We finally made it to land! After 10 days at sea, we are actually walking on land. Our Ponte delgado, Azores trip was canceled due to bad weather conditions. What really happened was the waves were so rocky, the pilot that comes on for each port couldnt get on the ship! Sounds like a good reason to me. It did turn out to be a beautiful day after such a cold and rainy trip over. We spent most of our time playing games or me crocheting and Chuck reading.
Now that we are in Malaga, the temperatures are in the high 70s and a great day to explore a beautiful city. We didnt go on a Royal Caribbean excursion but decided to create our own walking tour. We have been here before and I am sure we took a tour. This was quite an adventure. 4 1/2 miles and I’m exhausted. I can tell now that I really need to get into shape before our world cruise. If not, its gonna kill me!
Ive decided to try something new. The new age is using AI (Artificila Intelligence) What I did was ask Bard (my google AI) to map out a 4 hour walking tour that would hit the most popular highlights of Malaga. It did pretty good. I created the actual map on my own with google maps so it kinda took me the long way around but we hit all that I wanted.
The top attractions according to Bard are Alcazaba, the Cathedral, the Museo Picasso Málaga, Plaza de la Merced, Calle Larios, Mercado de Atarazanas, and La Malagueta Beach. After looking at all of them, we chose to pass by and photograph some but my main attraction was to visist the Picasso museum. Chuck said he sure was a weird dude! He just doesnt appreciate abstract art.
Our first walk by was the Alcazaba. It is a Moorish fortress that was built in the 11th century and a great place to learn about the city’s Islamic heritage. It is a walled palace but unlike many islamic fortresses, it does not have a medina inside. The Malaga Alcazaba is considered one of the most beautiful in Spain. It is a unique and amazing structure, one that we viewed from the outside.
As we continued walking we stopped to view the beautiful Cathedral of Malaga. It is a Roman Catholic cathedral that was built in the 16th century. It is one of the largest cathedrals in Spain, and it is a beautiful example of Renaissance architecture. The cathedral has an intricate architecture and stunning stained glass windows. The construction started in 1528 and finished in 1782. That sure was a long time. Many composers performed in the Cathedral but I dont recognize them. Cristoal de Morales, Esteban de Brito to name a couple.
Our next stop was the Picasso Museum. Here, we did explore. It was funny watching Chucks reaction as he wasnt the least bit enthused. He just kept saying, this guy was weird. He had many peices of artwork that was interesting and something you really need to study to understand. I enjoyed the experience. The museum is located in the former home of Picassos parents and it houses a collection of over 200 works of art by Picasso.
We walked around (too may streets for me) but found Calle Larios, a pedestrianized shopping street that is lined with high-end shops and restaurants. It is one of the most popular streets in Malaga and a great place for some gelato and people watching. We also took a much needed break!
Time to get back to the ship. I was really slowing down. We passed by the pretty La Malagueta Beach, a popular beach in Malaga. People were relaxing in the sun, swimming in the sea and some were even playing some beach volleyball.
It was a nice stop, although I see that I really need to get into shape if we want to do much more walking. We did look for the solar train that was advertised but we couldnt find it anywhere. Maybe next time.
Malaga is definity a nice place to visit. Our next stop is Cartegena Spain. Cant wait to see what it has in store for us.
May God bless you always!
Chuck & Lea Ann
WorldTravelReynolds 