Costa del Sol

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Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Malaga, Spain

What a night last night. The seas were smooth as silk. We figured with the calm seas we’d sleep like babies. Nope. Christopher finally fell asleep about 2:30am, and I fell asleep around 3:45am. AND….we were awakened by the Cruise Director’s announcements regarding disembarkation and tours. I wanted to SCREAM – it wasn’t even 8am! I can’t get back to sleep once I’m awake. The various tours were going all over the place from The Alhambra to Granada. Well, we stayed in Malaga….so thank you VERY MUCH for getting us up and at ‘em so bloody early. We were kinda dragging all day long and this evening WILL be an early FULL night’s sleep (I may seek pharmaceutical assistance).

So Malaga. Gorgeous Architecture. We had hoped to get to The Alhambra, but it’s an 8-hour day and cost a small fortune. The Viator tour was far less, but if we’re late, we’re on our own. As it was the Grenada tour was indeed late, so we departed late – the ship remained because it was an Oceania tour. Our scheduled departure time was set for 5:30 – we left at 6:15. We were supposed to have rain today, but it rained last night; and when we left the dock - the rain arrived. Mother Nature had our backs today!

We walked the narrow streets of the old town for most of the day. We managed to find the Salamanca Market – Gorgeous Moorish architecture, quite a fancy market for so few vendors, fruit, fresh fish, poultry, meats, spices and teas for the locals. It was a bit of a hike, but worth it!

We stumbled upon some beautiful Moorish influenced architecture, buildings in the process of restoration as well as buildings available for purchase. One building was in serious disrepair but would make a GORGEOUS 2 flat apartment. The façade is brilliant with bay windows and a lot of decoration. Just beautiful.

Like Lisbon, the streets are quite narrow with buildings high to create shade while walking in the heat. Today it was a wonderful 68 degrees with a slight breeze. The last time we were here it had to be in the high 90’s. Last time we crawled back to the ship after walking the Alcazaba in the direct sun. Today we saw so much more of the city. Even did some retail therapy – I got a bathing suit and a raspberry linen shirt, Christopher left with a grey linen shirt (both long sleeved and beautiful). Which we both wore to dinner tonight.

Once back on the ship we went to the Spa Deck. Too much sun, and WAY too much wind, so we went back to the pool deck. Safely under the shade of the deck above us, we read our respective books, sipped a Strawberry milkshake and maybe, just maybe went into the hot tub (waited 30 minutes). For lunch we each had minimal salads, because not only are we gonna be cute tonight at dinner but we’re going to Toscana.

So. I had the Sformatino of Red Peppers (like the artichoke) – only…maybe even…better? It was sublime. Christopher had the Stuffed artichoke, which he also devoured. The cream included in my antipasti was so good, I scraped it up with focaccia. They could have put the bowl back in the cupboard. It was spotless after I was finished with it. For our primi, we each had pasta. Christopher had the Penne San Giminiano, and I had the Fettucine Alfredo with fresh peas. We both devoured them completely. Our mains were quite different. I had the Veal Milanese (fried, pounded cutlet the size of Rhode Island) Christopher had Veal Osso Bucco, we each sipped an Italian Chianti while attempting to dine on our main course. Which, of course were not even CLOSE to being finished! There was room for dessert, but of course. Christopher had a chocolate/white chocolate/marshmallow concoction, and I had the apricot tart with pistachio cream. Perfection.

We spent about ten minutes listening to the string quartet before we gave up. Exhausted. No sleep, and we walked almost 4 miles in and around the streets of Malaga’s old town. G’nite

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