Beautiful day on the Costa del Sol. We have had drizzle the last couple of times we have visited - today, brilliant sunshine.
The views from Constellation were magnificent.
Again, we have no excursions today so we will do our own walking tour of this beautiful city.
I went up early to get breakfast to avoid the slam by folks heading off for excursions. There is a narrow window of opportunity and I took advantage of it. Even shook up breakfast with a scrambled omelet (tomatoes, onions, and peppers). Very good.
From the ship, you can spot the Alcazaba - al-qasbah - the Casbah - a combination palace and fortification overlooking the Mediterranean. Casbah means "citadel" and this casbah was built in the early 11th Century, when the area was under Moorish control. That would be our first destination.
The walk from the ship to the entrance to the port is relatively short - a couple of hundred meters).
We found the structure, which is surrounded by upscale shops and restaurants. The casbah itself appears to still be under study - you cannot actually walk on the ancient rocks. The Casbah of Malaga is the best preserved Casbah in Spain.
Along with the Moorish design, there is also a Roman Theater (undergoing reconstruction), which dates back to the first century BC. The Moors used portions of the theater in the construction of Alcazaba.
Only pictures are allowed and I did get some very nice shots of the amazing structure.
We did find some shade and spent a little time near Alcazaba.
Our next stop was the Cathedral of Malaga, a Roman Catholic church constructed between 1528 and 1782. The cathedral, constructed in Renaissance style, lies inside the now gone Moorish walls and is a very short walk from Alcazaba.
Continuing our tour, we stopped at the Plaza de la Constitucion. This square has been the Plaza Mayor (Main Town Square) since the Reconquista, when it was known as the Plaza de las Cuatro Calles ("Four streets square").
During the walk, we also ran across some interesting Malaga architecture,
narrow streets,
a pub named for Sherlock Holmes,
and, of course, a Starbucks.
While walking around the town, we got a recommendation from locals for a spa – El Hamman – nearby. We found it and the owner was very friendly – she offered us tea while we waited for our treatments, which ran 45 Euros/pp/hour. I would not go back there because it was essentially a back massage.
The area near the spa was very interesting. There was a public drinking fountain (not for me), with water on one side
and a beautiful relief on the other - modeled here by my beautiful wife.
We had put in a lot of step so we went back to the ship. We used a different route that took us through the Parque, a walkway lined with beautiful trees and monuments
We got back in time for a late lunch.
A relaxing afternoon in the Solarium finished up the day.
We, once again, passed on "Rock City"
.
The views from Constellation were magnificent.
Again, we have no excursions today so we will do our own walking tour of this beautiful city.
I went up early to get breakfast to avoid the slam by folks heading off for excursions. There is a narrow window of opportunity and I took advantage of it. Even shook up breakfast with a scrambled omelet (tomatoes, onions, and peppers). Very good.
From the ship, you can spot the Alcazaba - al-qasbah - the Casbah - a combination palace and fortification overlooking the Mediterranean. Casbah means "citadel" and this casbah was built in the early 11th Century, when the area was under Moorish control. That would be our first destination.
The walk from the ship to the entrance to the port is relatively short - a couple of hundred meters).
We found the structure, which is surrounded by upscale shops and restaurants. The casbah itself appears to still be under study - you cannot actually walk on the ancient rocks. The Casbah of Malaga is the best preserved Casbah in Spain.
Along with the Moorish design, there is also a Roman Theater (undergoing reconstruction), which dates back to the first century BC. The Moors used portions of the theater in the construction of Alcazaba.
Only pictures are allowed and I did get some very nice shots of the amazing structure.
We did find some shade and spent a little time near Alcazaba.
Our next stop was the Cathedral of Malaga, a Roman Catholic church constructed between 1528 and 1782. The cathedral, constructed in Renaissance style, lies inside the now gone Moorish walls and is a very short walk from Alcazaba.
Continuing our tour, we stopped at the Plaza de la Constitucion. This square has been the Plaza Mayor (Main Town Square) since the Reconquista, when it was known as the Plaza de las Cuatro Calles ("Four streets square").
During the walk, we also ran across some interesting Malaga architecture,
narrow streets,
a pub named for Sherlock Holmes,
and, of course, a Starbucks.
While walking around the town, we got a recommendation from locals for a spa – El Hamman – nearby. We found it and the owner was very friendly – she offered us tea while we waited for our treatments, which ran 45 Euros/pp/hour. I would not go back there because it was essentially a back massage.
The area near the spa was very interesting. There was a public drinking fountain (not for me), with water on one side
and a beautiful relief on the other - modeled here by my beautiful wife.
We had put in a lot of step so we went back to the ship. We used a different route that took us through the Parque, a walkway lined with beautiful trees and monuments
We got back in time for a late lunch.
A relaxing afternoon in the Solarium finished up the day.
We, once again, passed on "Rock City"
.
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