We started to watch from our balcony, here is a short video:
Cannot even describe the experience.
The first procession
Month: March 2026
Growing excitement
The city is in full swing of preparations for Semana Santa, Holy Week, a tradition that is over 500 year old. Drapes are covering balconies of houses that are on the routes of the processions, streets are cleaned, and in more than 40 brotherhood houses the thrones are prepared. These are so heavy that they will need 200 men to carry them, stepping in unison. Most of the statues are replicas, the originals were burned or destroyed during the Spanish civil war. It starts tomorrow on Palm Sunday.
Settling in
We are still waiting for our bodies to fully arrive, early afternoons we still get a little tired, and Krisztina is struggling with a strange cough she most likely picked up on the plane. One of the best thing about travel is that you are arriving to a completely unfamiliar place and after a few days it slowly becomes yours, the regular sounds from church bells, the various noises of the nearby streets, the pigeons, the local shops, the taste of food, the overall unrelenting rhythms of life. Two Spanish words we learned first were Salida and Entrada. Easy and useful. The first spaniard who smiled at us was a guy who almost ran us over, he smiled when he saw Krisztina do quite a big jump, away from his speeding moped. We were walking on a residential street, outside of the tourist area, just to get some local vibe. The only unpleasant experience so far was the Chinese woman on the beach who very aggressively tried to force a foot massage on Krisztina repeatedly on multiple days. We go to the shore every day, it is so relaxing just to sit in the sand listening to the waves. Today we also visited the house where Picasso was born. Now it makes sense, that famous drawing of a dove as a symbol of peace is very likely coming from his childhood.
Moorish castle
We are not slacking, the last two days we walked around 15k steps, in this mostly flat city. Because of Krisztina chronic bus avoidance or rather insatiable appetite for walking, an extra effort was needed to visit the Moorish palace and the fortress on the steep hill. Even in the old town not much left to indicate that this is an ancient city founded by the Phoenicians, other than a small roman theater and the very confusing street layout, so we were truly looking forward to see Alcazaba castle and Gibralfaro citadel, built around 11th century by the muslim rulers. What an incredible place, our reward was not just the view from there, but architectural beauty, intricate designs I never seen before and inside gardens with amazing sweet fragrance of blooming orange trees.
Searching for sunshine
We could not wait longer to find the seashore. Krisztina never needs gps to find the way to any type of water, we slowly walked from the old town through mazes of narrow streets, plazas and parks full of tropical plants until we arrived to the beach of the Mediterranean sea, surrounded by palm trees. Sunshine, blue skies, beach side cafes and cocktail houses. Just great vibe, exactly what we needed to deal with the remaining jet lag. Interestingly there are only a few seagulls flying around, but pigeons are everywhere in the city. And noisy parrots hiding on palm trees.
Wondering around
On our first day we visited the One Armed Lady, as the locals call the cathedral. After 250 years of building it, one of the towers left unfinished, legend has it that they diverted the money to support the war of independence in America. It is truly beautiful inside, we lingered there for a long time.
A new realization
We were stuck in that tube between the terminal and the plane for about 20 minutes, for some reason they did not let us board. Standing in that dark, narrow tunnel with our luggage I realized something important: GETTING THERE IS NO LONGER PART OF THE JOURNEY! It is more like little trials, like in ferry tales, to prove that you are worthy of your first destination. Just before taking off a lady could not hold it any longer, made a run for the shrunk down version of a honey bucket at the back of the plane, we could not take of, altogether we were departed more than an hour late. And I had no plan B, if we lose the marathon in Dublin from terminal 2 to the farthest point of terminal 1, knowing that Ryanair will ruthlessly close the gate 30 minutes before departure. The stewardesses on our long haul flight had a robotic attitude, most likely trained by AI. We found some empty rows at the back, laid down first class style to sleep. Thanks to some back winds and the pilot we regained some of the time we lost earlier. We ended up walking to the other terminal with a lady of our age from Vashon Island. She told us the story of a relative with cancer who decided to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain and lived longer than anybody expected. Ryanair to Malaga was as uncomfortable as usual, not even peanuts served, they tried to sell perfumes, gadgets and lottery tickets instead. The Spanish taxi driver was visibly upset that our hotel is in the old town, dropped us off in a busy street and pointed to a narrow alleyway for us to start walking. The complementary wine in our room, the view from our balcony was a good sign, that our real journey will begin now.
A sign to carry
Krisztina: “Our bags are packed, we are ready to leave for our second big trip to Europe (Spain, Malta and Ireland).
With this trip, I feel like we are going against the grain, hearing about all the upheaval, catastrophes, and turmoils of the world.
We are leaving on a vacation in a time, when nothing makes sense in this world, when everything is uncertain.
Because of this, while we are traveling, I would like to MEET beauty, kindness, faith, hope and love, and I don’t just want to see it, but fully experience it.
If I would have a banner for this trip that I would carry around, it would be this:
Peace between the nations,
Peace between people,
Peace within our families,
Peace within ourselfs!”
Let the adventure begin
As the world dragged into chaos and uncertainty once more, our departure date is drawing closer. Soon we will be on the road again, this time I am not just simply excited but also deeply thankful to God for being able to travel. I am hoping that we will experience way more than just unforgettable beauty of buildings, breath of history from hundreds of years, swirling impressions of interesting people, music, food and all richness of the land, but that this trip will somehow become a pilgrimage for us, like the one before. May we walk a distance together, not just physically, but spiritually, participating in the Holy Week in Spain, celebrating my sister’s 70th birthday in Malta, discovering Ireland coastline and fairy tale villages. This journey is ours, may both of us be refreshed, reoriented and transformed by it, so we could bring some of this back to our loved ones.
Travel Plan
Here is our trip schedule:
03/23 Leaving from Seattle
03/24 – 04/01 Malaga (Spain)
04/01 – 04/11 Seville (Spain)
04/11 – 04/22 Barcelona (Spain)
04/22 – 04/25 Valletta (Malta)
04/25 – 04/29 Mellieha (Malta)
04/29 – 04/30 Dublin (Ireland)
04/30 – 05/03 Killarney (Ireland)
05/03 – 05/06 Galway (Ireland)
05/06 – 05/08 Dublin (Ireland)
05/08 Arriving back to Seattle