Afternoon and Evening in Malaga

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Quick update, no photos tonight. I didn't take any and Fran hasn't uploaded. After arriving in Malaga in the early afternoon we walked with the group to our selected excursion, a visit to Malaga's most popurlar museums, the Carmen Thyssen Museum and the Picasso Museum. We didn't get 100 yards before Fran looked at me and I said ok, and we bailed. It's getting to be a common occurrence. Not that anything was wrong. There was a local guide for our group of 24 and he liked to talk. All guides like to talk. What else are are they supposed to do? But we had a big group and people were frigging asking him questions! And so he was in heaven and we quietly departed. Exploring Malaga was great fun. It's a beautiful city with most streets in the center pedestrian only (except for police, etc). Walking was easy. It is clean and the people were nice. There are lots of stores, not high end but lots and there are a lot of ice cream and gelato stores. It didn't take us long to curate the choices and go for it. No Trip Advisor here, just a team effort at finding, as my cousin Richard would say, "the best gelato in Malaga." If you order ice cream or gelato from anywhere in Europe, I'd advise ordering small or as they say in Spain, pequeno (with an enyay). Small servings contain two scoops. We are compatible with gelato. She and I order different flavors so with two pequenos, we get four flavors. After gelato we had a coffee to bring us up from our sugar let down and then off to see some art. We had decided to go to both of these museums on our own. The way we do museums is that Fran goes at her pace and focuses on things that interest her while I move at mine (faster) and end up meeting her at the cafe. It works nicely. What doesn't work nicely is a tour guide telling us stuff that we likely know or even if we don't, we'd like to discover on our own. Also there's that person that always has one more question, like "why did Picasso make the faces crooked?" Got to tell you, I don't know the answer to that, but NEITHER DOES THE GUIDE. Why would one ask? Well, I asked Fran and she gave me a look that said, how stupid can you be? That's why I wouldn't ask. She barely patiently explained that the reason he did it is because nobody did it before and it makes you focus and think. I decided to accept that rather than the alternative thought, that he was a little crazy. We've been to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and seen an awful lot of Picassos all over the world. Malaga's Picasso museum has an awful lot. Fran said "boy, was he prolific." He painted thousands. Most are brilliant. He never stopped experimenting. He said something like, "by fifteen I could paint as well as the masters and I spent the rest of my life trying to unlearn what they taught me." Fran I know I've butchered that but if you saw his early work you would give him a pass. There's a painting at this museum that he did at 15 that proves his point. There are more in the museum in Barcelona. We walked some more and never made it to the Carmen Thyssen. We heard it was interesting. And then back to the hotel, I mean boat.

At 7 we left for a special dinner at a wine bar and restaurant, all 68 of us plus some staff. The walk, which was really 10 minutes took 30. I was thinking of our friends Harvey and Jean. Guys, this trip isn't for you. We got to the restaurant and it was charming and very cool. With 10 at a table it was still ok. The food was good. Tuna, fresh, lovely, as opposed to last night's. Then other dishes that were very good. Fran says you guys aren't interested in specifics so you don't get to hear about the next three courses or the wines that went with them. All I'll say is that Nat Geo gets two thumbs up for this. Walking back on a lovely night again reminded me of how lucky we are to be able to experience the things we're experiencing. For me to complain like I've been complaining is crappy. So no more complaining. From now on everything is hunky dory, and I'm not going to worry about that demented old lady on the trip without teeth and her daughter that's having a nervous breakdown about traveling with her mother.

Tomorrow all day in Alhambra and Grenada. Back tomorrow night.

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