Welp, I’m in Spain and super happy to be here! Took Norwegian air and flew directly to Malaga. The New Yorker has a great article on Why Airlines Want To Make You Suffer . That said, considering that it is a budget airline, Norwegian was quite tolerable.
There was no passport or customs check coming into Malaga from a fellow EU country. I don’t know if this is true of other airports in Spain and it certainly isn’t true of the airports we’ve flown into in England or Copenhagen. In Amsterdam you go through passport control even when connecting! At least it’s not like America or Japan where you have to go through security every time. And in the US they make you recheck your bag! But here on the Costa del Sol you just stroll on out, grab your bags, and hop in a taxi.
For Lil Bit on the flight I downloaded her Spotify playlist, a few episodes of Motown Magic from Netflix (She loves this show! #represenationmatters), and brought a variety of snacks. I thought it would be too many snacks but she decimated them. It being a budget airline, if you don’t bring your own, food and drinks, including water, must be purchased on the flight. Lil Bit was kind of awful on the four hour flight, no nap for her that day! But SM did more than his fair share of toddler wrangling. And the fact that it was direct meant that once we were off the plane we were freeeeeeeee!
This is our second time in Malaga but traveling with Lil Bit means seeing things from a whole different perspective. Traveling with a toddler means everything is about her. It’s off season and, though much warmer than Copenhagen, still quite cool. This means that some things, like Tivoli World and the water parks, are closed. Other things, like getting into the water at the beach or hotel pool may not be comfortable. But standing in the sun in the middle of the day can be quite warm and fortunately Lil Bit is happy with a playground of which we found several in Malaga.
There are at least two playgrounds in El Parque though their bars are closed this time of year. There are also several on the beach, many of which are near Chiringuitos. Chiringuitos are restaurants on the beach specialising in fish, other seafood, and, of course, beverages of an alcoholic nature. You can get your fruit of the sea fried or get it grilled on one of the boat shaped grills that are an iconic part of the chiringuitos look. So you can sit in the sun with your feet in the sand enjoying a tinto de verano and grilled prawns while the kids exhaust themselves on slides, swings, and even zip lines.
When packing for a winter trip to Spain, think layers. The high tomorrow will be 18° C (~65°F) and it will feel even warmer in the sun. But the low will be in the single digits (~mid 40s°F) and feel cooler if there is a breeze as there often is off the water. Throughout the day and into the evening things will come off then go back on again. Also be aware that the buildings are designed to deal with the heat. They may not be heated and you may feel colder inside than out! Be prepared and bring slippers or thick socks and warm jammies. Or contact them and ask.
When looking for accommodation you will see a lot of apartments and aparthotels available in the area. When you have kids a kitchen can help with both costs and the elimination of trying to find a place to eat that will suit every member of the family. Note that some of the apartments and aparthotels either have no cleaning service or only service on a weekly basis so if not cleaning up after yourself (and, let’s be real, everyone else in your family) is important to you that’s another reason to contact the hotel.
As a matter of fact, while I am all about the aggregate booking sites for flights and hotels I also strongly recommend at least checking out the website of a hotel you are thinking about booking. Often there is information there that is not on the aggregate sites, like, for a real life example, the fact that the hotel is undergoing renovations. Sometimes there are special deals they only offer through the home site.
Also, if you are booking a flight that is the least bit complex calling the airline has, in my experience, always been worth the fee. Once, during a particularly nightmarish state of circumstances I had to change a last minute mid-December transpacific flight home for a funeral because I had to stay for another funeral. The woman at Continental stayed on the phone with me for almost two hours until we found something I could afford, then waived the call fee. Another time a transformer blew just as I was booking a ticket. The explosion plunged the whole block into darkness. When I called Continental and explained not only did they waive the call fee they saved me two hundred dollars on the ticket.
Back to Spain. The long nights and short, grey days of Copenhagen were getting to me more than I realized. Especially since my trip home wasn’t the weather escape I had hoped for. The poor SM has been working well into the evening most days and even weekends. The warmth and sun here is almost intoxicating after months of dreary weather. And it’s lovely having some family time to just be a family. I’ll be more specific about our accommodations and the restaurants we’ve enjoyed (the food here is amazing) later. Now it’s time to enjoy the now.