The day was exactly as any tourist would wish for: warm, about 75 F (20-something Celsius), sunny with a light breeze from the sea. There were 4 ocean liners in the port but the only queue (line) for entrance was at the Picasso Museum. Fortunately, I am not a fan so that was not on my list.
This time, no tour. I walked, attempted to use the Spanish I had learned and unfortunately forgotten in the last 4+ months. But, I had fun and got lots of help. First, to the cathedral - very large and being renovated inside and out. So, several of the chapels were closed to the public but it was still an enormous place. It is my custom to light a candle only here, the candles are plastic, behind a clear plastic case and light up when the coin you drop in the box hits some kind of sensor. Interesting! There were a couple of tour groups, from the Holland-American ship so the tours were in English but not obtrusive. Marietta was not there!!!!!
From the cathedral I began to wander through narrow streets with houses, apartments, shops and restaurants. In parts of Germany, especially where I live, it's common to see empty stores and used-to-be restaurants. In Malaga, the shops seemed to be doing ok but there were lots of empty dwellings. One especially attractive one, near the cathedral but on a quiet back street had glazed tiles (Portuguese?) with blue and tan designs, covering the front of the building. Unfortunately, there was graffiti smeared on part of it but even that did not destroy the inherent beauty.
Of course, I began thinking about renovating - a small hotel and restaurant ? A b&b?? The upper stories got a lot of sun and there were small, wrought-iron balconies, enough for plants. Actually one balcony in an obviously otherwise inhabited building had huge, red flowers (amaryllis, I think). The one below it had masses of red geraniums, a wonderful sight.
From the old town I began to climb the hill towards the "castle" - I am not sure what it is since I did not make it. My "deranged" knee (see early entry about the accident) began to throb so I stopped for about 10 minutes and then came back down the hill and went to the beach.
There is a small stretch of sandy beach near the cruise/ocean liner terminal and I sat in the sand after wetting my feet. I worked with a textbook many years ago - THE SUN THAT WARMS - a lovely title, which I thought about when I was there. Actually, I fell asleep for about 20 minutes before resuming my walk.
One of the main streets could have been in London, NY or any other big city: within 200 yards, there were McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Belle, Dunkin Doughnuts and Pizza Hut. It's true, all big cities look alike. I bought a strawberry doughnut, ate 2 bites and threw the rest away. I used to like them, I think, about 30 years ago but I, and my tastes, have changed.
This was one of the longer on-your-own days and it was wonderful, the perfect last port before the end of this amazing trip. Thanks, Malaga.
Yesterday, we, some of the regular line dancers, were the opening act of the passenger talent show -
Triplets, do you remember????? Well, you should have been with us because we did ZORBA - exactly as you taught us, and we did the entire song!!! Definitely high energy. It was a fitting farewell to James who is leaving for a holiday and then going to the RMS QUEEN VICTORIA.
I tried ballroom dancing last night but the rock and roll of the ship made it impossible. Wandering around the ship, I blundered into karaoke - apparently Japanese for "empty orchestra". The pub patrons were drunk so they applauded everyone, mercifully. James invited me to try but I begged off.
Then, I went up to the Chart Room to have my mojito (no rum, no mint, sort of a lime soda) and listened to the jazz trio. They were excellent, did requests (SPEAK LOW) and I was told I looked like a singer - whatever that means. Then, I was invited to join in but said, in truth, that all those years of smoking had ruined a fine alto voice so I would just confine my singing to the shower and would just mouth the words for my own enjoyment.
As I usually do at midnight, I went up to deck 7 for fruit but was seduced by spare ribs - yeah, I know, I am a vegetarian except for liver and occasionally spare ribs and last night was another of those occasions. As I was munching along, King Harold joined me and we stayed there until 2 am talking to Harold, an amazingly brilliant choreographer and instructor and raconteur par excellence. He is demanding, as he should be, and brings out the best in all of us.
The rest of the time to Southampton (arrival tomorrow at 6 am) will be spent saying goodbyes and thanks to the special people who are leaving. I realized that this has become my community and I will be very sorry to leave it. On the other hand, the vessel continues to Norway. Hmmmmmm.
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