Day 8: 11/4/23 Malaga, Spain
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We started out having breakfast in the dining room which was excellent. We will probably do this more often. At 9:30, I went to the arts and crafts session where we made dream catchers. It was more fun than the previous activities. We arrived in Malaga at noon and decided to have lunch before we got off the ship. When we got back to our cabin, there was another bottle of champagne and a basket of fruit waiting for us but no note telling us who it was from. We got on the shuttle to town around 12:30. Since we arrived a day early, there were 2 ships docked in the usual spaces so we had to take a shuttle into town which took 25 minutes. The shuttle let us off in the City Center and we walked to the Central Market. It was very crowded but such a wonderful place full of different meats, fish, and vegetables. There were places to eat inside and outside as well as locals buying food. After that, we walked around the historic town and enjoyed looking at the architecture and shops. We saw the cathedral that only had one tower because the second one never got finished. Next, we walked to the Roman amphitheater which was near the Alcazaba (the fortress). We walked around the fortress, and I took plenty of pictures. Around 3:30, we headed back to the shuttle and went back to the ship. We relaxed in the Le Gocce bar until it was dinner time. While we were there, we heard a man telling the bar staff that he got pickpocketed and lost his phone, passport and 25 euros. We are enjoying the dinner in the dining room every night and the service is excellent. After dinner, we had our cappuccinos before heading back to our cabin for the evening.
Day 9: 11/5/23 Malaga, Spain
We had breakfast in the dining room again and then decided to walk into town. We left around 8:30 and got back around 1:30. We decided to pay for the tickets to get into Alcazaba and the Castillo de Gibralfaro. We walked around Alcazaba (the fortress) which involved a lot of stairs. Then we had to go back down to street level in order to climb up the mountain to the castle. It was extremely steep and involved lots of stairs and switchbacks. On the way back to the ship, we walked to the beach and was surprised to see people in bathing suits (because we were a little chilly and wearing long pants!). We had lunch and then had a couple of drinks in the bar. After that, we took a nap in the cabin before dinner. We had dinner at the buffet and then went to the show which involved Celtic dancing (The Emerald Isle Show). The show was very good and we enjoyed it! After the show, we had our evening cappuccino and then went to bed.
Day 10: 11/6/23 At Sea
We went to the dining room at 7:30 but by 8am, no one had come to take our order, so we left and went up to the buffet to eat breakfast. After breakfast, we went to our favorite bar for cappuccinos. At 11am, there was a talk about the next 2 ports we would be visiting: Tenerife and Funchal. By then it was lunch time. After lunch, we relaxed in our cabin, reading and eating the treats that had been sent to our cabin. At 6:30, we had dinner in the dining room. My ossobuco was very good! Then we stopped at the bar for a drink. We met one of our Facebook group friends, Mark, who recognized me from my knitting. Then more of the Facebook group, who was waiting for their dinner to start, stopped by. It was fun meeting them! We had a nice restful day.
Day 11: 11/7/23 Tenerife, Canary Islands
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We got off the ship around 10am and it felt like a long walk into town. First, we went to the Farmer’s market and I was able to buy a bracelet there for 3 euros made of Canary Island volcano rock. Then we walked around the town. It was mostly a shopping area. We found the post office but there were long lines so we left. It was a pretty city but felt like a resort town. Around 1 pm, we returned to the ship for lunch. After lunch we took a nap before dinner. As usual we had dinner and a cappuccino before bedtime.
Day 12: 11/8/23 Funchal, Portugal
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We got off the ship at 8am and it was a long walk out of the port and into town. The first place we went was to the Farmer’s Market and it was nice there. We tried some macadamian nuts (very salty) and some ananas bananas fruit (looked like corn kernels that tasted like pineapple). We saw eels in the fish market. We found 3 magnets for 1.50 euros each at one of the vendors who was so friendly. After we left the market, we found 2 yarn shops, so I had to buy yarn, of course. Then we found the post office and saw their collectible stamps. This lady helped us for 30 minutes choosing the stamp sets Don wanted but when we went to pay for it all (160 euros), but she refused to take a US credit card and only wanted cash. She saw me holding the credit card the whole time she was helping us! Her colleague asked her in Spanish why she wouldn’t take our credit card and all she would say was US so I think she didn’t like us once she found out that we were from the US. We ended up leaving without buying any stamps. Then we walked around town some more before stopping at McDonalds. Don likes to get a happy meal in every foreign country we go to. Then we climbed a lot of stairs and walked up to a park which had beautiful overlooks and flowers. We returned to the ship around 2pm and some drinks to rest and relax. As we were getting ready for dinner, our toilet overflowed again! I called 3 times to let them know that we had a waterfall and water was accumulating. Finally, we left and got some dinner but returned in 30 minutes to see that someone was finally working on the problem. So, we went to the bar for a cappuccino and Bloody Mary before going back to our cabin. We talked with Mary Ann from Boston while we were there. Before going to bed, I had to turn our clocks back 1 hour.
Day 13: 11/9/23 At Sea
We had a lovely day at sea today. After breakfast, I sat on the balcony and read while Don walked around the deck. It was warm enough for me to wear shorts during the day. Before lunch, another bottle of Prosecco and a basket of fruit was delivered to our cabin. After lumch we went to a presentation put on by one of our Facebook group friends about NASA which was really interesting. After that, we returned to the room to enjoy a bottle of Prosecco. We relaxed until dinner and we ate at the buffet because I wanted to go to the 7:15 show featuring the acrobatic talents of Yuri and Nato. They were amazing and I’m so glad we went to see their performance. After the show, we finished the evening with a cup of cappuccino.
Day 14: 11/10/23 At Sea
It was a beautiful day at sea! I went to the arts & crafts session where we made bracelets from embroidery thread. It was chaotic because a lot of people showed up and I’m not sure the girl who is the “instructor” knew how to make them. She showed the video which wasn’t very clear. Then we went to meet our friend, Guglielmo Gargiulo, who is the Hotel Director on the ship. We saw his wonderful office and visited about 40 minutes. Then after lunch, I sat by the pool while Don went on his exercise walk. Then we relaxed in the cabin until dinner. After dinner, we had our cappuccino before returning to our cabin.
Things I’ve Learned:
- I need to bring more paperback books for the sea days.
- I need to bring notecards so I can write thank you notes.
- It’s good to download maps on your phone in case you need it in town.
- Protect yourself from pickpockets.
- Ask vendors if they take US credit cards before buying anything.
- Find a bar that you like and get to know the bar staff.
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