ordered a bottle of cava. It's all Valentin's fault. He did such a good job he made us want to stay longer than we had intended. He was so attentive, charming and quite flirty with us ladies, we didn't mind one bit though, we probably flirted back a little, and he was so so funny, he entertained us the whole time we were there. Even Mr C and JJ said he was great at his job. He's exactly what a good waiter should be. He drew us in, kept us there, and provided us with top notch service, the food helped a little too!

Charmer!

Valentin are you in there?

With our bellies well and truly full we reluctantly said farewell and went on our merry way. I felt so relaxed and happy and as I stood up I felt all rosy cheeked with a warm fuzzy feeling thanks to all the fizz.

Where's everyone gone then?

The dramatic sun drenched Cathedral. 

Not sure what Mr C was trying to achieve here.

We'll make a photographer of you yet.

The cathedral is breathtaking, there are no words really, most people just stop and stare.

After wandering around the cathedral and taking a million pictures between us we decided it was time for another sit down. We picked a bar, no debate this time, a nice shaded one right outside the cathedral main doors, fountain just in front of us trickling away. 

This one was the best mojito yet and the sangria Sarah and John had was to die for. My tinto verano wasn't bad either. 

I don't know what they eat in Malaga but there's some tall people around here!

We strolled some more, left the old narrow streets behind and found ourselves in the main shopping area. 

Gelato time. There's always room for gelato right? Although Sarah and John couldn't find any. I kept telling them it's not like real food!

I had yummy mango and raspberry and I can't remember what Mr C had although I can see it was something to do with cherries.

Not quite got the right grasp on that bottle have I?    

Happy little souls (but thoroughly worn out) we started our walk back to the station. Stopped for iced coffee en route, but as you can see there's more cream than coffee, nice though, after everything we'd devoured that day I still don't know how we managed to go out and eat that night, but we did!

Let's finish with a selfie. Public transport again. This time a train. On the journey home. 

Mr C and I went to Malaga city in May of this year and we also visited the castle. You can read those posts here, part one and part two.

Have you been to Malaga city? Did you enjoy it?

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