Malaga, Spain

We arrived in Malaga, Spain, yesterday, Sunday, April 29, for a 1-day visit.  Malaga is located along Spain's south coast, the Costa del Sol, part of the Andalusian region.  It is a beautiful city in its own right, but also the access point via cruise ship and international airport for Granada, with its storied Granada Cathedral and the Alhambra, the fortress-palace of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand.  Malaga is also a 45 minute drive to chic Marbella. 

Rather than ride on a bus for the 2 1/2-drive to and from Granada for an offered excursion, we decided to remain in Malaga, the birthplace of Picasso and home to a wonderful Picasso museum.  (Ironic that Antonio Banderas, the actor, who is also from Malaga and has a home here, plays Picasso in the newly released film on Picasso's life.)  Malaga has a population of 600,000.  The entire metropolitan area has a population of 1.2 million.  Malaga is decidedly upscale, with beautiful houses, condos, apartments and villas along its gorgeous beach, in the middle of town and up along its tree-lined hills.  Many of its residents spend only winters there.  Not everybody in Malaga is wealthy, however.  For example, according to our guide, about 10,000 people a day travel from Malaga to Gibralter to work.

When I pushed our curtains back, we were already docked and this large (much larger than ours) cruise ship was just passing by on its way in.  In total, there were three cruise ships in port for the day.  As you can see, it was heavily overcast at the time with dark, threatening clouds, but in short order the clouds disappeared.  It was 59 degrees when we arrived, but warmed up to 69 during the day.  Perfect!

                                      

Janis and I had signed up for an excursion titled "Panoramic Malaga & Picasso Museum."  We boarded a bus (by far on this whole cruise the newest, nicest and cleanest) to begin our tour with a ride along the beachfront and then up into the hills.  (Bus windows were heavily tinted.  I adjusted photos for color correction as best I could.)

                                                                                                                                                                                          

At the very top we got off the bus and walked to a viewing area that offered panoramic views west and east.

        

Once back on the bus, we retraced our route and drove into town.  There we started our walking tour.  Once again, beautifully decorated buildings, public squares, statuary and monuments everywhere we turned.

       

                                                                                        

Our guide pointed out the building in which Picasso lived until he was about 9 or 10.  At the corner of the square in front of the building is a sculpture of Picasso on a park bench.  We invited ourselves to sit and chat with him.

   

We then walked to the Picasso Museum, a gem of a museum housed in a former palazzo.  There are bigger and more prominent museums featuring Picasso's art in places like Paris, Barcelona and New York, but it is only fitting that there be one as well in the city of his birth and early childhood.  It was founded by Christine Picasso, wife of Picasso's oldest son, in 2003.  We were led on a 1-hour tour by a museum docent who did an excellent job and added considerably to our understanding of Picasso's work, including the fact that he started out painting in the classical style as a young boy before developing his unique cubism style, as well as about the events and relationships in his life that influenced his various style periods.  Unfortunately, no photographs of his work were allowed, but Janis did some sketeches of a few pieces. 

                                                                                                     

The museum fronts on a narrow street across from charming buildings like this one.

  

We next headed toward the more central part of town.  On the way we passed any number of examples of local color.

                                    

There is a huge cathedral in the middle of town, known as the Rennaissaince Cathedral, a 16th-century national monument.  Early indications that we were headed in the right direction were these views first of one of its towers and then side views of parts of the enormous building.

                                                   

Eventually, we turned a corner and soon found ourselves at its imposing main entrance.  

                                           

Here's also some more close-up detail of one corner of the church.

  

On another side of the same square the cathedral faces is the Episcopal Palace.  Pretty imposing as well.

                                              

We continued to walk up and down narrow streets featuring shops, restaurants, cafes, bodagas and more church buildings.  Notice the street surface material.  Absolutely beautiful.

             

We then entered an open area and noticed that Malaga has its own excavated Roman theater.

    

Diagonally across from the Roman theater is what our guide told us is the most popular tapas bar in Malaga, El Pimpi. 

  

According to our guide, residential real estate in this part of downtown, such as buildings like this, is especially expensive.

It was time for us to return to the ship.  On our way to the bus we passed city hall, a beautiful building with impressive elements.

                                                        

On the bus ride back to the port, we caught our last glimpses of family life on a Sunday in Malaga and of the marina area, which includes lots of children's playground equipment.

        

  

The late afternoon sailaway was fun to watch, as always.  The water was particularly rough and the pilot boat had a hard time coming alongside the ship to pick up the pilot once we cleared the harbor.  But, eventually, mission accomplished.

          

Today is Monday, April 30.  We're now enjoying a day at sea as we sail to our next port of call, Porto, Portugal, where we're scheduled to arrive early tomorrow morning.  I expect to blog about our visit to Porto as we make our way to our final destination, London.  I don't plan to post anything on London, at least not until we get home, because we have so much to do in the short time we will be there before heading for the airport, including visiting with two British couples with whom we've become friends since we first met them our China trip some years ago.  Doing this blog has been fun, but also somewhat limiting in terms of my ability to participate in all of the other things that are always going on aboard this amazing ship.  What an experience this has been!  Trip of a lifetime!