Morning dawned with a high wind in Cádiz yesterday, though temperatures were mild. We strolled a final turn around the old town, stopping for a bite or two along the way, then headed for the bus station for a 2 p.m. coach to Málaga. Palm trees were bent sideways, and we had to keep a grip on our belongings, lest they blow away!
The bus wound its way southeast along the Atlantic coast, with stops in Tarifa ("very popular for wind sports"!) and Algeciras on the Bay of Gibraltar, from which you can take a ferry across to Morocco. Once past the Rock, the wind abated and we followed the expressway northeast up past Marbella and into Málaga. What would have been 2 hours in a car required 4-1/2 by bus, but it was much easier on the nerves, and we saw a lot of scenery.
We schlepped our bags (welcoming the exercise) from the Málaga bus station to the apartment house where we had arrange for a flat, only to find the door locked and nobody around, and the street in front under construction. After waiting for 20 minutes or so, we cut our losses and went to nearest hotel, which is very nice, modern and comfortable. So much for preplanning.
Málaga is a large city (pop. about 600,000), and the coast on either side is well built up, but we are in the center of town at the edge of the barrio historico, and can see the surrounding mountains from our 4th-floor room. A major Spanish port as well as tourist center, there are few highrises, and an overall sense of intimacy, if such is possible in such an urbanized area.
Our first outing this morning took us to the Atarazanas Market, a glorious big building that started as a 14th-century Moorish shipyard right on the water (the port is now a good half kilometer away). After repeated renovations that turned it successively into a convent, an arsenal, and a hospital (as various ruling governments took over the city), the building was "updated" in the 19th century and made into the market, with high arched windows and roof panels supported by beautiful iron gridwork. One of the original Moorish arched entries miraculously survived. It is a glorious building with a fabulous market inside.
We visited the Pablo Picasso museum and admired many works of his that we'd not seen before, plus a temporary exhibit of the work of Uruguayan painter Joaquin Torres-Garcia (see www.museopicassomalaga.org/en/temporary-exhibitions/joaquin-torres-garcia%3Athe-arcadian-modern if interested) . We also paid Picasso homage in front of the house where he was born on the Plaza de la Merced. Lunch was at a fun upscale hamburger joint filled with local young professionals.
After a late-afternoon siesta, we walked down to the harbor along with many others to take in the evening air. A very small cruise ship was berthed along the quay, as well as two coast guard boats that seemed to be open for public visits, complete with crew in uniform. We wandered along the base of the hill in the middle of town that is crowned by an ancient fort (tomorrow's adventure), and found the ruins of a Roman theater that is also on the agenda for tomorrow. A light-ish dinner at 9 downtown while we watched a soccer game, then home to bed.
