Thursday, 9/11, we arrived in Malaga, Spain our 1st Mediterranean port stop on the Transatlantic voyage. Departing from the pier we took in a beautiful panoramic view of the city as we decided to take our own walking tour of the city as we have visited this city on a previous cruise trip.
We strolled on Alameda Principal which is a busy thoroughfare located along the sea, its gardens contain rare, exotic and tropical plants. It is a main gathering area for the locals to troll and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Our first stop was The Gibralfaro Castle which was built in the 14th century to house the troops and to protect the Alcazaba. It consists of a series of towers and walls covered with bougainvilleas. The castle, which was used for the last time in 1936 during the Civil War, offers beautiful panoramic views of the city. From the castle we walked down and viewed two police on horses coming up the path to the castle.
A short walk from the castle was the historic Alcazaba Palace built in the 11th century. The
castle also had beautiful architecture and gardens to view as well as panoramic views of the city. Alcazaba is the Muslim palace fortress that dominates most of the city center. Started in 1057, it was the official residence to the Arab Emirs of Malaga who ruled the kingdom. Seen on the
hilltop from anywhere throughout the city, the fortress offers excellent views of the downtown area and now houses an archaeological museum that display stucco work as well as 12th and 13th century pottery.
Beautiful panoramic views of the city, beach, ocean and the Malaga Bullring (one of the largest in Spain built in 1874). Today, traditional bullfights are still held frequently. Too bad as we missed the one scheduled for September 14. We continued our walk to view the Cathedral of Malaga and visit the Atarazanas Central Market which is the central shopping area for the locals, with fresh fish and produce for sale daily. Near the market there are many cafes and bars serving locally produced wine and tapas. After hiking up to the castle, palace and many other stops we were looking forward to our next stop – lunch to enjoy one of our favorite Spanish delicacies - paella con pollo and sangria – it was so good!
After lunch, we needed to continue walking to walk off lunch :)! We walked through the main
shopping district (outdoor high-end shops) that included cafes and bars and continued our walk on Malaga Beach before returning back to the ship. On our return to the ship it was amazing to see so many families come to take photos of the Oasis of the Seas and most stayed to cheer and see us as we leaved. It was an unexpected highlight of our trip to view the town come out to
view the Oasis and wave to us as it departed from the port. Even the tug boat had fun putting on a water display for the spectators and passengers of the Oasis of the Seas. Next year the Allure of the Seas will take a similar transatlantic cruise as the Oasis is doing this year but it will stay in the
Mediterranean all summer cruising on 7 day cruises from Barcelona to Rome. If you have any interest in sailing on the Allure of the Seas next year, let us know!
Today we are sailing very close to Spain and arrive in Barcelona on Saturday. We will stay 4 nights
in Barcelona before we head out on a 4 night cruise on Costa to visit Ibiza, Spain; Marseille, France and Savona, Italy.
Check out our blog – Mediterranean Cruise 4 – Malaga, Spain – on our website.
http://www.hookedoncruisin.net/our-blog.html
Greg & Sharon
We strolled on Alameda Principal which is a busy thoroughfare located along the sea, its gardens contain rare, exotic and tropical plants. It is a main gathering area for the locals to troll and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Our first stop was The Gibralfaro Castle which was built in the 14th century to house the troops and to protect the Alcazaba. It consists of a series of towers and walls covered with bougainvilleas. The castle, which was used for the last time in 1936 during the Civil War, offers beautiful panoramic views of the city. From the castle we walked down and viewed two police on horses coming up the path to the castle.
A short walk from the castle was the historic Alcazaba Palace built in the 11th century. The
castle also had beautiful architecture and gardens to view as well as panoramic views of the city. Alcazaba is the Muslim palace fortress that dominates most of the city center. Started in 1057, it was the official residence to the Arab Emirs of Malaga who ruled the kingdom. Seen on the
hilltop from anywhere throughout the city, the fortress offers excellent views of the downtown area and now houses an archaeological museum that display stucco work as well as 12th and 13th century pottery.
Beautiful panoramic views of the city, beach, ocean and the Malaga Bullring (one of the largest in Spain built in 1874). Today, traditional bullfights are still held frequently. Too bad as we missed the one scheduled for September 14. We continued our walk to view the Cathedral of Malaga and visit the Atarazanas Central Market which is the central shopping area for the locals, with fresh fish and produce for sale daily. Near the market there are many cafes and bars serving locally produced wine and tapas. After hiking up to the castle, palace and many other stops we were looking forward to our next stop – lunch to enjoy one of our favorite Spanish delicacies - paella con pollo and sangria – it was so good!
After lunch, we needed to continue walking to walk off lunch :)! We walked through the main
shopping district (outdoor high-end shops) that included cafes and bars and continued our walk on Malaga Beach before returning back to the ship. On our return to the ship it was amazing to see so many families come to take photos of the Oasis of the Seas and most stayed to cheer and see us as we leaved. It was an unexpected highlight of our trip to view the town come out to
view the Oasis and wave to us as it departed from the port. Even the tug boat had fun putting on a water display for the spectators and passengers of the Oasis of the Seas. Next year the Allure of the Seas will take a similar transatlantic cruise as the Oasis is doing this year but it will stay in the
Mediterranean all summer cruising on 7 day cruises from Barcelona to Rome. If you have any interest in sailing on the Allure of the Seas next year, let us know!
Today we are sailing very close to Spain and arrive in Barcelona on Saturday. We will stay 4 nights
in Barcelona before we head out on a 4 night cruise on Costa to visit Ibiza, Spain; Marseille, France and Savona, Italy.
Check out our blog – Mediterranean Cruise 4 – Malaga, Spain – on our website.
http://www.hookedoncruisin.net/our-blog.html
Greg & Sharon
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