[Well, melt my lolly!]
Look, l am sorry l am rubbing it in.
You are there – suffering wind and rain – and we are on the Costa del Sol enduring temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius + in the bustling, sun-soaked city of Malaga.
However – while you may argue l should only be bringing you Bath stories – it is my blog and the ‘eum’ bit of the title is a clue to what interests me – whether it be at home or abroad.
Malaga has around 35 museums – featuring everything from Picasso to cars and wine. In the last couple of days we have had Spanish guide Kevin showing us around The Alcazaba – probably the most well-known tourist attraction in the town.
A castle that – like Edinburgh’s – looks down on the city around it.
Built in the 11th century by the Moors, this palace was both the home of Muslim rulers and a fortress to protect and defend the city from the Catholics.
The site is well-preserved and maintained – and offers a great view over the port below it.
Funny to hear our guide calling everyone ‘my dear’ but then how many Spanish men are called Kevin?
At the foot of this ‘mount’ is the ruins of a Roman theatre – only discovered in 1951 when the newly constructed Palace of Culture being constructed above broke through to part of the ruin.
Needless to say they build the almost completed building down!
Take a walk along the very contemporary-styled sea-front promenade towards the lighthouse – and you will reach the Centre Pompidou Malaga, with its multi-coloured cube-shaped tower.
The structure acts like a flag to grab your attention, but there’s much more museum spread out around it.
This seaside outpost of the rather larger Parisian Pompidou Centre was opened in 2015.
One current exhibition explores how, with the arrival of the pandemic, we were forced into isolation and found ourselves face to face with ourselves.
Time to consider our relationship with time and our place within it.
We hopped on a train to Torremolinos on Saturday to visit some friends staying there. Just 20 minutes up the line.
A completely different vibe, but an enjoyable couple of hours spent beside the sea.
Malaga’s cathedral is hugely impressive – both outside and in.
Built – like many Spanish churches – on the remains of the main mosque, it took a while to complete.
Work began in 1528 and the building was not finished until 1782.
Bringing you up to date – today we had heard the Museum of Archaeology was free to enter after 2pm, so we waited – only to find that applies to the locals only.
We wanted to see an exhibition featuring internationally-famous British photographer Martin Parr, but didn’t get that far before we were all turfed out at 3pm, because the museum was closing!!
They don’t open on a Monday and we leave for home first thing Tuesday.
Damn! Should have read the small print of course. Martin, by the way, lives in Bristol.
Hope you don’t mind a little look around our last couple of days holiday. I will be back on the Bath beat asap!
