The rain inSpain falls mainly on the plain....

…and also in Malaga so it seems! We woke to a misty rain today. Guess the inclement weather caught up to us. We decided to go ahead and explore a bit of the town, with hopes that the rain would stop soon.

View of Malaga from the ship

Malaga has ancient roots, dating back 3,000 years. The first people to found a trading station here were the ancient Phoenicians. After that it changed hands many times, having mostly Moorish rule for nearly 8 centuries until 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella, the ruling monarchs of Spain, captured Malaga. We learned from our British friends that today Malaga is the get-away spot for the Brits. It only costs about $60 to fly from the UK to Malaga and the area has many resorts and beaches for a sunny ‘holiday’.

A beach next to the pier.

Fountain in middle of a round-about

Every old city has a fort so that’s what we set out to find on our exploration of Malaga. It sits high above the city and gave us fantastic views of the city and harbor area. From atop the fort, we were able to get a good look down at the Bull Ring, the venue for the popular sport of bull fighting.

The fort - Alcazaba

The city's Bull Ring

We also spotted a building a little distance away with rounded windows that were slanted in all directions. We thought maybe it was something like the Gaudi buildings that we’ll find in Barcelona so we headed that way for a closer look.

What is this??

We stopped by the City Hall and went inside to find beautiful stained glass windows—it was a very good looking government building. Back outside we headed toward the strange building we saw and when we got close enough we could see that it was not a building at all, but instead a printed fabric enclosing a construction site like a tent!

The City Hall government building

Inside the City Hall

A construction site.

Unfortunately the misty conditions turned into a full-fledged rain so we decided to head back to the ship and dry off. Tomorrow is another sea day as we head toward our next port, Alghero Italy.



As I write this, it’s 4:30 in the afternoon here in Spain, but only 8:30 am back in our home state. So, I’ll say Buenos dias (good morning) as I sign off for today.