Last Day in Malaga

We toured the Alcazaba de Malaga, a castle/palace similar to the Alhambra but built three centuries earlier. So much different to do it on your own, sans guide, and be able to take your time!

We returned to Los Gatos for more lunchtime tapas and wine. Miguel, the owner, is friendly in a taciturn way, and very busy!

When you're finished and ask for the check, they bring you a glass of champagne with a cherry lollipop in it!

And we found another of our *favorite* gelaterias, Amorino, where we indulged one last time.

Yes, Julia, she's holding one cone for me!

Coolest dog in Malaga.

6:00am tomorrow: to the airport, and homeward bound!

 

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Malaga, Spain

Our ship has docked and we have disembarked! We are staying two days in Malaga, on the Costa del Sol, before flying home. We hired a guide, Paco, to show us around Malaga today. Paco is a sweet older man whose English is great but whose accent is a bit difficult. Nonetheless, we had a great time touring the city and enjoying tapas and wine all afternoon!

At Los Gatos Debb carved some very thin ham.

We toured the Cathedral de Malaga. Probably the nicest cathedral we saw on this trip.

Paco gives Debb a kiss at the end of the tour but I think he was nibbling on her ear!

And, as a bonus, the ladies competing in the Linda Espana beauty contest (I'll have to research this) are staying at our hotel! All over six feet tall (in heels) and with legs that go on forever. Yum!

 

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Granada, Spain

More travels in Spain in lieu of Algeria and Morocco <sigh>. We take a late afternoon trip inland to the city of Granada (above) which looks like an interesting place to return to and explore further someday.

Granada is known primarily as the site of the Alhambra Palace, built by the Moors ca.13th century CE and then captured by the Christians a couple of centuries later. The early evening tour made it tough to get a nice photo of the palace, but this one of an interior courtyard came out rather nicely, don't you think?

It is not a cathedral but it is almost as ornate, with beautiful tiling and elaborate stucco reliefs on the walls and ceilings. Apologies to Debb for snapping this pic before she was really ready <grin>.

A closeup look at a section of the ceiling.

Tomorrow we have a leisurely day in Malaga, our last port of call since we're not going through the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier, Morocco. Then Debb and I will stay in Malaga to explore on our own for a couple of days before flying home!

 

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Spain, Spain, Spain!

Those readers of this blog who lean to the nervous side may be relieved to know we are not going to Morocco, either. We were told today that in the last two days the ship has been informed by both the gov't of Morocco and an intelligence service based in the UK of threats of terrorist activity in the country, particularly in places visited by foreign tourists, so we're spending the last three days of the trip in Spain rather than North Africa. This is probably the right decision but it's very disappointing. These substitute stops pale in comparison to what we would have seen for three days in Algeria and in Morocco. <sigh>

So we visited Cartagena Spain today, which is interesting albeit limited. This is the place where the Carthagians, having been defeated in the first Punic War by the Romans, built a walled city from which Hannibal and his elephants set off through France and over the Alps to surprise the Romans from the north in the second Punic War, evening the score at one war apiece. (As we know, they lost the rubber match in a slaughter <literally> and Carthage was then no more.)

Above is a photograph of the ruins of the exterior Punic wall that was built to surround and protect the city, ca. 200 BCE. The wall consisted of two walls linked together by rooms where they stored munitions and stabled their horses. I'm not sure where the elephants were kept.

Also nearby was a massive crypt where they buried their dead.

 

Debb and I sought out a cafe afterwards and enjoyed an Asiatico coffee, which is an espresso with a locally-made orange liqueur plus cream and sugar. Quite tasty.

And we ran into members of our ship's crew enjoying libations as well. Hmmmmm......

 

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Sant'Antioco, Sardinia

About a month ago After the French mountaineer tourist was murdered by an Algerian offshoot of ISIS, Stanford cancelled our 3 stops in Algeria so we spent today visiting a small village on the tiny island of Sant'Antioco, on the southern tip of the Italian island of Sardinia.

We toured some Roman ruins, but I was a bit tired of ruins (esp. after the great day in Tunisia) so Debb and I sat in the piazza of the town with new friends from the trip and enjoyed the gorgeous day. Above, Britt emerges from a cafe with a couple of beers for us.

The local brew is really one of the finest I've ever enjoyed. Britt schemed how to secure the import rights to the U.S.

Debb enjoyed the afternoon with Britt's wife Susie.

Since we can't spend three interesting days in Algeria, we've added two days in Spain before visiting Morocco.

 

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Tunisia

This morning we visit the city of Tunis, the capital of the North African country of Tunisia. Tunisia has a population of about 11 million and is situated on the Mediterranean between Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast.

We are here because the ancient city of Carthage, a rival to Rome in the last few centuries BCE, was situated where Tunis is now. When Carthage fell to Rome in 142 BCE, the Romans destroyed the city and buried it, to build a new Roman city on top of the ruins of Carthage. Thus we get the chance to see both Roman ruins and evidence that has been unearthed of what Carthage was like in earlier, Phoenician times.

We spend the morning at the Bardo Museum, known for the most extensive collection of Roman mosaics in the world. These mosaics served as the floor decorations for Roman houses. The larger the mosaic, the richer the owner. The above is called the Triumph of Nepyune (center) and the Four Seasons (the four women in each corner. It is perhaps ten feet tall.

The detail of the mosaics is breathtaking. Each tile is laid on clay which glues it in place. The colors are beautiful.

A close up from a mosaic depicting fishing boats and fishermen.

We then visited the Medina, or old town of Tunis, which is largely unchanged over several centuries. It is comprised of many shops and restaurants in a narrow, walled compound.

Debbie bought a silk rug that was made by hand by two women working for over a month. This rug is hand-knotted silk and has over one million knots per square meter and is soft as a kitten.

When in North Afica one *must* haggle when buying anything. Not to do so would be insulting. The haggling went on for fifteen minutes but at last we struck a deal, which made Basal very happy.

We were then treated to a fine lunch in one of the restaurants in the Medina.

Then, tragedy struck: my camera battery ran out. So, while we had an amazing afternoon at the suburb of Tunis where Carthage actually stood, all the photos I took were with Debb's phone, which I can't access until we return home <sigh>.

 

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Dogs and Cats of Sicily

These dogs know how to siesta!

And the cats: one looks awfully pissy, and the other ... what is she doing?

 

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Sicily

Today we visited the island of Sicily. We drove in the morning to the village of Segesta where around the 5th century BCE the Romans had begun construction of a great temple but never finished it, probably due to the occupation of the city by the Carthaginians in 409 BCE.

We then drove to the mountaintop village of Erice where first we had a delicious lunch at a hotel restaurant. We then toured Erice -- it took a half hour to drive up the switchbacks to the mountain village, but the views were worth it!

Then back to the town of Marsala and our ship.

A lovely Sicilian sunset. On to Tunisia, in North Africa, in the morning.

 

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