Fireworks in the morning!

Dia de Muertos in Mexico

It has been a time of celebration here in Mexico for the past few days.

We are in Ajijic and have been able to view and join in all of the festivities including the Virgen del Rosario celebrations, Halloween and of course Dia de Muertos.

There has been fireworks (VERY loud bangers) going off at dawn all over the town leading up to the Virgen del Rosario and then an amazing parade that went past where we are staying.

For Halloween, we bought a huge amount of sweets that we passed out to local children - who surprizingly arrived for trick or treating in cars or whole families loaded on to motorbikes!!

Ixtlahuacán de Membrillos 

And then it was on to the Dia de Muertos festivities with a highlight being a visit to Ixtlahuacán de Membrillos  to see the incredible memorial altars and also all of the ladies dressed as Catrina's for a competition to select the best Catrina. Another highlight was getting my makeup done by JJ in his local beauty salon - didn't he do a great job?!

Here's some pics from all of the different places we have visited including Ixtlahuacán de Membrillos, Tonalá and Tlaquepaque.

Mexico City

Wow Mexico city is incredible!

We've had the most amazing few days after arriving with Aeromexico from Madrid on a super flight.

Literally by the end of the first day we had already visited 2 museums, stopping in to the Women's Museum to see their permanent exhibition and also viewing the Jan Hendrix (pic above) exhibition in Citibanamex Cultural Palace.

We also found time to stop off for a little brunch of eggs, served with a beer and a mimosa.

Constitution Plaza is a stunning place to visit - it is absolutely huge and the buildings surrounding it are immense including the palacio.

The weather is just perfect. However, it is the rainy season so every afternoon a thunder and lightning storm rolls in with rain - but in fairness even while it is raining it is not too cold, so all is fine with a light jacket. 

Menu del dia

Have you heard of the Menu del Dia?

So Menu del Dia is a thing in Spain for when everyone is having their large meal at lunch time during Monday to Friday. It's a set price menu from about 12.30pm to 4pm and it generally consists of a starter, main and dessert along with a fizzy drink or an alcoholic drink like a beer or wine.

In Malaga the menu del dia cost was generally about €11 or €12 while in Madrid it is about €13-15 or so.... there are more expensive ones in high end restaurants, and then there are also cheaper menu del dias in local restaurants.

Yesterday we visited Mexkhal Cantina near Estrecho on line 1 for their menu del dia.

For €13.50 each we got all of this food, plus a coke zero and also a dessert which was either a slice of cheesecake or chocolate cake.

All really tasty and ultimately a very cost effective way of eating out!

And so having not had a menu del dia the entire time we were in both Malaga and Madrid, we then ended up having 2 within two days.

It just so happened that we had arranged to meet for lunch today with the director of the art residency that PIGSY is currently in Madrid doing (last day is tomorrow) and we went fot the most amazing menu del dia today in a Japanese sushi restaurant called Matcha. OMG, it was incredible!!  And actually consisted of 2 starter courses (one of which was 12 shi sushi) and a main plus a dessert. 

I'm so glad that we did not know about it earlier as we would be hard pressed not to go there every day!!!

Sunday Cinema - Cine Verdi

 It was a cinema day in Madrid yesterday, with a visit to the gorgeous Cine Verdi to see "Alien Romulus". To get to the cinema we took the subway to Iglesia and from there it is a short walk. 

The movie was great.....especially since I had never seen another Alien film ever before!

We went to the 4pm show time which meant that the tickets were a bargain price of €4.90 and we were then home in time for dinner at 7pm.

When we got out of the cinema we decided to walk a little of the way as it had cooled down a little bit. So we walked to Cuatro Caminos and then got on the subway there. When we got out at our stop we then went to the supermarket where I bought some prawns for dinner. For some reason I had been hankering prawns in garlic and butter and in fairness they hit the spot!

Date night in Madrid

We celebrated our Wedding Anniversary the other day (23 years!!) by going out for a lovely meal in Madrid city.

On a visit to the Carmen Thyssen Museum a few days previously we had wandered past Primo Mexican Restaurant with both of us thinking that it looked like a nice place to eat. So we made a reservation for 7.30pm - we really didn't need to make a reservation as (1) it's August - Madrid is empty and (2) no one eats this early in Madrid! Lol

We got the metro to Sol and the restaurant is just a short walk from here

We ordered Duck Tacos to share for what we thought would be a starter - but all the food came out together. This was fine, as in fairness, the food was perfectly timed and did not come out too quickly.

I had skirt steak for my main and Ciaran had a burrito.

The duck tacos were devine and I would order them again. The skirt steak came with a mole that had a really intense flavour to it, so delicious.

The burrito was huge!! This photo does not show how packed full of cheese, rice and meat it was. 

All of the food was so tasty and really filling - so filling that we certainly didn't have room for dessert!

After dinner we wandered around the city in order to walk our dinner off. The temperature was perfect as it cooled off after the high temp of the day.

Above is a pic of the cocktail bar in Galeria Canelajas which is a high end luxury mall (pic of the building is below) that is attached to the Four Seasons Hotel in Madrid. We went down to the foodhall as we considered getting a dessert if there was a nice cheesecake on offer. However as we were very full after dinner we forgo it, anyway there was only a gelato and crepe dessert offering so this wasn't something that really interested us.

Look at that beautiful blue sky!

After a lovely time in the city, we headed home to relax for the evening. I think it was about 10pm when we got home which is late for us! 

All in all an absolutely great celebration.......

Sevilla is sensational

 I've left Malaga for Madrid. However, before I left Malaga I went on a little trip to Sevilla.

We got the train which was just great. It left exactly on time and was very compfortable. We stayed in the Querencia Autograph Hotel which had a fantastic location in the centre of Seville with the most amazing view of the cathedral from the rooftop of the hotel.

We packed loads in to our 24 hour stay and hooked up with our friend Tony who is a writer and who writes about Flamenco. Tony brought us to a traditional Flamenco bar where we saw Flamenco music and dancing. Really incredible and I don't think we would have happened on this place without Tony's guidance!

Dinner was in "Zelai" as recommended by another friend. It was excellent with the food being a contemporary fusion of traditonal Spanish food.

With a visit to both the bullring and Plaza de Espana we felt like we saw and experienced lots in Sevilla - however, we hope we get back another time to experience more!

Here's a few pics of our trip:

Granada is GREAT!

I visited Granada last week and really enjoyed it.

I picked the train over the bus as the way to get there and it was a really comfortable way to travel with beatiful views the whole way there and back (and is very easy to get to from Malaga being about 1.5 hours away by train). 

Here's a few pics from my visit:

How beautiful are the public street lights?!

Granada has stunning architecture everywhere! It's got far more beautiful and historical buildings than Malaga

We visited a viewing point to see the most spectacular scenery and of course the Alhambra which is spectacular

Overall, I thought Granada to be much bigger than I expected. It's a very beautiful city and being a university town it's got a cool youmg vibe to it.

In Granda, a free tapas is always given when you order a drink. That's nice for sure!

And there are tons of art galleries and museums to visit. We stopped off in La Raiz, El Silo Electrico and spent a bit of time browsing the art in the Centro Jose Guerrero which houses a very special collection of artworks over many floors.

It was a flying visit and next time we go we will stay for a night or two and go visit the Alhambra with on a guided tour.

Marrakech, Morocco - holiday visit!

 Am just back from a trip to Marrakech after flying there with Ryanair.

Here's a brief write up of what I got up to in this city. 

Day 1 - Afternoon flight

Arrived to where we are staying in Marrakesh yesterday and we were served the most delicious mint tea and biscuits on our arrival.

We explored a little bit of the medina and then relaxed on the rooftop terrace of our riad.

Later we were served an absolute feast of traditional Moroccan food by our host which we followed by an early sleep as we were tired after the travel and small time change.

Marrakesh is unlike anywhere I have ever been to and I look forward to seeing more of it over the next few days

Day 2

Today, after an incredible traditional breakfast in our riad (with the best coffee!) we set about exploring the medina today. We took a visit in to Bahia Palace whivh was so beautiful but my photos don't do the colours and details any justice.

After that it was time for a cold drink of water and a little pastry while taking in the sights & sounds of Marrakesh.

Its a busy place with everything feeling unfamiliar, and while walking through a market I came upon a snake charmer and a man with monkeys in his arms. I'm not a fan of snakes so practically ran the other way.

Later after relaxing with a book on the roof top it was then time to venture out for dinner. Our cards wouldn't give us any cash, and with not many places taking card payment, we had to scrape what cash we currently have to pay for cheap and cheerful dishes!

Day 3

Today after an early breakfast we set off to visit the beautiful Jardin Mayorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent museum. It was a long walk outside of the walled city and luckily we had booked tickets online which saved us a big wait!

The gardens were so gorgeous and incredibly tranquil while the YSL museum was in a stunning building designed by KO Studio and housed the most beautiful YSL couture and art.

After getting lost on our way back to our riad (but were kindly directed away from the tanneries and towards the market square by a man on a bike who called out to us to take a right as we were just beginning to go left) we spent the afternoon on the terrace and took dips in the cold water pool to cool down.

And then it was off for another wander in the evening for a dinner on a terrace high above the main square. A tasty tagine with added people watching!

Day 4

Another busy day in Marrakech with visits to the Musee de Marrakech and the excellent Maison de la Photographie. It was incredible to see photos of the souk taken in 1920 with not very much change from today.

For dinner we we went to "Le Trou au Mur" where I sampled the delights of Camel(!) made in a tangia rather than a tagine. So good and very like beef I think!

Day 5

We spent the morning visiting the Musee de la Femme and after that the Museum of the Confluences which also houses the gorgeous Bacha Coffee cafe. There was a really good exhibition by Fatma Gbouri in this museum, and she was one of the women highlighted in the Musee de la Femme!

We have got into a nice routine of having a leisurely morning visiting different places and then spending the afternoon reading in the sun and going out for dinner about 7pm (stopping off beforehand for a cold drink of water in a busy place doing some people watching) and getting home just before the sun fully sets.

Yesterday evening we we went to a buffet restaurant where we got to taste lots of different traditional salads and meats along with live traditional music. It was fun and we even had little Moroccan biscuits for dessert!

Day 6

This morning we met a little kitten called Nairobi which is owned by the daughter of our riad manager, a gorgeous little friendly cat who after a few pets headed in to our room to investigate the shower area!

We then visited The Secret Garden which is an absolute oasis in the centre of the Marrakech medina. It was beautifully restored in 2013 and they have great photos and videos that document the restoration and all of the people who worked on it. The attention to detail is incredible and it was great to see the detailed plasterwork up close. It is a calm tranquil place in the middle of the business of city life and I highly recommend a visit.

Dinner was in a practically empty restaurant which is leading us to think that their quiet season is starting now.

We have one full day left and we have lots planned for it!

Day 7

Our last full day in Marrakech started with a visit to the amazing Bacha Coffee in the former Palais Dar el Bacha which is the now the Musee des Confluence. The coffee shop was worth the 40 minute queue before it opened to ensure we got in 3rd! The lines can be really long for it during the day so this is the best way to do it....and it is so good we are planning to go back tomorrow before we head to the airport!

Our 2nd stop of the day was the Koranic school the Medersa Ben Youssef which dates back to the 14th century. Its a stunning building, with a large prayer hall and detail after detail - I am a big fan of the intricate plasterwork.

Day 8 - half day before afternoon flight

We went back to Bacha Coffee!!

We started queuing at 9.05am for a 10am opening. We were first in line with a couple from Sweden immediately joining us in the queue. Definitely worth it!

Then it is straight back to the riad to check out and go to the airport back to Spain

Where we stayed:

Riad Makene Mouchkill - we highliy recommend here.

What was enjoyed most:

Yves St Laurent Home, Gardens & Museum

Bacha Coffee

Maison de Photography

Secret Garden

Practicalities & Advice:

Boarding Cards need to by physically printed.

Additionally your boarding card needs to be stamped by the airline at the check desk - this is even if you are not checking in luggage.

My advice would be to get to the airport very early as there are about 6 steps / checks to go through before you get to the departure gates. Ryanair opens their check in desk 3 hours before the flight and when we arrived at this time, there was already a queue built up.

Biking around Malaga

We brought our bikes with us from Ireland to Spain on the plane in hard cases. They arrived in perfect condition after we checked them in as regular oversize luggage and not as bikes.

When we were leaving Spain back in 2021 we had brought these hard cases for the trip home with the Bromptons, and they really do the job.

They fold up as usual and then fit neatly in. We can even put in out bike bags.

Last time I travelled I had a longer size saddle pole so I had to detach it. However, I had switched out to the standard size pole a little time ago (Penny Farthing Cycles in Dublin were able to supply one for me - see blog here) which meant it fitted this time, just by folding and placing in the box.

Here's a pic of the bike just taken out of the box (below)

And above is Ciaran cycling away after pumping up the tyres.

My bike pictured in front of the apartment entrance where we are staying for the moment

We are cycling around the square where Recyclo Bike Shop are based. This is where I originally bought my Brompton and they generally have a bike pump outside their shop for use by all. 

We have not used our bikes as much as we did when we lived in Malaga back in 2020-2021 which is probbably due to the location of our apartment back at that time. It was just a little bit further to the beach so we cycled there every day, while we are walking at this time. Ciaran is also recovering from his knee injury so cycling any type of distance is really not an option for him.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions about bringing a bike on a plane, let me know in the comments below!