Paloma Park Gets a Much-Needed Makeover

Paloma Park in Benalmadena

Feeding the ducks in Paloma Park

Paloma Park is one of Benalmadena’s most popular attractions – for locals and tourists alike.

Famous for its large lake, extensive gardens (including one consisting of cactus trees) and its diverse collection of animals, many of which roam freely through its grounds, Paloma Parkis a must-visit for all visitors to Benalmadena.

Those of you who have visited the park recently may have noticed that it was starting to look a little run down and in need of a little TLC. Thankfully, this iconic landmark is now set to receive a major face lift thanks to a special state fund of €200,000.

The improvement works began last Friday and will include the following:

  • Replacement of the main lake’s ‘feeder’ waterways
  • New Signage
  • New Street Lamps
  • New park benches
  • Installation of a new eco-friendly irrigation system that uses recycled water

The work is set to last several months but once finished will restore Paloma Park’s reputation as one of the Costa del Sol’s most beautiful public parks.

St Patrick’s Day Celebrations in Benalmadena and beyond…

St Patricks Day (2013) in Benalmadena

Have you got any plans for St.Patrick’s Day?

It’s a pretty big deal here with lots of special events and celebrations taking place up and down the Coast. Below we’ve included some of the more popular celebrations taking place:

#1  Sunset Beach Club’s St. Patrick’s Day Dinner

We’re an Irish owned hotel so our St. Patrick’s Day is an important event on our calendar. As there are lots of activities and events taking place during the day in the centre of town (see below), we’ve saved our celebrations for Sunday evening.

The fun starts at 6.30pm with Happy Hour where you’ll be able to get two pints of Guinness for the price of one and free smoked salmon canapés! (more…)

Guided Tours of the Picasso Museum in Málaga

Picasso Museum in Malaga

Did you know that the Picasso Museum in Malaga offers guided tours to all visitors?

In actual fact, it’s one of the main attractions of this wonderful museum. Guided tours of the museum – for adults and families – are actually included in the price of admission; however, you do have to sign up for the service at the ticket office 30 minutes before the visit. Keep in mind that numbers are limited to a maximum of 20 people and minimum of 5.

At the moment, the Picasso Museum offers two types of visit to the individual public; here’s a quick summary of these visits:

1)      Getting to Know the Collection: A guided visit, highlighting selected works from the collection, led by a Picasso Museum educator. These visits are available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday at the following times:

Tuesday: at 6:00pm and 7:00pm

Wednesday: at 11:30am (in English)

Saturday: at 1:00pm, 6:00pm and 7:00pm

2)      Gallery Talks: The tours led by Picasso Museum educators focus on selected works from the temporary exhibitions or on specific themes. From Thursday 28 February, the museum is offering a tour focused on the exhibition Picasso of Malaga. Earliest Works. Available on Thursday’s at 6pm (Please note this is in Spanish.) 

Have you visited the Picasso Museum in Málaga? Have you taken one of the guided tours? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Wedpics: A Cool New App for Sharing Your Wedding Photos in Real Time

Wedpics app

Screenshots of the Wedpics app

Wedding photos come in all shapes and sizes. You’ve got the masterpieces created by the official wedding photographer Elizabeth M and then there are the hundreds of photos taken by all the guests who attend.

Many couples use the traditional method of placing disposable cameras on all the tables in an attempt to encourage their guests to capture all those special moments. Unfortunately, this isn’t always a great alternative; it can be expensive if you have a big wedding, the analog quality of these photos is often disappointing and then you have to try and collect all the cameras and find a way of sharing all the photos with your guests!

And what about all the photos taken by guests with their own digital cameras or latest smartphone? How on earth do you collect all these photos into one place? Some will email them to you, others will send you a CD, there’s Facebook, Instagram and numerous photos sharing websites with complicated login procedures… Not a fun task! (more…)

A Day Trip to Sierra Nevada [Photo Essay]

Sierra Nevada Views

Amazing views from the Youth Hostal

Our Community Manager’s (Justin) trip to Sierra Nevada…

Last weekend I took my family on a day trip to Sierra Nevada. The kids had been bugging me for weeks that they wanted to go and see the snow, so after quickly checking the weather forecast (didn’t want to drive all the way up the mountain to find that the ski station was closed due to bad weather) we decided to head out on Saturday morning.

The beauty of Sierra Nevada is that it’s just a couple of hours drive from Benalmádena. We left at 8:00am and – after a short breakfast stop – arrived in Europe’s most southern ski resort at around 11:00am.  (more…)

The Doll’s House Museum: Another of Malaga’s Fascinating Cultural Attractions

Doll's House Museum in MalagaThe city of Malaga is famous for its extensive cultural attractions, and in particular, for its intriguing collection of museums.

The Picasso and Thyssen Museums are, perhaps, the most well known; however, hidden in the back streets of the cities historic centre, we can find real treasures such as the Museum of Glass and Cristal and the Dolls House Museum. The latter is a recent discovery which we want to tell you about in this post.

Located in Calle Alamos (nº32) in the cities historic centre, this small museum allows visitors to enter the beautiful world of miniatures which in some cases date back several centuries.  (more…)