Malaga

Today we took a trip to see Malaga. We were going to walk into town to catch the train, but just as we hit the main drag, not 5 minutes from our apartment, the bus to Malaga pulled up and we decided it was smarter to just hop on. The cost was a mere 1.35 €, about $2.00 Canadian. Not bad, especially since the bus took us right into the centre just across the street from this - the display is lit at night for Carnival. We intend to go in some evening to see it in glory. 

I hadn't had morning coffee yet so we stopped into the Café Central, where we got a lesson in coffee ordering. The last one, bottom right, basically says, "Don't bother". 

Our cultural stop was the relatively new Carmen Thyssen Museum which houses a collection of mostly late 19th century to early 20th century Spanish art, with one room of Old Masters. The building is from the Renaissance period and was extensively renovated. This is an interior patio. 

 A view through a window blind. 

The Museum was funded by Baroness Thyssen Bornemisza, who is the widow of the late Baron Thyssen of Thyssen elevator fame. This portrait hangs outside one of the galleries. The Baroness is quite the philanthropist. There is a much more extensive museum in Madrid. Her husband was born in 1921 while she was born 10 days before Geordie. And she was Miss Spain in 1961. Quite the confection. 

Here's the building entrance. 

And this photo is one on the brochure for the special exhibition which brought together the works of two Spanish painters who were quite good friends. The painting hangs in the gallery. Look closely and you will see that it's a painting of both painters, painting each other. And the painting is indeed signed by both of them.

After our art crawl we had another coffee at a nearby cafe where the ham (lacón) for my little sandwich was cut from the pink hambone you see here. 

This is the church of San Juan (St. John). It has also been recently renovated which is why it's so clean looking. 

An interior shot with these wonderful buttresses. 

Outside on another square we were entertained by an itinerant accordionist. 

My last picture is the front of the public  market. I'm really not a good reporter or I would have taken photos inside. We bought apples there, and fresh strawberries from Huelva that cost 30 centimos for 1/4 kilo. We also bought fresh exotic mushrooms - a 1/4 kilo of those cost 60 centimos. It's a great market, very busy with so many varieties of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and even some snack bars where you can grab a glass of vino and a tapa. We didn't, but we could have.  Note the ships in the harbour - probably just back from fishing the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. 

We'll be back to Malaga. I'll do my best to capture the flavour of the interior next time.