Malaga
We had an enjoyable day in Malaga today. After a light breakfast we walked off the ship and were right in the city. Malaga is a beautiful port with easy walking.
We left the ship with time to walk around the city prior to our tour. The Malaga open air market is similar to many we’ve seen in Europe and they are always fun to just walk through. Being on the Mediterranean Sea, fishing is a major industry so the market had many fish stalls.
The market also had a huge variety of other stalls as well with meats, fruits and vegetables, as well as places to stop to get some fresh made food with a glass of wine or beer.
After departing the market we met up with our tour guide Jose and were thrilled to find that we were the only 2 people on our food tour. Our first food stop was back at the market where I had a glass of Rioja wine and David had a local beer. A skewer of fresh shrimp and tuna cooked to order accompanied our drinks. It was a great start to our tour.
Jose then took us down some of the Malaga streets past the Malaga Cathedral , the ancient Roman amphitheater, the Moorish fort, and the Picasso Museum where we visited later in the day. We ended our walk at a beautiful restaurant called El Pimpi owned by actor Antonio Banderas who lives in Malaga. We enjoyed more wine with specialties of the restaurant - meatballs with almond sauce and pork cheeks with a rich tomato sauce. Prior to being a restaurant the building was a private home.
Our final food stop was at an outdoor cafe where we had traditional Malaga salad, an odd combination of potato, fish, orange slices and green olives with a garnish of flowers. We also had a plate of fried seafood and a glass of wine. By this time we were pretty full and could not finish the fish.
Our last stop was at a bakery where we enjoyed a traditional Malaga pastry with a cream filling. Food tours are a great way to learn about an area. We have always been happy when we do them. This one was no exception.
We had an hour to kill before we could enter the Picasso Museum so we took the time to walk though some of the streets of Malaga and enjoyed the beautiful day.
We arrived at the Picasso Museum shortly after our 3PM entry time and spent about an hour there. Picasso was born in Malaga and the museum houses some of his most important works, With your entry you are provided with an audio guide that gave us a lot of insight into Picasso’s works. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
After the museum we headed back to the ship and took some time to relax before dinner.
Tomorrow we will be in Ceuta, the only Spanish city on the African continent.