Our first stop was the Alcazaba, a Muslim fortress from the about the 11th century. It was barely 9 am and most of the stores were closed along the way. Luckily the Alcazaba opened at 9. We went in and were about the only people there other than security guards. The walk wound around going up higher on the hill. There were beautiful gardens and fountains along the way. Closer to the top there were a few exhibits of pottery and such which had been found at the sight. The view of the harbor was very good, we took a lot of pictures of the ship! Almost at the top I asked a guard how to get to the castle which was even further up the hill. We had to go back the way we came or take an elevator from the top, which we did.
Once back at street level we headed toward the castle. We found some stairs but no signs anywhere. A ways up I finally asked if we were headed in the correct direction to get to the entrance to the castle. It was a very long and steep walk. There were a few stairs but it was mostly just uphill. It took us about 40 minutes to reach the top, it was a strenuous climb. We went inside to see what was there, not much. There was what looked like an old chapel turned into a museum with a few displays. You were allowed access to walk along the walls of the castle, which was nice, but after the climb I didn't feel like doing a lot more stairs. We went up part way just for the view. We were really high up. There was a small cafe on the castle grounds so we stopped for a cafe con leche. It was very good.
We decided to take the bus back down the hill and into town. It arrived shortly after we did to the stop but the driver did not have change for a €20 so we ended up walking after all. It was really steep going down, hard on the knees. We got our exercise again today. We had walked over 8 miles yesterday, almost 8 today. Once down where we had started we headed toward the cathedral. We could see it clearly from the castle. Stores were now open and there were more people on the street. We found the cathedral and paid to go in. It was a WOW! It had a very high ceiling with a number of alcoves all around the sides of the sanctuary. Each alcove had old paintings or statues, very elaborate and beautifully done. We were there about 30 minutes looking at it all.
Next we headed to the Picasso museum. When Picasso was alive he always said he wanted his art to be exhibited in Malaga after he died, the place of his birth. His daughter donated most of the pieces in the museum. There were many from when he was young which were very detailed and lifelike. He did not change to the style he is known for until his later years. There were a lot of people there as on the street. Once done with the museum we headed in the direction of the main shopping street. We stopped at a cafe for lunch, again out on the sidewalk and with the same food. Mel's calamari wasn't as good as it had been yesterday. My torta Espanola was better! The waiter was quite a character. His job was to stand outside and get people to come into the restaurant. He especially talked up the young women. He said he had been a bar tender on the Disney Wonder for a year. He had loved the experience.
We found the walking street, it was packed. Most of the stores were higher end. It seemed like everyone was just walking, not doing very much shopping. At the end of the street I asked a police officer the way to El Corte Ingles. He said it was down a busy street, about a kilometer away, so we headed off. It was a nice walk but we were already tired from our climb. Once at the store we visited every level just to see what they had. A sales woman approached me and said "English?" I told her yes, but I speak Spanish, in Spanish. She was very relieved, it was cute. I tried on a couple of tops then we went down to the grocery store again. I do enjoy looking at the different food and am always on the lookout for candy made in the country we are in to bring home to Siera. Now that she's older she doesn't eat as much candy as before but now she has a little sister. Bad grandma for bringing home junk food.
We headed back to the ship. We ran into a couple from the ship and chatted for a bit then went to the shuttle. We were back at the Cruise Terminal at 4. There were some nice shops there so we shopped a bit. The Duty Free had very cute bottles of Sangria. I bought it more for the bottles than the sangria but tried it once we were onboard. It is very good. I may have to buy a larger bottle in our next and last port in Spain tomorrow. It was another beautiful day in Spain.
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