The Liberty of the Seas docked at Malaga, the second largest port in Spain at 7:00 AM. Larry and I had breakfast in our room to get ready quicker for our excursion that left at 8:15. Folks who were walking into the town of Malaga had about a 45 minute journey (close to 3 miles). We boarded our bus right off the ship and headed into the city of 600,000 which was experiencing the morning rush hour. Malaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso.
The bus took us first to the center of Malaga where we could see the beautiful Central Park...full of tropical trees and flowers.... very lush and maticulously maintained. The guide pointed out numerous Mudjar and Gothic architectures such as the Alcazaba Palace (a historic castle built in the 11th century as the residence for the Arabian Kings), Gibralfaro Castle (an ancient Moorish fortress that sat up on a hill over looking the Mediterranian) and the Malaga Cathedral built over two centuries ago on the site of a former mosque. It features 17th century carved choir stalls, fine pictures, and 103 individually carved saints. They have preserved the old buildings that date back for centuries, but right along side of those buildings there are modern high rises like we see in the US. This region of Spain looks quite prosperous and is a vacation spot for all the surrounding countries. Twenty-five percent of the residents are from other countries other than Spain.
Moving along the busy four lane highway, we continued on to the city of Marbella, home of Antoino Bandaraz. Here we walked through even narrower allys (than in Cadiz) admiring the beautiful displays that the shops had along the way
A wide variety of shops from fabrics, hardware, clothing, shoes, toys, housewares and small cafes were around every turn with beautiful flowers and greenery along the way. We also saw another Cathedral that had the most exquisite chandoliers from Italy.
Fountains and statues were intermixed during our walk. The Moorish influence in the architecture was evident especially in the tile work.
We loaded the bus and journeyed on to Puerto Banus, the boat marina of the rich and famous, namely Julio Iglesius and princes from Saudi Arabia. Here we walked amoung the yachts from London, Gabralter, and Russia viewing a bust of Don Juan at the end of one dock. Whitewashed condomiums and villas were stacked on top of exclusive shops and streets where Peogeot, Fiat, and BMWs were parked. All cars were small. We enjoyed beautiful landscapes and views of the jetty leading out to the Mediterranian Sea with a tan colored beaches running up the coast.
After spending about an hour walking through shops and down docks, we boarded the bus and headed back to our ship. The bus unloaded us in a brand new terminal where we had to pass through the metal detectors of Spain. Many of the excursions were returning about the same time as ours causing a long line to form in the front of the building. We must have looked honest because the policeman flagged Larry and I on through the door down another path that didn't nuke us for metal nor scan my bag. It was nice to just move along. Inside there were many duty free shops...we mossied through a few and then decided to walk to the end of the pier, past our ship. The port had built a long sea wall creating a man-made dock that provided lots of protection from the merging sea. We enjoyed the sun and fresh air, taking pictures along the way. Once we returned back to the boat around 1:30, we jumped into our swim suits and headed for the upper deck to catch a few rays. It was toasty to soak in the sun and read a book...Larry enjoyed his bluegrass on the MP3 player. After dinner we went to see the Three Tenors Show. Although the three guys had fantastic voices, we weren't sold on Opera so we tiptoed out and went to the 70's and 80's sounds of a four man band in the Spinks Lounge on the deck below. They were a great band...almost as good as the Halfways.
It was another fantastic day!
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