Hola todos............

My name is Glenn I live in the States.....I am stoked to find Eye on Spain....What a great forum......I will be traveling to Spain to study Spanish in Marbella..will be flying in to Malaga and am expecting to be wiped out !  (tired)  I don´t know anything about Malaga..so I have just a couple of questions.........¿hotels close to bus stations or close to airport or both would be good?  ¿car hire verses buses?  I guess that´s all for now .....Thank you to Justin and Susan and all ........I thought it might be cool to meet you all while i was there .....Don´t know exactly where you all are..... but if possible , I would buy the cafe or what ever............

Hi Glenn

Good choice

I would recommend a stay at the Pueta Malaga hotel. Its a two minute walk from the train station which you can take directly from the airport for about 2 euro.(the bus station is almost next door)  Hotel link - http://www.easyjethotels.co.uk/info_hotel.jsp?indiceGP=1. Its about a fifteen minute walk to the main shopping center, and five minutes from the beach. we stayed there a christmas. Clean rooms and Staff were all friendly.

Unless your thinking of travelling around the country, I wouldn't bother hiring a car. From comments on this forum, Hire cars are expensive. This part of spain has a good bus service, and there is a train which takes you as far as fuengirola for about five euro.

bus timetable link - http://www.ctsa-portillo.com/horarios.html Click the malaga links for bus times

train link - http://www.renfe.es/cercanias/malaga/index_horarios.html

hope this helps - enjoy your stay

Phil

Thanks Phil........that is really helpfull. That hotel looks great and very close to all. I am soo looking forward to it . Hope all is well your way .......Thank you  again.............Glenn.

Hello G. and welcome. If you are going to have any free time in Malaga remember its the birthplace of Picasso and the musuem is there. Beautiful city too. Enjoy.

 Bienvenido, Glenn!

Where are you from in the USA?  We're from the midwest -- midpoint between Chicago & Milwaukee -- and are traveling to Malaga on 8/19 (arriving 8/20).  We just bought a place in Olvera, about 90 minutes inland from Malaga, and will stay through 9/2 before returning to Wisconsin.  Thereafter, we hope to increase our time in Spain by a month each year; within the next two years, we're hoping to spend 4 months (December-March) in Spain to escape the Wisconsin winter.  April-November we won't mind that much being here, where I will continue to teach college courses.  BTW: Great choice studying in Spain!  Hace muchos anos, I got my "Licenciatura" (BA) from the U of Madrid ... and now, many moons later, am buying a place in this fantastic country!

--Bruce

Hola Bruce..Thanks for the warm welcome here......I am in Wyoming , Jackson about 40 minutes from Yellowstone. Congratulations on your purchase.......that sounds perfect . I have been tossing the same idea around my head, the winters here are looong and cold........ I have enrolled for December classes..so I look forward to spending the holidays there.......I have been studying spanish off an on for many years ......but untill recently haven´t stuck with it , but now I have found a real determination and I am really enjoying some progress....I have purchased a computer program with Auralog ¨ Tell me more Spanish¨ and have dedicated 2 hrs a day mon. thru sat......but I really feel that being there will be the kicker.....¿Do you teach college language courses? You must be fluent to have studied and now have purchased there...I like yourself am considering strongly spending a considerable amount of time there..............Thanks again Bruce for taking the time and welcoming me here,,,,, I am really going to enjoy this eye on Spain...............Glenn

 Many, many years ago, I used to teach Spanish on the secondary school level.  These days, my field is communication: media studies, journalism, gender studies, public relations, marketing, etc.  Fortunately, I have traveled for business over the years in many Spanish-speaking countries and have retained much of my facility -- if not fluency -- in Spanish.  I have no problem keeping up a conversation about any topic in Spanish ... it's just that language is constantly changing/evolving and we tend to forget those words that we don't use daily.  While attending the U of Madrid, for instance, I had a car and could refer (in Spanish) to most parts of the vehicle and describe what wasn't working and when.  Who remembers how to say "the clutch sticks when shifting uphill into second gear?"  LOL!!!!  The best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it and its culture, which is why we decided to purchase a small place (for now) in a typical Spanish village -- Olvera -- rather than one of the large urbanizacciones that have sprung up around so many coastal areas.  For that reason, we have hired a car for the time we'll be here and expect to make a few trips to Malaga to purchase some furnishings at Ikea (near Malaga's airport) as well as travel to a number of the smaller surrounding towns that have different market days each week.  I suspect you'll find the best of both worlds in Malaga.  By Jackson, are you referring to Jackson Hole?  We knew someone from Virginia (where we lived up until 18 months ago) who picked up and got a job that he loved as a cook at a resort in Jackson Hole.  Like you, I'm a relative "newbie" to Eye on Spain and have found that the majority of folks I've met on this site (as well as through other Spanish blogs) are British ... wonderful, caring and friendly people who have created a fabulous "ex-pat" culture for the rest of us to enjoy.  !Buen viaje ... que disfrutes de todo lo que la bella Espana te ofrezca!

--Bruce

 Many, many years ago, I used to teach Spanish on the secondary school level.  These days, my field is communication: media studies, journalism, gender studies, public relations, marketing, etc.  Fortunately, I have traveled for business over the years in many Spanish-speaking countries and have retained much of my facility -- if not fluency -- in Spanish.  I have no problem keeping up a conversation about any topic in Spanish ... it's just that language is constantly changing/evolving and we tend to forget those words that we don't use daily.  While attending the U of Madrid, for instance, I had a car and could refer (in Spanish) to most parts of the vehicle and describe what wasn't working and when.  Who remembers how to say "the clutch sticks when shifting uphill into second gear?"  LOL!!!!  The best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it and its culture, which is why we decided to purchase a small place (for now) in a typical Spanish village -- Olvera -- rather than one of the large urbanizacciones that have sprung up around so many coastal areas.  For that reason, we have hired a car for the time we'll be here and expect to make a few trips to Malaga to purchase some furnishings at Ikea (near Malaga's airport) as well as travel to a number of the smaller surrounding towns that have different market days each week.  I suspect you'll find the best of both worlds in Malaga.  By Jackson, are you referring to Jackson Hole?  We knew someone from Virginia (where we lived up until 18 months ago) who picked up and got a job that he loved as a cook at a resort in Jackson Hole.  Like you, I'm a relative "newbie" to Eye on Spain and have found that the majority of folks I've met on this site (as well as through other Spanish blogs) are British ... wonderful, caring and friendly people who have created a fabulous "ex-pat" culture for the rest of us to enjoy.  !Buen viaje ... que disfrutes de todo lo que la bella Espana te ofrezca!

--Bruce

Hola Bruce, wow I google earthed Olvera and it is beautiful ! I think I may be un poco jealous. Yes I live in Jackson Hole and work for now at my families hotel. I am spending most of my free time studying spanish, and it is tough to make significant progress when thru out the day it is always English.. English , English. Hey by the way...... your avatar ....¿ Is that you at Gibralter, with the monkeys? I have been forunate to have spent some time in Cadiz and Algiceras some years ago and did go to Gibralter, I tell you the history of Spain is really interesting to me...........................Glenn.

Yep, I confess: that's me and the monkey in Gibraltar.  The avatar pic was taken last year when we took a Mediterranean cruise embarking from Barcelona that stopped in Gibraltar.  You'll need to come and visit Olvera.  Here's a link to some of our favorite photos of the area: http://www.kyero.com/pictures/6378-olvera-pictures.  Just go with the flow and you'll find yourself picking up Spanish lo mas pronto posible! :-)

--Bruce

Do not forget to visit Grazalema  when you are around Olvera!

Grazamela is on our must-do list! :-)