Malaga! Again!  And today we are staying here to explore the town – which looks like a fun place to just wander around (as opposed to immediately leaving to go to Granada or the white cities like we did last time).  We’re taking a ship’s “tour” but it is on the HoHo bus – we just bought tickets through the ship, which were cheaper than from the bus itself.  We can just leave at any time to get the bus, so we go up to the Haven lounge for an escort.  Um, that didn’t really work so well.  Sigh.  There was a lot of confusion up there as to when to go, who could go, etc.  We were loaded into an elevator, only to be turned back and taken back up stairs because the “gangway wasn’t ready,” which wasn’t exactly true as we had seen the gangway already.  But, you know, we had to try. And, we won’t be doing that again, FYI.  When it works, it works, but when it doesn’t….

We finally get out to the bus and manage to get a seat upstairs on the bus (remember it is still really cold and windy – so we are bundled and plotting how to manage this day on the bus).  The bus leaves pretty quickly, and begins the route (which I’ve downloaded on an app which is extremely helpful).  We decide to get off at one of the first stops, the Castilo de Gibralfaro, up at the top of the huge hill (which I had actually suggested we walk up – and thankfully was shot down on the silly idea – and after riding up on the bus – oh boy was that a good decision!).  We are some of the few who get off, which means we don’t have a lot of crowds to fight against as we explore this fortress built to protect the coastline here.

After buying a combination ticket for Gibalfaro and the Alcazaba, we enter the fortress built in the 14^th Century, named after the word for mount and the word for lighthouse, as there used to be a light up here to guide ships into the harbor.  The best thing about this site are the views across the city and the down the coast.  There really isn’t anything else much up here.  So we use our time to climb the walls and then snap as many photos as we can before grabbing a cappuccino at the little bar on the property and hopping back on the next bus down into town.

Our next stop is the Plaza de Merced, which is where the house where Pablo Picasso was born.  The house is at the far corner of the square that is lined with tons of restaurants, all serving breakfast right now, but will be a great place to eat later.  The museum is very interesting, as it recreates how the Picasso’s lived, his father’s paintings and sketches and some early sketches of Pablo Picasso, himself.  There is memorabilia from his childhood, like his christening robe, family photos and a census book that records the information about the family…incorrectly, I might add!  We have audioguides that were included in the admission price, and there is some great info, but oh my, it goes on for far too long.  Each different segment is 10 or 15 minutes (or so it seems) and it exhausts us before it is over.  After a while, we just end up wandering around without much of the dialogue, enjoying the displays and the decorations of the rooms.

Including a couple of really cool pottery pieces – a carved tile depicting leaves and 2 pottery platters that Picasso made (painted? I couldn’t tell) that shows his fascination with bull fighting. Those are really neat. 

Birth house complete, we’re back out onto the plaza, heading toward the Picasso museum, which is a collection of the works that he and his family kept.  Everything was donated by his family – Picasso’s daughter-in-law and her son. There is also a temporary exhibition of a Parisian Photographer, Brassai, which we buy admission to in combination with the main museum. 

Entering the Picasso area, everything is displayed in chronological order of his artistic development. His Blue period, Rose period, Cubism and more.  Including his bizarre ceramic sculpting. I completely forgot about those works – some are more realistic than impressionist, others, well, it was Picasso.  Not quite on the same level as Dali, but equally, well, interesting.

We wander through the photography exhibition, but it doesn’t really do anything for us.  There is a great interactive photo of Paris that I ham it up for, but other than that, not really worth the price of admission. Oh well, we’ve not got anything else to do really, so no biggie.