Barcelona to Malaga

The first leg of our cruise has us sailing from Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, Cartagena, Malaga (overnight), Gibraltar, Casablanca, Tangier, Cadiz and finishing in Lisbon.

Sea remains remarkably calm and warm weather (typically around 21-24 deg). So all is good.

We arrived early into Palma de Mallorca. Mallorca is a Spanish island, rugged landscape and 'sun drenched'. We decided on a tour that took in the Caves of Drach. Passing through the city of Palma (Capital) our bus trip took us about 1hr to get to the Caves. 


And the Caves were spectacular.









From the Caves it was back to the ship. But first we were shuffled into a pearl shop to help out the locals by spending our money. Julie looked (and looked) but stayed strong and we walked away with our wallet still in tact 😁.

Back onboard - but horror. We were too late for lunch so off we went to the pool deck and had a very nice meal (and drinks) alongside the pool. The afternoon found myself in the gym (weight is increasing) and Julie went to pilates. 

That night was quiet. Dinner in another restaurant (need to try them all to get a favourite). Each has its own style (French, Italian, Japanese, al a carte, grill, or fast food). Listened to some music after dinner and then to bed.

Next day we woke in Valencia. We docked about 8.00 am. Julie took off on a tour to check out the art of  silk production as well as a walk around the old town. I thought better of it and stayed on board relaxing around the pool, work out in the gym, sauna and then into the poolside spa with a couple of Mai Tai's. I kept a close eye on the cricket scores between Aus and SA. That night met a couple from Newcastle (UK) for drinks. I suspect Julie enjoyed the coffee martinis a bit too much as she had a struggle walking in a straight line for dinner. Upside is that she slept very well that night.

After Valencia we arrived in Cartagena. We had a tour to a Andalusian horse breeding ranch. It was a short drive to the ranch. The country side was very arid yet it grew an enormous amount of vegetables (lettuce, celery, cauliflower etc) which was watered from sources piped into the area from some 140kms away (something Australia could think about - but then that would mean our politicians need to think about something other then how to get elected 😒). 

The horses  were magnificent.


One of the breeding stallions


We were also treated to a dance from a flamingo dancer and plied with nibbles and local wine (more booze 😨)






Back onboard and another excellent meal. We met up with an American couple for dinner. Entertaining (providing you were an avid Trump supporter). An enjoyable time.
After dinner we were off to watch some entertainment. The female singer did a Tina Turner  night. We have yet to hit the dance floor. Just too busy (or tired or too old). Need to counter the growing amount of calories being consumed.

 The sea remains calm and the weather fine. Very fortunate.


The next morning had us alongside in Malaga at 1.00 pm. which marked our first week on board. It was an over night stay so we decided to stay on board for the first day (afternoon). Went to the gym and Julie to pilates. Following morning we went off to explore Malaga via a 4 hr walking tour. Another fine day.
The tour did start on the bus to the sights.


The bull ring (still used unfortunately)



Julie with Pablo Picasso



We finished the tour early as the main Cathedral was closed to tours (being Sunday) so we thought we could go back to the ship. However our tour guide decided we had to wait the full 4 hours (😖). Lucky it was Sunday as most the shops were closed so no shopping was had.

Back on board for lunch, pool, spa and a couple of drinks



and we joined in to our first trivia comp. It was fun but no prizes for our team. Met some lovely Americans (trivia team) and joined them for dinner.

Summary of the first week:
  • Lovely ship
  • Very comfortable suite
  • Lots of booze
  • Very good food (surpasses Seabourn)
  • Interesting ports of call
  • Lots of booze
  • Good gym and sauna
  • Met some really nice people
  • Lots of booze
  • Good entertainment
  • Very funny and engaging Cruise Director
  • And of course, lots of booze 😀

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