Miercoles en Malaga!

Breakfast in the city

Today we started out with a chilled out walk to the Roman ruins in the city. We stopped off in La Canasta Bakery on the way  and bought a warm cheese & ham croissant to share for breakfast. I had packed a flask of coffee and two cups (Pigsy mugs of course!) so we sat on a bench and enjoyed the surroundings while eating and drinking in the sun. It was beyond nice and probably a luxury because we won't be able to do it when the tourists return to town as this area is normally thronged with people.

After our breakfast al fresco we then sauntered back home with Ciaran going on ahead to the apartment while I stopped off in the shops for some water and cheese. When I got home, Ciaran was working away on the computer so I did some social media work.

Speak & Learn

At 11.45am we then quickly got in to some Spanish online tutorials and did them until about 12.45pm before we went to our 1st Wednesday Group Spanish lesson. It is with the same teacher from Speak & Learn that we do the class on Tuesday with. Today we could do face to face because the location where it was on is open during the day before the Covid restrictions set in at 6pm. 

No Piqui, Malaga

Our Spanish lesson was on in a cafe called "No Piqui" which I had been interested in visiting having seen it on some of our walks around town. Both Ciaran and I thought it had a Californian hipster vibe to it with the menu having salads, burgers and burritos on it.

It was great to have a face to face lesson and I think with a second one every week it will really help us get somewhere with learning the language.  Fingers crossed!!

The hunt for bagels!

What you miss....

It's funny how you miss little things that you are used to at home. I wouldn't have thought that Ciaran was big in to tea but when he heard that my mother was sending me a package he asked if she would also send some Barry's tea, as I had mentioned in a previous blog. since it arrived he has been happily enjoying a cup or two every day.

Bagels

Other than the tea, for him he also is missing a bagel which he was a fan of for breakfast from time to time with bacon and a fried egg. So after having seen bagels on offer in Julia Bakery we went on a search for a bag of them to have at home and maybe to put a few in the freezer. But it was no joy for bagels (not even in Lidl) they were not to be found.

Malt Vinegar

The other item that we both had a hankering for was for malt vinegar to put on chips. We had been enjoying steak cooked on the barbeque along with chips that we got from a restaurant across the road. The chips had salt on them but no vinegar. And so after hunting for malt vinegar we had to do with a substitute that I found a hack for on the internet. White wine vinegar mixed with a little balsamic vinegar makes for a perfectly fine vinegar for chips. Who knew!

So other than missing a few items like the above we are very happy here in Spain.

However, change is afoot. The net is closing in on Covid and new restrictions have just been put in place for the next two weeks.

Curfew

All non-essential businesses and restaurants have to be closed by 6pm and there is a curfew from 10pm until 7am. This really won't affect us much. The gallery that Ciaran's studio is has given him a letter to go to and from the gallery for work and I will probably do shopping during the day and be in before 6pm anyway. Even though the curfew doesn't start until 10pm.  I think this change will do something to assist in bringing Covid cases down as it will stop all of the boisterous evening socializing on the streets of Malaga.  

Online Classes

One big change the restrictions has brought for us is that our Spanish class had moved online for the next two weeks. The class was being given in a small boutique hotel and it has now closed for two weeks so until it reopens we are online on Zoom. We had our first class today and it was intensive. I found it tough online. It certainly challenged me - but if it was easy I probably wouldn't be learning more than I currently know. But as I said before progress is hard......and slow in regard to my language learning.

PIGSY Merchandise

And so life goes on here in Malaga. I'm still working away on Pigsy's art website and all of his digital marketing. Along with that his merchandise has come in and is selling well. 

I'm really pleased how well the Pigsy cap came out. Another thing I'm really pleased with is the result of the recent US election. To celebrate this Pigsy has specially released 46 (yes just 46!) enamel cups printed with his original artwork "Phoenix Rising" - it's a truly inspiring piece of art and it gives me a lot of hope for the future!  

I love my morning coffee so much in my Pigsy mug!! It really is the little things that make me very happy :-) 

Just a perfect day in Malaga

Museo Jorge Rando 

We had been wanting to visit the Jorge Rando Museum since we arrived. It was closed until now for what we now know was renovations (we had thought it was closed due to Covid).

Anyway we saw in the Sur in English that it reopened last week so we made plans to visit yesterday.

It is a short walk away from our apartment (less than 10 minutes) but was in an area that we had not visited before. We really liked the feel of the area and had coffee and a small bocadillo in a cafe near the museum while waiting for it to open at 10am. It was sunny at 9.30am and when we arrived at the museum our temperature was checked. Mine was high - just under 38 degrees! I had to explain that I had been sitting in the sun and I was warm with a sweatshirt on!

It's a phenomenally attractive museum with a courtyward out the back that is clad in corten steel. The art is very impressive and even though there is a lot to see it is not overwhelming. We plan to return again.

While out in the courtyard, Ciaran got a call from a friend who was going to be in Malaga (he recently moved to San Pedro) and was wondering if we were available to meet for a tapas - which of course we were.

So when we returned home from the museum we had another coffee at home and did an online Spanish class before Ciaran went to the studio with Bones to meet our friends and show them his studio.

He then dropped the dog home to the apartment and we then all went to Casa Lola for a little lunch of tapas. Ciaran and I shared a Russian Salad and I had a glass of wine with Ciaran having 2 cana's of beer.

And then later at 4pm we went on to our Speak and Learn Spanish lesson in the Hotel Anahita in the Populus Cafe in their hotel. Phew it was a tough one!

Following the Spanish class we both went our separate ways again with Ciaran heading back to the studio and me returning to the apartment to do some PIGSY work.

Dinner was early enough about 8.30pm and we watched the new version of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca which has just come out on Netflix. Really enjoyed it - Lily James was captivating as the second Mrs De Winter. 

I should also mention the cute little fish market we happened upon near the Museo Jorge Rando. It looked old a bit rough and ready but very authentic

All in all a fantastic day in Malaga!

Package from Ireland

How sweet is my mother to send me a lovely package here in Spain!

Filled with lots of nice things including a t-shirt for Ciaran and also Barry's Tea Bags as he requested! She also sent me a full outfit (amazing how it all fitted in the below) - a skirt from River Island along with a top and a light cardigan. She also sent me face mask (sign of the times) with a beautiful cherry blossom print on it.

And look at this cute wine glass cloth! It was included in the package - a gift from my aunt. It has print of places in Ireland. She said it was to remind me of Ireland - which it does! It put a smile on my face and I took this pic of it from my  balcony, and sent it to her by What's App to say thanks :-)  

"Phoenix Rising" Enamel Mug

"Phoenix Rising" Art Mug by PIGSY 

Love this!

My PIGSY art mug arrived! Can you tell how much I love it?!

Art Merchandise by PIGSY

As well as working hard in the studio and creating lots of original artwork, PIGSY has been working on an "Art Wear" range of art merchandise which was launched a few days ago.

I immediately ordered a few items from the range including a very cool enamel mug. Printed with an original art work called "Phoenix Rising" which was created by Pigsy during lockdown in Ireland in March 2020.

Enamel Art Mug

The "Phoenix Rising" mug is enamel, kind of hipster and the absolute perfect size.

I've dropped and broken lots of mugs over the years so I really like the fact that that this one is enamel - I reckon it is practically unbreakable and perfect for having a cocktail out in the garden. In fact I think this cup would be the perfect substitute for serving a "Moscow Mule" if you can't lay your hands on a copper mug!! 

Given the hard wearing nature of the material it is made of, it is more environmentally friendly than plastic cups which overtime can degrade or they can shatter. This one can be flung in a bag and aside from getting dinged you don't have to worry about it breaking.

It would have been ideal to take with me on past sailing trips when I travelled to the Caribbean and around the Greek Isles and other places over the last few years. I'm not sure if there are any sailing trip opportunities for me in the near future but if I do get near a yacht anytime soon I will take this mug!!

This mug was actually a limited edition (by special request of me!) so if this is the one you would really like, drop a line to pigsy.art@gmail.com and he should be able to work something out for you!

Oh and given that this would make the perfect gift for any coffee or art lover in your life........remember that Christmas is coming ;-) 

Every day is a school day!

Lots of learning going on here in Malaga between sport and language

I signed up for Padel lessons which is a lot of fun. I'm really enjoying learning this new skill and occasionally I am picking up a new Spanish word or two which is a bonus! (Hello "Saltar") 

In regards to learning Spanish, progress is slow. We started out for the first month doing online tutorials and are are now taking lessons with Speak and Learn which are very helpful. The lessons are stimulating, Clara our teacher is excellent, and they invigorate our self directed online language learning.

However, this morning in Starbucks I felt like I finally knew a little bit of Spanish where I ordered our two coffee and then said they were for drinking at the restaurant when the barista asked if they were for here or to takeaway. And then with Covid there is no sugar out on display so again I found that I could respond when I was asked if I wanted sugar. Job done, 2 coffees en Espanol! 

In the latest PIGSY art news, he was interviewed by Nicole King on her Marbella Now TV show and it broadcast yesterday evening. 

Everything is going swimmingly....

PIGSY Art Merch is now available!

Our day to day routine here in Malaga is generally to get up and go swimming first thing in the morning. Yesterday, however, we had an appointment for the vet and groomer at 6pm with Bones so we decided we would go for our swim later in the day after we dropped the dog to the vet. 

We cycled to the Vet and locked our bikes outside. After leaving Bones in with the vet we then walked to the beach (about 2/3 mins away).

The beach was so quiet and practically deserted. No one was in swimming so we had the water all to ourselves!

It was really pleasant. Although the water was icy cold, the temperature outside the water was warm and the sand was hot underfoot which felt so good. 

The area that we swam in was just in front of the upmarket Gran Hotel Miramar. To me the view of the hotel from the beach is very LA with the palm trees and the stylish looking hotel.

In the morning time we worked on the PIGSY website. Pigsy has been designing a range of "Art Wear" merchandise over the past while and we finally got it added to the merchandise store on his website.

It's a curated collection of lifestyle products printed with Pigsy artworks.

I particularly like the tote bags (the black one is a "Big Shopper") - they will make great stocking stuffers this Christmas! Another idea to be more eco friendly this Christmas is to forgo wrapping paper and instead put gifts straight in to a reusable tote bag like these ones.

Take a look over on the Pigsy website at the "merch" and let me know what you think. Also if you have a favourite Pigsy artwork that you would be interested in buying as a printed t-shirt version, drop a line to pigsy.art@gmail.com and if the demand is there we can introduce it to this new "Art Wear" range!