Oh boy was it hot today. Too hot to even take the dog for a walk that was for sure.
For us we cooled down with a visit to the beach in the morning where we had the nicest swim. The water was just perfect and the beach had a cooling breeze.
After the beach it was time for coffee and we then hung out on our terrace for the afternoon where I took an outdoor shower when it hit 40 degrees. When I say outdoor shower I actually mean spraying myself down with the hose - it did the job!
And then later in the day (still hot!) it was off for a little excursion to the Picasso Museum which is exactly 300 metres from our apartment - how cool is that?!
I had visited it before but it was Ciaran's first visit. We both really enjoyed the visit and Ciaran said it was the highlight of his day. My highlight was the little morning swim - we plan on going again soon.
And after a lovely dinner of tapas on the terrace we had water melon for after and then the sun went down on a perfect day in Malaga
As we begin to settle in to Malaga we are beginning to see different areas of the city and get a feel for what they are like. We think that Soho has a bit of a hipster feel and it may be on the up, then there are very upmarket areas around Calle Larios and then where we are living is possibly best understood by an Irish person is to describe it as maybe being the Temple Bar area of Malaga. This is exactly where we wanted to be in the city (right in the heart) and is a little ironic as when we house hunted for our first apartment the year before we got married, Ciarán found a really great apartment in the centre of Temple Bar that he was really keen on buying as he was very much in favour of city living. However, we then settled on an apartment at the Phoenix Park.
So far we have found living in Malaga to be easy. Here's just some of the things that we have done with ease and no hassles and give you an idea of what it is all like.
Printing
We received an email with a document that needed to be printed and signed yesterday. In order to do this we walked probably 2 minutes up the road to a print copy shop to do it, returned to the apartment and signed it and then scanned on the phone and returned it by email. All in probably less than 10 minutes and I think that we can do it quicker by going at a less busy time as the morning time seems to be busy
Art Supplies
On the way to the print shop we passed by an art supply shop. So this is literally less than 1 minute away from the apartment. Ciarán went in and spoke to the owner. They make up their own canvas for sale in the store and also sell spray paint. Again so easy to have this resource on our doorstep!
Vet for Bones
Having looked online and chosen a vet near the marina (where we stayed in an AirBnB back in February) we cycled down on the bikes a day after Ciarán & Bones arrived. The vet was really friendly and helpful and didn't mind us bringing the bikes in to the foyer as we had forgotten our locks. He spoke perfect English and gave us lots of useful advice about Bones. I asked whether it was ok for him to drink the tap water here in Malaga but he advised not as it is too hard and could give Bones kidney stones. We also bought dog food in the vets and again so easy because "Canagan" dog food was available. This is a British brand that is familiar to me as it is marketed in most Irish pet stores. We brought over some of Bones current dog food and will mix both old and new together to wean him on to the Canagan.
Waste Disposal
Waste Management is brilliant in Malaga. Large bins are on the street and are available to dispose of rubbish. All you have to do is split your rubbish in to recyclables and then pop them in the bins. This can be done on a daily basis so it stops having big amounts of rubbish for disposal here in the apartment. Again, as you can probably guess, there are bins available for us to use a few metres away from where we live - about a min walk.
Postcards
I wrote a few postcards over coffee on the terrace having picked them up from a little Tabac shop on our morning walk. Stamps (sellos) were also available so I was conveniently able to buy all I needed in the one shop. There is a post office very close to us which will be convenient for mailing packages, etc. but it does seem to have big lines outside it from time to time.
Padel
Having visited a few padel clubs on our last visit, Ciarán had located a club that is quite convenient to where we are living. We cycled there yesterday evening and had a look around at the courts which are on the roof top!
He has been hooked up with a game already on Monday (Lunes) at 7pm. I will go along too and hang out in the comfortable seating area and I'll blog about how that all goes.
Simple food
Having eaten out a few times when we arrived, last night for dinner (at a very late for me 9.30pm) we made a simple omelette which we ate with a little salad along with bread for Ciarán. Blissful to eat out on the terrace listening to the hustle and bustle of the street below us. A perfect end to a Friday night.
PIGSY in Spain
After a lot of planning and a long time (our initial plans were scuppered in March by the Covid pandemic) we have finally made a move to Malaga.
Both of us have taken breaks from our careers in Ireland and we have plans to live here for awhile with Ciaran concentrating on his art work - see www.ciaranmccoy.com
We are all set up with a rented apartment in the centre of the city (pics to follow in future blogs and studio space for PIGSY) and our flights went very smoothly - and most importantly Bones the dog arrived with no issues - he travelled in the hold on Ciaran's flight, as cargo.
I set off from Ireland on a 3.20pm Aer Lingus flight after leaving Bones & Ciaran in the dog friendly Travel Lodge in Airside, Swords. Then Ciaran checked Bones in to cargo on Tuesday morning at 4am and then made his way to Dublin Airport to put his baggage and bike on to his 7.20am Aer Lingus flight to Malaga. We would have preferred to take Bones in the cabin with us but this is currently not possible with airlines from Ireland to Europe, it seems. During these Covid times it could be a source of additional revenue for airlines (as passenger numbers were low on both our flights) so perhaps it will change and pets may be allowed in the cabin. My sister's cat travelled in the cabin with her from Oman in the Middle East to The Netherlands so I am unsure what is the issue with travel from Ireland.
I arrived in to Malaga promptly on Monday evening and deplaned quickly and made my way to immigration to present my passport and after that went through a Covid check where I presented a QR code on my phone where I had completed a self declaration that I was well and gave my contact details for where I was staying in Malaga. I then made my way to the carousel where my bag was sitting there waiting for pick up. Honestly, it was like flying on a private jet in to a private airport. It was pretty much deserted and probably took all of 10 mins to do the above!!!
From the airport I took the bus to Malaga and got off near Calle Larios and walked to the apartment. It was that easy and felt very safe as everyone was wearing masks.
As mentioned Ciaran was on the flight the next day so I got up and took the bus again to the airport and met him about 11.30am. From the airport we took a taxi to the cargo terminal and paid a ground handling fee for the dog in the office and then went to the unit next to the office to pick Bones up. He came through in a crate which I was under the impression that we had rented for his transport but they gave it to us to keep. He hopped out of the crate and we put his lead on and he walked smartly to the taxi without a look back!
The taxi driver had no issue with Bones hopping in the back with us and he loaded up the crate in to the boot.
We were then on our way to Malaga with the taxi driver dropping us off at a spot a short walk to our apartment. The bus ride in to Malaga costs €3 and the taxi cost us less than €30 and was well worth it as there was no way we could have walked to the cargo terminal with all of our baggage and in the mid day sun. Additionally I am not sure if we could have taken Bones in the bus.
When we arrived, we had a good look around at the apartment to see if there is anything we needed to organise or buy. The place was spotlessly clean as we are the first tenants since it was refurbished and it has just about everything we need, bar two sun loungers for the terrace. We will get that organised over the next few days.
So that's the state of play for the moment.....do keep any eye on this blog as I will post all about what we are getting up to and how everything is going.
Additionally for lots more pics follow the PIGSY insta page
I have been cycling to and from work. Here's a few sights on my cycles taken over different days....
Aviva Stadium in the background as I get off the train at Landsdowne Station
Attractive looking fascade on Baggot Street Lower
Pembroke Lane - interesting house! And below from the other side. The architecture and design stopped me in my tracks.
First Editions on Pembroke Lane. It's very quaint and reminds me of something you might see in Notting Hill London
And this is the view over the tracks at Lansdowne Train Station.
The cycle from my house to the station is short but there is always plenty to see which makes it a pleasant cycle.
If you've been thinking of taking up cycling with the advent of Covid19 and in order to avoid public transport I would say go for it. Cycling is both good for the mind and body, saves you money on your commute and reduces traffic on streets which in turn is helpful for the environment.
Dublin City have been actively working to make the city a safer place to cycle by protecting cycle lanes with bollards. There probably have never been a better time to start cycling than now. Happy cycles!
Do you ever feel like you've watched everything on Netflix or at least watched everythign you are interested in and the rest is just pure rubbish?
Last week I had that feeling.
In recent times I watched the series "Orthodox" which I thought was very good and actually managed to not binge watch it and spread it out over 4 nights. I also watched season 1 & 2 of Below Deck which I loved....and DID binge watch.
And so after that I went scrolling through Netflix but couldn't find anything I wanted to watch.
Until.....I landed on "You've got mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
It is probably categorised as a "Chick Flick" but we didn't let that put us off. So after watching it, I can tell you some parts have dated fairly badly (the whole references to chat rooms, emails and computers in general) and will continue to do so but on the whole it's a good solid love story (what's not to love) and I give it a big thumbs up.
So if you find yourself in the position where you have watched all of Netflix, don't overlook "You've got mail"!
After months of not seeing family, while restrictions were in place in Ireland, my mam visited me today.
It was great to see her in person as we had only had phone conversations for the past while as she does use Zoom or other video call technology.
I had been expecting rain but it was lovely and sunny so I set up a little mini brunch in the back garden.
Over lots of coffee we had a pleasant visit and caught up on all of our news. It was very nice and it felt somewhat normal in this strange world that we are living in.
Two things that Mam remarked on straightaway were on Bones' tight haircut which when she saw him she said "What did they do to you?" and when she saw Ciaran she said "Look at you with a beard! And long hair". She then went on to tell him that he looked good with the long hair and that he had lost weight.
And so after her visit, I walked her to the bus stop and saw her on to the bus. She took the first bus that came, even thought it was not her regular one, but there was a risk that the bus after the first one would be full (due to restricted passenger numbers for social distancing) so was best to just get on whichever one she could and then change in the city for the bus home to her house - just one example of the new normal.
So this happened
I dropped my gorgeous little blue bird jug as I was putting it away in the press. It hit the granite worktop and unsurprisingly smashed in to pieces.
It was from the Carolyn Donnelly range in Dunnes Stores and it was definitely my favourite little jug.
But I've a few other little milk jugs so it's not a big deal. I just swept all the pieces in to the bin and forgot about it. In life there are much bigger things to be concerned about than a broken jug!
