Sunday 4th May in Malaga

Today was a glorious day weather wise & I had not planned on fitting in so much in one day, but I did.  I was the first in line to enter the Museo Picasso Malaga.  Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga & left at the age of 19 years never to return again.  However, Malaga ensures that their famous "son" is not forgotten & claims Picasso as their own.  There is even a museum made out of the house where Picasso was born called Casa Natal De Pablo Ruiz Picasso.  Then I thought that I had better take advantage of the beautiful day & decided to visit La Alcazaba & the Castillo De Gibralfaro.  Three hours later I was still walking around the ramparts of the Castillo, an almost 700 meter climb to the top sporting the most spectacular views of the Malaga coastline.  Luckily I have been doing a lot of walking around Seville for the past weeks & managed to get to the top without having a heart attack! After finding an iconic place to eat in, I had one more thing to do & that was to visit the

Museo del Vidrio y Cristal - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

.  This gem is a little difficult to find but it certainly was worth the effort.  It is a wonderful double story Spanish house that is laden with the most amazing treasures lovingly looked after by the inheritors & owners of this museum.  What made it even more special was receiving a personal tour by an English scholar of the Arts & a partner of this museum.  Malaga was certainly worth the weekend visit!

Saturday 3rd May in Malaga Spain

Only a two & half hour journey by train from Seville, Malaga

is located on the south coast of Spain on the Mediterranean Sea.  It is known for its' deep port & ease of access to Gibraltar & North Africa. It is for this reason that throughout history going back over 2,000 years ago, it has always been coveted by conquerors & has paid the price for being located in this unique position.  Happily today, it enjoys the continual growth of tourism, is fanned by sea breezes & has a wonderful mix of architecture from the Moors, Romans etc.  It is very much a part of Andalucia & today I noticed that where ever I walked, music was being broadcast through large speakers either heralding the freshly flower decked floats for the Catholic processions or men dressed up in costumes of that of wandering minstrels, carrying all types of instruments & playing them in different parts of the old town.  I even came across a group of ladies who were colourfully dressed up in Feria type costumes.  Overlooking the town of Malaga, is the fortress & walls of La Alcazaba, dating back to the time of the Moors & the Romans over 1,000 years ago.  There are lots of walking streets which are surrounded by the spires of historic cathedrals.

Wednesday 30 April - last days in Seville

Summer has arrived albeit a little early in Seville.  Days are blisteringly hot with bright blue skies & a sun so bright that it has you scurrying to find shade either in the narrow streets that twist & turn through the Santa Cruz area or under trees in plazas (squares) where restaurants & cafes are cleverly located.  Unfortunately I am leaving Seville this Saturday & will be missing the greatest week long party called the Feria commencing Monday.  However I definitely will not miss it next year!  With so little time left I caught up on some of the touristy things I hadn't done before, one of which was visiting the Royal Alcazar.   It is an amazing compound housing an incredible collection of Moorish tiles & ceramics as well as displaying the best of Moorish architecture.  It is so accessible sitting on the edge of the Santa Cruz & the city centre.  Seville has its' own mini Alhambra in its' midst!