From Malaga to Grenada

 I finally arrived in Grenada Spain after a long delay in the USA due to lightning in Chicago.. making me miss my connection in Newark and waiting 24 hours for the next flight … But all this was fine as I rested in my Newark airport hotel room and was ready to face a very long day today and boy it was long … the plane across the Atlantic was smaller than usual, a 757 instead of the usual 777, but it was nearly full. The flight path was also more direct:

Flight path Newak to Malaga.

 Arriving in Malaga at 7:30 am was actually a huge plus as the airport was empty and the passport lines very small… the Spanish customs were very relaxed and there no questions asked at all.. My friend, Abdelhsk, who i did not see for 40 years, was parking his car somewhere and told me to wait for him just outside the exit door, which i did. The bright sun ☀️ of the Med was beginning to heat things up already. Abdelhak showed, and we were off to breakfast in a small coffee shop near the beach. I already had breakfast on the plane, I told my friend but he insisted on having coffee and bread with cheese.

                                                             Sunrise over Malaga Spain 🇪🇸 

                                              First stop on the way ti breakfast was Malaga beach

   

                                                      

                                            Palm trees lined street in Malaga reminds of home across the med.

After breakfast we headed out of Malaga and headed east along the Mediterranean towards to Nerja, Salobrena, Almunecar to name the few beach towns my friend wanted me to see. Spanish highways are great. The landscape is dry with lots of red rocks and Mediterranean type trees; olive trees rule in this place. Spain is the largest olive oil producer in the world!! Of the three towns my friend showed me today,  Nerja stands out!! What a beautiful lively town on the beach … British retirees dominate most of the Mediterranean Spanish towns. Nerja was mentioned to me by my friend before as a possible place to retire and now I m here to see it first hand …. Well it is an awesome place for sure… the other towns are great too but Nerja is special!!  Here are few pics to prove my point..

Small beach surrounded by rocks

Another small beach

Busy street restaurants and bars

For a first day, and jet lagged as hell, Nerja made a huge impression on me… the other two towns were ok too but if I want fun at retirement Nerja is my choice. After having a light lunch on the beach, we headed out of Nerja and towards Grenada passing by dome mountain villages.. the Sierra Nevada mountains sit right outside Grenada and remind me of where I grew up, the Djurdjura mountains of Algeria. We crossed some mountain villages on our way ..here are some pics..

Nice walkway in a village

Irrigation channel or storm drain

More walkways…very peaceful

An old church building from ancient times, may be the Moores ?

We arrived in Grenada at sundown after landing at Sunset in Malaga, so we spent the whole day on the coast line and mountains.. My friend’s house id beautiful and sits on top of a hill overlooking a big part of Grenada and most importantly Alhambra.. here are some sunset pics 

Alhambra in a distance

Sierra Nevada mountains in a distance

Amazing views from my friend’s house in Grenada

After few snacks at home we decided to go out for a walk to the river near downtown. The walk was hard especially because i skipped a one night sleep and was really digging deep for more energy to keep going. I felt like my friend wanted to show me the whole thing in ONE day !!! But hey, he was up for it so was i so bring it on … let us walk in the dark alleys of Grenada. 

The first day end at 10pm .. i m literally running on empty … energy wise… i was spent … i crashed in bed and did not know where I was the minute my head hit the pillow. I m still in a daze as i recoup my energy for another fun day ahead … stay tuned and enjoy the  pics..