Day 99: Malaga, Spain

Today is Malaga, Spain

Málaga's history spans about 2,800 years, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1laga]

When early in the morning you look at your balcony and see the back end of a cruise ship facing you, it wakes you up quick.  This MSC ship came in after us and did a 180 turn to back into the dock right next to us.

Tour of the Malaga Cathedral and Alcazaba

Driving from the port

First stop was walking to the square where Picasso was born and spent his early years. The apartment that he was born at and his family lived is now the Picasso Museum. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso]

In the square near the museum is a park bench with a statue of Picasso.

We continued to walk through the streets and saw the sights.

El Castillo de Gibralfaro. An Moorish fortress with breathtaking views of the city and the Mediterranean makes for a dazzling photo opportunity. 

Malaga Cathedral

The Cathedral of Málaga is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Málaga in Andalusia in southern Spain. It is in the Renaissance architectural tradition. The cathedral is located within the limits defined by a now missing portion of the medieval Moorish walls, the remains of which surround the nearby Alcazaba and the Castle of Gibralfaro. It was constructed between 1528 and 1782, following the plans drawn by Diego de Siloe; its interior is also in Renaissance style. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1laga_Cathedral]

They had a huge market with fruit, vegetables, fish and seafood.

We picked up a drink and a snack

Walking the waterfront

Then stopped at the beach

There was a bar/restaurant at the beach where they had a BBQ in an old boat where they were cooking whole fish and shrimp

We stopped for a drink

Very nice beach but we had to watch what was in the background of our selfies or our blog wouldn't keep its PG rating!

As we walked back to the ship past a marina we noticed how many fish were in the water

I'm not sure you would need a fishing pole, just a net

Back to the Cruise port

And back to the ship

Time to relax as we sailed away

Another great sunset

But we were going through the Strait of Gibralter and wanted to head up to the front of the ship

The Strait of Gibraltar (Arabic: مضيق جبل طارق, romanized: Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; Spanish: Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar,[1] is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar]

As we headed from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, Europe on the right, Africa on the left

The sun was set as we got close enough to see the Rock of Gibralter so we didn't get a Prudential commercial type of photo

We were now in the Atlantic, our last body of water on the cruise. We have three more ports and then heading west for the ocean crossing

As we headed back to the room, Top Gun: Maverick was playing on the large screen

Well besides Tom Cruise, got to see the few seconds of Test Range Instrumentation on the screen with of our Kineto Tracking Mounts (KTMs). This one was at our sister Range at China Lake but we all used KTMs. [https://www.l3harris.com/all-capabilities/kineto-tracking-mount]

A late evening trip down the hall to the laundromat

But can't complain as the crew was out even later cleaning the hand rails and other areas. The staff is amazing as they are continuously cleaning every nook and cranny.