On the third day of our visit to Malaga I suggested we take a walk to the Castillo de Gibralfaro, a castle perched atop a tall hill overlooking Malaga and its port. It’s possible to get a bus to the top, but I suggested that we walk. It was a little cooler than it had been the previous couple of days but still in the low thirties. It was, however, much more humid.
While the footpath to the castle isn’t particularly long it soon became apparent that it was pretty steep and we stopped to catch our breath a few times until, eventually my wife decided she’d had enough and to leave her where she was (which was sat on some steps). After telling her that we could return to the bottom she insisted that I proceed without her so, feeling a little bad about it, I carried on. A little further up the path there was a viewpoint with some benches and a guy playing music and then, after a particularly vertiginous section, the final stretch to the summit.
The first thing that greets you at the top, apart from the castle, is the sight of the bus stop that you might have taken advantage of. Also a shop selling refreshments. I wandered around the castle and followed the battlements around its perimeter, taking advantages of the opportunities to take pictures. I also called my wife and told her of the viewpoint and benches a little further up the hill from her position.
The views from the top were expansive and I’ve included three photos below from the the many I made.
The first is a view over the port and, if you look closely, you can probably see a few things that have been the subjects in pictures posted here in recent days, including the lighthouse, the siloes, and the white yacht at centre left. We didn’t visit the harbour area on this day, but I would have liked to see that black yacht up close. Just look at how tall that mast is. It’s taller than those buildings so must be around 14 storeys tall!
At the foot of the hill and just east of the port area lies Malaga’s bull ring. I’m not a supporter of blood sports at all and would never visit these venues to witness the activities that take part, but the structure made for a striking and possibly thought-provoking image.
Looking over to the west and north from the castle gave views over the city of Malaga itself, one of which can be seen below. I think I can just make out the roof of our hotel in this one. 🙂
After walking around the castle, I descended back down the path, met up my wife, and we then returned to something closer to sea level. After all the climbing (there were lots of slopes and steps within the castle grounds to be navigated too) my head was the colour of a tomato and my t-shirt was a sweaty mess, so we decamped to a cafe for very welcome cold drinks!
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Colorplus (third picture on Portra 400). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 20 August 2023.
Steel City Snapper photography 