So I'm a little overdue for a blog post but that's because the last two days have been a whirlwind.

My first day in Malaga I spent exploring the city on my own. I walked for an hour down the beach boulevard and just enjoyed the sun and water after partially burning the bottoms of my feet and full burning my forehead and shoulders. Apparently my winter skin is not a fan of such sudden direct sun. I knew I should have tanned before!!

Once I got to the port I saw the citys main attraction alzacaba and Castillo gibralfo. The hike was not meant to be done in gladiators but the views we're definitely worth it. You could see the whole beach and city including the bull fighting ring that seats 14000 people and from what I heard is quite the spectacle.

I was beginning to worry because the locals in Malaga spoke very little English and I had a really hard time doing something as simple as buying a bottle of water with no 'gas'.

After making a descent I headed back to the hostel in search of dinner.

Of all the crazy things I ended up meeting James, a guy from kanata of all places. He was my first friend through out my travels and invited me over to a group of people who had been there the night before. We sat on the patio, went and bought beer and enjoyed grocery sandwiches for dinner together.
Everyone was really meshing.

I ended up being the only one staying in my room so that was good if not really part of the authentic hostel experience. The staff at the melting pot were very nice and made us drinks all night.

Some of the people I met included rob a traveler from Toronto who had been traveling for 8 months. He was about 32 and so amazingly knowledgable.
There was cecilie who was a punk traveler on a casual vacation from Norway, so nice.
Bo and I got along really well. She was 20 and from holland on vacation.
Rex spoke very little English and was from Switzerland. A little bit of an oddball but very nice all in all.
Anthony was kind of a weirdo from Chicago and I didn't talk to him much. Possibly the most charming of them all was Ed a long time traveller from NYC. Having come from Thailand he had some crazy stories.
The hostel gets quiet around 130 so we headed to the beach 50m away with some beer and music.

Before we know it were skinny dipping in the Mediterranean (well the guys and I were) and having a blast. We stayed on the beach swapping stories until 430. An excellent first day of my trip