Malaga in March: Day 2

It gets light late because of course we are further west and also because it's cloudy and threatening rain. Well-equipped with cagoules and umbrella the objective for the morning is to stock up on food so first of all we go to the Mercado de Abastos Atarazanas. It's right in the centre of Malaga in an attractive old building. We look round slowly, food in foreign places is fascinating even in supermarkets and even more so in the local markets. We are duly impressed, prices are generally low and we espy one or two items which are amazingly cheap. First of all, for fish there are local soles for between 7 and 14  euros per kilo. 

In Italy they cost anything from 25€  and sometimes even 35€, scandalous considering  how much fish is actually on the bones. So the main course today is quickly decided. Instead for fruit and vegetables, avocados cost just 1 € or €1.50, no not each, per kilo! We stock up on more mundane fresh items as well and walk out into the rain. We had seen some nice restaurants on Tripadvisor just around the market but sitting nearly on the pavement under a dripping awning is not enticing. We leave our bags at the flat, which is a 15 minute walk and then go to trusty Mercadona which is just around the corner to get water, wine, Tortas de aceite de Ines Rosales, oat flakes for breakfast (which cost half what they do in Italy). We also check out the fish section and are pleasantly surprised at choice and prices.

After a very satisfactory lunch in the warm and dry apartment the cloud seems to be lifting and we glimpse blue sky from the window of the apartment which looks onto an interior patio and isn't ideal for gauging the weather. We discover RainAlert on the Spanish weather forecast app which assures us no rain until evening so we venture out in the direction of the sea. We walk through a brightened Malaga, washed clean by the rain, a few people around, down Calle Larios a pleasant wide avenue full of shops and then on to the Paseo del Parque and the waterfront. It's very pleasant, the sun has come out and the clouds are fleeing. We walk along Muelle Uno 

where there are shops, bars and restaurants and then onwards to the Malagueta beach. It's almost warm in the sun and there are a few people on the beach, we continue along the seafront where there are a lot of people walking, dawdling, running.

Every so often there is an outside gym and we see that people stop to use the facilities. The temperature is really very pleasant and we stop and sit and watch the surfers, I'd never realised what enormous patience is required, very few waves are appropriate and the various surfers often seem to be in the wrong place when the big one does arrive. Eventually we get up and head back to the centre of Malaga for our stop in Antigua Casa de Guardia where we try Oloroso and Vermut, a revelation, before heading back to base.