Traveling with the Jones

In anticipation of an upcoming visit to Malaga, Spain, we researched some interesting facts about Spain’s sixth largest city located on the Mediterranean coast.

15 Interesting Facts About Malaga, Spain

1. Located just 80 miles north of Africa, Malaga is the southernmost large city in Europe.

2. Malaga is one of the world’s oldest cities. When the city was founded by the Phoenicians in 770 BC, it was known as Malaka. 

3. From the 6th century BC, Malaga was ruled by Ancient Carthage.

4. Today one of the busiest seaports on the Mediterranean, the Port of Malaga has operated continuously since at least 600 BC.

5. The Roman Republic took control of the city in 218 BC. Malaca, as it was called in Latin, later became a part of the Roman Empire.

6. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was under Islamic rule, and known as Malaqah for 800 years.

7. Malaga was conquered by Christian forces in August, 1487 during the Reconquista.

8. Today the historic center of Malaga contains a variety of archaeological remains and monuments from the Phoenician, Roman, Arabic and Christian eras covering more than 3,000 years.

9. Malaga’s Moorish Alcazaba fortress dates from the eighth century. The fortress overlooks the city’s restored Roman Amphitheater.

10. Malaga boasts a second Moorish castle – the Gibralfaro – from the 14th century. It offers spectacular views over the city´s old town and port.

11. Artist Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga. Casa Natal, Picasso’s birthplace, is open to the public and gives a view of the artist’s early years in Malaga.

12. The Museo Picasso Malaga, opened in 2003 in the Buenavista Palace, features 285 works by Picasso donated by his family. Museum visitors can also see Malaga’s oldest architectural remains (walls of the Phoenician city) in the cellar.

DesperadoPuss in Boots

13. Actor Antonio Banderas — known for his roles in Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, and Spy Kids, as well as the voice of Puss in Boots in Shrek 2 and sequels — was born in Malaga on August 10th, 1960. The actor is also known for his Antonio Banderas fragrances for men and women.

14. Malaga enjoys an average of 300 days of sunshine and 50 days of rain each year.

15. Thanks in part of the Malaga Mountains blocking cold weather from the north, Malaga has the warmest winters of all European cities with a population of half a million or more. The average temperature between December and February is 63–64 °F.

Learn more about Malaga with these resources: 

Simpler Life In Malaga, House Hunters International

Message From Malaga

Check out these other posts on “Fun Facts” from cruise ports around the world:

• 32 Fun Facts About Barcelona, Spain
• 15 Fun Facts About Alicante, Spain
• 33 Fun Facts About Prince Edward Island, Canada
• 14 Fun Facts About Quebec City, Canada
• 53 Fun Facts About Key West, Florida
• 9 Fun Facts About Costa Maya, Mexico
• 16 Fun Facts About San Juan, Puerto Rico

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook

Or, check out our boards on Pinterest and/or our photos on Instagram.

Do you listen to podcasts?

One third of Americans ages 12 and older have listened to at least one podcast, according to the Pew Research Center.

I was late to join the party, resisting podcasts for years.

When one of my favorite authors, Gretchen Rubin, started the Happier podcast with her sister Elizabeth Craft earlier this year, I decided to try listening to it. Before long I was hooked on listening to podcasts during two specific activities:

• While on a plane flight. I make sure my iPhone is loaded with multiple downloaded podcasts, so I can put in my ear buds and tune in to something interesting even when my phone is in airplane mode. This is also a great way to tune out engine noise, crying baby noise, and overly talkative seat mates.
• While exercising. As a Fitbit Fanatic, I’m often walking fast laps at the park to get in my daily steps when I’m not traveling. Interesting podcasts take the boredom out of repetitive exercise with the same scenery.

There are many podcasts to choose from, which is a good thing, because I’m picky. There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts hosted on iTunes alone, with new ones appearing every day. I’ve learned that I prefer podcasts that generally run 20-35 minutes, and are in an interview or discussion format. Just hearing one person talking tends to get boring for me.

When I listen to podcasts, I want to learn something new that interests and/or inspires me. Here are my five current favorite podcasts:

HBR Ideacast These 20-25 minute interviews from the Harvard Business Review cover topical business issues in an interesting and to-the-point way. For example, I enjoyed learning about Xiaomi, a Chinese start-up company that is now the world’s fourth largest smartphone manufacturer from an interview with Clay Shirky in this episode: China and the Biggest Startup You’ve Probably Never Heard of that was just released yesterday.

Slate Money This podcast is released every Saturday, and covers a weekly roundup of the most important stories from the worlds of business and finance. What could be really dry economic concepts and numbers is brought to life through the terrific voices and conversations of host Felix Salmon of Fusion, Cathy O’Neil of mathbabe.org, and Slate’s Moneybox columnist Jordan Weissmann.

Magic Lessons Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love  was part of the inspiration for us to quit our jobs and explore Europe for five months in our early 40s. The 12 episodes of this podcast features Gilbert talking to people who are facing creative challenges, as well as guest experts who offer perspective, advice and inspiration. Gilbert released these 12 Magic Lessons during the lead up to the publication of her latest book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. Hopefully, Gilbert will be inspired to add more episodes after her book tour, as they as one misses hearing her inspirational voice.

Elise Gets Crafty Since I’m not “crafty,” this podcast may seem like an odd choice but I enjoy Elise Blaha Cripe’s interviews on small business, goal-setting, motivation and creativity. While the discussions are often with artsy millennials who are online business owners, I find them interesting, inspiring and often applicable to my world.

Happier with Gretchen Rubin Known for her books on happiness and habits, and her blog, Gretchen teams up with her sister to Elizabeth for this podcast. Gretchen lives in New York while Elizabeth is a television writer and producer in Los Angeles, but they grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. Since I grew up near Kansas City, and spent five years living in New York and five years in California among other places before returning to Kansas City, I feel a special connection listening to them as they discuss practical advice about happiness and habits. Thanks to Gretchen, I make my bed every day, something I resisted for years.

Interestingly, there aren’t any travel podcasts on my current “favorites” list, although there is an extensive list of Place & Travel podcasts in iTunes. Perhaps I just haven’t found the right one yet, or, maybe it’s because I find visual images such an important part of travel inspiration.

Are you a podcast listener? What favorite podcasts do you recommend? Please share in comments below. 

For an in-depth list of travel tips in one place, check out our Travel Toolkit.

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook

Or, check out our boards on Pinterest and/or our photos on Instagram.

One of the highlights of our September trip to Belfast was a day trip exploring the Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland.

We booked a full-day trip with Odyssey Coach Tours, whose tours are given in smaller vehicles with fewer people. We liked the fact that this company’s Giant’s Causeway Day Tour travels in the opposite direction taken by most larger tour buses, helping avoid crowds of people.

After our tour departed Belfast, we traveled inland straight to the Causeway Coast. Our first stop was to view the ruins of the medieval Dunluce Castle, which dates to the 14th Century and has quite a story as part of the Castle actually fell into the sea (while people were residing in it.)

Next we headed to the village of Bushmills, home of the oldest working distillery in all of Ireland. The Old Bushmills Distillery has been licensed to distil since 1608.

There was not enough time for the in-depth tour, but there was plenty of time to taste the Irish whiskey in the Bushmills gift shop.

The Giant’s Causeway, Ireland’s only World Heritage Site, was our next stop.

As we climbed over the ancient stones, we marveled at the unique forces of nature that created these 40,000 interlocking, straight-sided, basalt columns 60 million years ago. There was a bus that we could have taken to and from the sea-side site, but we hiked, and then ate heartily afterward at The Nook, a cafe-pub near the site recommended by our driver.

The sun came out in force our next stop at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which made for picture-perfect views on the 20 minute hike to the bridge.

Even if you aren’t willing to step onto the rope bridge to cross to the island, you can still enjoy coastal walk and the incredible views.

Finally, we headed down the Antrim Coast Road, filled with spectacular views of windswept cliffs.

The last tour stop was in the small fishing village of Carnlough along the Antrim Coast.

A version of this tour is also offered to cruise ship visitors to Belfast. It’s an excellent way to explore the thrills and beauty of the Northern Ireland Coast.

Learn more about the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland with this book:

The Giant’s Causeway: And the North Antrim Coast

Are you planning to visit Belfast and/or the coast of Northern Ireland? Check out these related posts: 

• 15 Views From Walking Around Belfast
• Climbing on the Giant’s Causeway in Antrim County, Northern Ireland
• A Look Inside the Hilton Belfast Hotel
• Crossing the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge in County Antrim, Northern Ireland
• A Visit to the Titanic Quarter and Titanic Belfast

You may also want to check out our Pinterest board on Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook

Or, check out our boards on Pinterest and/or our photos on Instagram.