Malaga Info:
Today we are docked in the Spanish coastal city of Malaga. We have visited this port on a previous cruise. Malaga has a population of 570,000 making it the 6th largest city in Spain. It is also one of the oldest cities in the world dating back 2800 years when it was founded by the Phoenicians around 770 BC.
It lies on the southern coast of Spain 62 miles east of the Strait of Gibraltar separating Africa and Spain. It has very mild winters, hot summers, and averages 300 days of sunshine per year. There is a mountain range just north of the city that blocks the cold weather from the north.
The most important economic drivers here are: tourism, construction, and technology services. It ranks 4th in Spain’s economic activity behind Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia.
We will just miss the Holy Week celebration which is from Palm Sunday until Easter. We arrive the day after Easter Sunday. It has been observed here for five centuries and is characterized by processions and parades. Most of the population are roman Catholics. They were still cleaning up the mess in the streets but overall, Malaga was a very clean city.
Transportation wise, in addition to the seaport, it is served by the 4th busiest airport in Spain, a high speed train, buses, and a network of roads.
Last Night:
We again had cocktails in the Meridian Lounge before heading down to Compass Rose for dinner. I will let my photos show what we had for dinner. Afterwards we decided not to go to see the magician's show but rather retired for the evening. As I mentioned yesterday, sometime during the night we passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea.
Today:
Alarm set for 8:40 this morning as I had to get ready for my tour at 9:15. I had ordered Rebecca room service breakfast for 9:00 but I did not have any. She decided not to go on tour but rather go do her workout as usual and read a book today.
It is a beautifully sunny day. I did need a jacket early as it was 55 degrees when I left the ship but later warmed up nicely into the upper 60's. So at about 9:10 I headed for the theater to exchange my tour ticket for a bus number. Remember on Regent most all the tours are included in your cruise fare.
My tour was titled, "Flamenco in Malaga". There were only 17 of us on my tour bus as Regent never crowds the buses. We departed the pier for the old downtown area in Malaga. We left the bus for a walking tour of old Malaga for an hour then went to see a Flamenco show. Our guide said this show was not the normal tourist show but an authentic one. It was the highlight of my cruise so far. Great show!! I put a couple minute long videos in today's photos so you will need to turn the sound on your computer to hear them.
I will let the captions on my photos better describe my tour. We returned to the ship at 12:30. I went up to the pool grill for a hamburger. Hamburgers at Regent's pool grills are really good. I spent most of the afternoon downloading today's photos. It was a slower than normal process for some reason. I went down to the atrium where the download speed was a bit faster. On my way back to the suite I ran into an old crew friend, Yudi. He was a butler on our 2010 world cruise. Super nice young man from Bali.
We sail at 5:00 this evening for our next, and last port of call, Alicante, Spain. It is only 300 miles from here. This will be a new port for us to see. Not sure if I can get Rebecca off the ship or not. At 6:00 this evening we will be going to see "Krew Kappers". It is a show put on by some of the crew members for us. They are really very talented and it's always a great show. Tonight is the Captain's Farewell Dinner. We have another night left but everyone will be packing tomorrow. Our favorite, Beef Wellington, is always on the menu on this night. Can't wait! Another production show at 9:30 tonight, "My Revolution". Sounds interesting.
Here is the link to last night's and today's photos. Again, you will have to cut and paste it on another browser to open it. Then click on the first photo to enlarge it and then you will see my captions on right side. Arrow through rest of the photos.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ilANyMV5P2pFxzEs1
Today we are docked in the Spanish coastal city of Malaga. We have visited this port on a previous cruise. Malaga has a population of 570,000 making it the 6th largest city in Spain. It is also one of the oldest cities in the world dating back 2800 years when it was founded by the Phoenicians around 770 BC.
It lies on the southern coast of Spain 62 miles east of the Strait of Gibraltar separating Africa and Spain. It has very mild winters, hot summers, and averages 300 days of sunshine per year. There is a mountain range just north of the city that blocks the cold weather from the north.
The most important economic drivers here are: tourism, construction, and technology services. It ranks 4th in Spain’s economic activity behind Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia.
We will just miss the Holy Week celebration which is from Palm Sunday until Easter. We arrive the day after Easter Sunday. It has been observed here for five centuries and is characterized by processions and parades. Most of the population are roman Catholics. They were still cleaning up the mess in the streets but overall, Malaga was a very clean city.
Transportation wise, in addition to the seaport, it is served by the 4th busiest airport in Spain, a high speed train, buses, and a network of roads.
Last Night:
We again had cocktails in the Meridian Lounge before heading down to Compass Rose for dinner. I will let my photos show what we had for dinner. Afterwards we decided not to go to see the magician's show but rather retired for the evening. As I mentioned yesterday, sometime during the night we passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea.
Today:
Alarm set for 8:40 this morning as I had to get ready for my tour at 9:15. I had ordered Rebecca room service breakfast for 9:00 but I did not have any. She decided not to go on tour but rather go do her workout as usual and read a book today.
It is a beautifully sunny day. I did need a jacket early as it was 55 degrees when I left the ship but later warmed up nicely into the upper 60's. So at about 9:10 I headed for the theater to exchange my tour ticket for a bus number. Remember on Regent most all the tours are included in your cruise fare.
My tour was titled, "Flamenco in Malaga". There were only 17 of us on my tour bus as Regent never crowds the buses. We departed the pier for the old downtown area in Malaga. We left the bus for a walking tour of old Malaga for an hour then went to see a Flamenco show. Our guide said this show was not the normal tourist show but an authentic one. It was the highlight of my cruise so far. Great show!! I put a couple minute long videos in today's photos so you will need to turn the sound on your computer to hear them.
I will let the captions on my photos better describe my tour. We returned to the ship at 12:30. I went up to the pool grill for a hamburger. Hamburgers at Regent's pool grills are really good. I spent most of the afternoon downloading today's photos. It was a slower than normal process for some reason. I went down to the atrium where the download speed was a bit faster. On my way back to the suite I ran into an old crew friend, Yudi. He was a butler on our 2010 world cruise. Super nice young man from Bali.
We sail at 5:00 this evening for our next, and last port of call, Alicante, Spain. It is only 300 miles from here. This will be a new port for us to see. Not sure if I can get Rebecca off the ship or not. At 6:00 this evening we will be going to see "Krew Kappers". It is a show put on by some of the crew members for us. They are really very talented and it's always a great show. Tonight is the Captain's Farewell Dinner. We have another night left but everyone will be packing tomorrow. Our favorite, Beef Wellington, is always on the menu on this night. Can't wait! Another production show at 9:30 tonight, "My Revolution". Sounds interesting.
Here is the link to last night's and today's photos. Again, you will have to cut and paste it on another browser to open it. Then click on the first photo to enlarge it and then you will see my captions on right side. Arrow through rest of the photos.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ilANyMV5P2pFxzEs1
