October 1, 2016

The temperature was 20 C with very little wind and clear skies.  To climb up the 10 flights of stairways to the pool deck 12 is 172 stairs, then another 19 stairs to the walking track on Deck 14. Plus if we go up to Deck 15 where the live grass lawn is to get further back on the ship, there are another 19 stairs. After walking two miles, we stopped for coffee and returned to the stateroom to get ready for a quick breakfast in the dining room where we were joined by Phil and Linda from our group.  They were planning to rent bikes today.

The English couple in the stateroom beside us is celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary today.  They brought some banners and their wedding photo with them to decorate their door.

The tour bus pulled away from the terminal on schedule at 9:30 a.m.  Our guide, Miguel, mentioned that Málaga is the 6th largest city in Spain with over 600,000 inhabitants. He also pointed to the signs that read: “Parador” explaining that they were renovated old castles, monasteries, convents or forts that are now hotels run by a government agency and are very good accommodation.  We were also told that Spain is number 1 in olive oil production, even higher production that Italy or Greece.

Today’s Málaga tour included a brief circuit of the old city, on the same route as yesterday until the Castillo de Gibralfaro stop for a visit inside the castle to the Interpretive Center and the viewpoints along the restored old wall. There were three flags flying over the main gate – the Spanish flag, the Málaga  flag and the green and white for the Andalucía region.  Near the castle viewpoint, Miguel pointed out a large rosemary bush, abou120 cm high and beside it was a strawberry tree, an evergreen tree, Arbutus unedo, with a fruit that when ripe looks a bit like a strawberry.

Then the bus drove us back to the old town for a walking tour that was a progressive tapas sampling, with wine or beer, at three different restaurants.   The walk started at Plaza de la Merced, viewing the center obelisk, Torrijos Monument, then to the corner of the plaza where the apartment building that Pablo Picaso’s parents and family lived when he was a young boy.  I had not paid enough attention yesterday as to which Picaso Foundation office was in the family’s apartment building. Then we walked to the opposite corner of the square to Granada Street, the oldest street in Málaga.  We walked here yesterday and I noted that the oldest church in Málaga is squeezed in here.  It was a mosque during the Moorish times and was converted to a church before the Cathedral was built.  Next to it was a university building where our guide taught for five years, that was also the building in which Picaso’s father taught art.  The elementary school across the street was where Pablo Picaso went to the equivalent of nursery school.

Next we walked toward Málaga’s cathedral passing the Roman Theatre, the Alcazaba entrance and further along the Picaso museum.

For the progressive tapas restaurant portion, the group stayed about 30 minutes at each restaurant. One of us had the red wine served while the other had the white wine and we sampled both.  All three restaurant’s house wines were good.  At the first restaurant, Los Patios de Beatago, part of the group sat inside and the other part on the patio.  It was 11:30 and much too early for lunch in Spain, which is usually from 2 to 4, with dinner times being from 9 until midnight. The Los Patios de Beatago tapas were a platter, for the table of 8, with several dozen small cubes of sheep cheese topped with half a cherry tomato on a toothpick and another platter of thin slices of French baguette topped with a potato omelet mixture.  We sat with a couple from New Zealand, two women from Michigan and another two American women.  We walked about 1 ½ streets over to the next tapas restaurant, the group climbed a wrought iron railed staircase to the second floor to a room overlooking the street. We were served freshly made Paella in small dishes and four fried small green peppers, plus wine and beer.  We sat with the same two women from Michigan and a couple from Montréal. At the final restaurant, Strachan, the group was seated on the ground floor and sampled seafood potato salad and cocktail size sausage, onion and French fries. Again we sat with the two Michigan women and a couple Atlanta.  It was 1:40 when Miguel herded everyone out of the restaurant to walk several blocks to the City Hall to get to the bus.  We decided to walk the 2 km (1.4 miles) back to the ship through the same park as yesterday and a parrot flock was flitting through the trees, noisily.  As we passed the lighthouse, ten minutes into the walk back, the tour bus passed us.  The lighthouse, Farola, was completed in 1817 and at the time, was situated at the entrance to Málaga harbor. More piers for the cruise ships and ferries have since been added. Farola was damaged in the 1898 earthquake and not repaired until 1913.

At the terminal, we showed our ship ID card, Seapass card, to the first security guard and took the escalator up to the next level of the terminal, where we passed the security checkpoint, just like in the airports. Then, we passed the shops selling souvenirs and postcards.  We stopped to buy some postcards and stamps and found a tablecloth and placemats for our dining room table.  At the far end of the level, about 300 meters from the checkpoint, was the hospitality table with cool towels available and cold water in cups of plain water or water flavoured with orange slices or pineapple pieces.  This is a feature of the return to the ship at every port.  We had walked just over six miles for the day.  We walked along the balcony walkway that led to the gangway that zigzagged about 400 meters  to the entrance onto the ship and passed two more Seapass card checks and then onto the ship for the final security identity check, on Deck 5, which also signs people as  back on the ship.  This is the common procedure for most ports, although there can be fewer ID checks at some ports.

We stopped for a gelato at the gelato parlour on Deck 5 close to the Café al Bacio.  Then to the stateroom to drop of things and out onto the deck of Deck 5 to sit in the shade to check emails and write the postcards.  The temperature was 26, skies were clear and the wind was about 10 km per hour.  The ship left the harbor at 5 and the sea was fairly calm. 

It was the last Evening Chic, formerly the Formal dress code, evening for the dining room.  A larger portion of people did not even try to dress up into men’s suits or cocktail dresses for women.  It was the least dressed up of the three Evening Chic nights of the cruise.  The ship’s photographers had portrait stations, with backdrops, set up on Decks 3, 4 and 5 so people could have their pictures taken. As usual for Evening Chic nights, the photographers also went through the dining room, taking posing people for pictures of singles, couples or groups.  Any pictures taken, by the ship’s photographs, can be accessed on the interactive room TV and are located by face recognition software and posted to your room’s TV.

Dinner was as usual with wine served by the sommelier.  Our selections tonight were Scallops Rockefeller, served in two shells.  We chose either Herb Crusted Haddock fillet with vegetables or Wild Mushroom Risotto.  The dessert choices were Baked Alaska and New York Cheesecake with caramel sauce.  There was not a procession of chefs carrying Baked Alaska down the staircase between the two levels of the dining room as used to happen on cruises in the early 2000s.  The production show called Topper and was very colourful.  We saw the female lead singer wearing the ornate purple flower dress that we were shown on the back stage tour.  After the show the cruise director, John Grantham, announced that he was transferring to another Celebrity ship, the Silhouette. There was dancing in the Grand Foyer, but again the photographer was using the staircase as a backdrop for photos and you had to watch for people crossing the small space carrying drinks.  At 9:30, the temperature was still 20 C under a clear sky and just a gentle swell in the sea.  We stopped at the Oceanview Café for a small snack before turning for the night.

Today we logged 8.2 miles.