City With a Hangover

Yesterday was Malaga's post-Feria day one. A hangover day for thousands of people and for the city in general. Lots of stores and businesses were still closed. Downtown looked o.k., but the clean up was still incomplete, and is still incomplete today. It has always struck me as madness for Malaga to celebrate its annual festival in August, the hottest month of the year. Daniela, Asun and I went out to the fairgrounds (la Real, el cortijo de Torrijos...) on Friday night. We got there around 11, which is considered early, and stayed til a little after 1 am. We had fun just walking around for a while. Daniela and I went on a ride called the Grasshopper, just a little thing that goes around in circles and bounces you up and down at the same time. It looked very mild, but it was still a bit much for me. Not my kind of fun. It amazes me that all these people can go on these crazy things that turn you upside down at very high speeds, make sudden vertical drops, etc. and not end up vomiting and/or passing out. We also took in a little flamenco and got to listen to Carmen Linares for a bit, but the conditions were ridiculous. I don't have time today to really describe what the Feria is like, but it merits some attention, as it combines so many diverse and surprising elements. Not all of them good. (In the photo, Carmen Linares, a wonderful flamenco artist.)