April 2023 Cruise – Fri, 4/21 Malaga, Spain

When I woke up this morning, I was reminded that on the evening before pulling in to a new port you should close the curtains to your balcony door. I opened my eyes, turned my head to look out, and saw what appeared to be the bow of a very large, white ship passing slowly but directly behind us! And I mean close enough to toss a rock and have it land on the foredeck! 

I sat straight up in bed and realized we were docked, and another cruise ship was edging just past us, intending to back into position on the other leg of the L shaped pier. Whew! I casually waved to the crew as I walked over and closed the sheers. 

Today we visited Malaga, Spain (emphasis on the first syllable). After our evening chocolate parade and middle of the night rock watching we did NOT get an early start, but by late morning we were moving and took the shuttle bus into town.

We were dropped off near the harbor where we walked a couple of blocks to the Hop On Hop Off Bus. You may already be familiar with this type of sightseeing which can be very beneficial if you are unfamiliar with a location or are short on time, or if sites to visit are spread out over a large area. In our case all three applied. HOHO Bus for us!

The buses are often big red double deckers with an open top deck. Typically, there is either a live guide who provides narration and information or you are given earbuds which can be plugged into one of the jacks beside each seat for a choice of languages and a flow of information and music as you ride the route. You can hop off or on at any of the stops as many times as you like in a given period of time or number of circuits.

We boarded at Stop #3 and rode all the way around and past it to Stop #4 which took about 2.5 hours. Hopping off at #4 allowed us to walk around the downtown area.

Malaga describes itself as a Cosmopolitan City of about 600,000 people, the sixth most populous in Spain and the fourth largest in terms of economy. It was founded in the 8th century by the Phoenicians and has had many different rulers including Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Visigoths, Islamists, Nazrids, Christians and others – not necessarily in that order and some more than once. Major exports have included figs, raisins, almonds, and sweet Malaga wine.

During the trip we went from the harbor to the hilltops, passing by the downtown and its many blocks long Mediterranean garden filled with pines and palms and plants from around the world. We followed the edge of the harbor that has been an economic driver for the city and went past sandy beaches where the Mediterranean climate enables year-round beach going. We continued up winding roads to the Moorish fortresses, the Alcazaba of Malaga, built from the 8th through the 11th centuries, and just above it the Castillo de Gibralfaro. Both are fascinating, but I’ll leave the details to the internet.

We also passed high-rises next to ancient structures, churches, the bull ring, a former leper hospital, and the Malaga Cathedral, known as the “Unfinished Building”. Built between 1528 and 1782, it reportedly was so named because Malaga gave money to the U.S. for our war of Independence and they did not have enough to finish it.

There were many museums including the former home of Pablo Picasso, which also houses many of his paintings. We were told of a number of other famous people born in Malaga, most of whom I was unaware except one you may also recognize, actor Antonio Banderas, who has apparently recently returned home to live.

After disembarking at Stop #4, I went to check out the public WC or water closet. It was very large, free to use, totally stainless steel inside, very clean, but there was no lock. Hmph. I wasn’t about to use a toilet with no lock so began experimenting. Turns out when you close the door it self locks for 15 minutes – complete with a digital readout – until you open it from the inside. Genny asked what happens if your time runs out before you are finished? Pop goes the weasel?? There was no paper of any kind inside, not so unusual and we go prepared, but when I left I realized why. When you exit and close the door it begins a self-cleaning and drying process for the next use. Very cool! Unfortunately it started its cleaning cycle before I thought to take pictures of the inside, but here is the outside.

After that exciting discovery, we walked around downtown, people watched and had a scoop of ice cream, and finally made our way back to Stop #4 where we boarded the HOHO bus for the return to the terminal. There we accessed our 30 free minutes of wifi and re-boarded the ship for the 5:30 sailaway.

Tomorrow we’ll enjoy a short stop in Cartgena, one more day at sea after that, and then Rome!

Happy that you are enjoying the journey with us. Many blessings to you all.