Malaga

 I'm off to visit Andalucia (said An da lou see ah) in southeastern Spain. This tour should be really interesting as it is going to emphasize Moorish architecture. The group consisted of 14 people, all of the Brits except for an Australian couple and myself. I rather like being the only American, I like meeting all of these people from different countries.

Fun Fact: The Moors are not a single ethnic group, but was a term used by Europeans to describe Muslim inhabitants of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). They ruled the area for about 800 years until about 1492 CE when the Christian's Spanish Inquisition changed the power structure.

When I go on these tours, I like to go a day ahead of time. It gives me time to recover from air travel and time zone changes. It gives me a whole day where I can go see some of the sights that I want to see that the tour people might not include.

I am in Malaga (said Mal ah gah). Malaga's favorite son Pablo Picasso was born here so the first stop would have to be the Picasso Museum. It contains 285 works donated by Picasso's family. These works ranges from his early academic studies to cubism to his late re-workings of Old Masters. I find Picasso interesting and I like looking at his work but I also find his work rather unsettling especially when it comes to human figures. Maybe I'm just not a big fan of cubism.

Seated Figure
Mougins 1971
Notice how Picasso shows the frontal face and the side face all in one picture

I was out very early in the morning - there was hardly anybody out except the street cleaners and me.

Next on my solo tour was the Alcazaba, a palatial fortification. At the foot of Alcazaba, are the remains of a Roman theater which was built in the first century CE. The Alcazaba was built in the 11th century.  When you first enter Alcazaba and all thru the fortress, there are gardens. I was surprised how many gardens the Moors incorporated in their palaces and fortresses.

Alcazaba with the Roman Theater in front of it

One of the gardens in Alcazaba

Overlooking Malaga 

On my way out of Alcazaba, there was a harpist busker.  I haven't seen that before.

Malaga Cathedral - Locals call it La Manquita or the "One-Armed Lady".
It was never fully completed and has only one tower instead of the planned two towers

Another view of Alcazaba

City Hall

These guys were living statues.  When you put some coin in their briefcase they came to life.