Today is Tuesday and we arrived at the port of Malaga in Southern Spain. This is the gateway to the Costa del Sol resort area. Malaga is also the birthplace of Picasso the very famous Andalucian artist.

It was a warm day and with no excursions booked we decided to take the city tour on the top deck of an open top bus. This is a really good way to see all of the sights and you can hop on and hop off whenever you see something of interest. If you do get off you can normally get on the next bus which should arrive about 20 minutes later.

You are given ear phones and a commentary is relayed in the language of your choice. For some reason Julie chose to listen in German and couldn’t understand a word! Amongst other things we saw The Bishops Palace, The Cathedral, The Roman Theatre and of course the house where Picasso was born on the second floor.

We also visited the Malaga Bull Ring where fights are held on most Sunday afternoons. Matadors, (bull fighters) in Spain are held in very high regard and in their prime are paid as much as footballers and pop stars.

After a few hours touring the city we had a cold beer and returned to the ship for some late lunch and a spot of sun baking. No sooner had we laid out than the clouds started to gather and within 10 minutes it had gone from a beautiful afternoon to a full blown hail storm.

Malaga was our last port of call and we now have two sea days before returning to Southampton on Friday 18 September.