MALAGA ... OOPS... MY BAD... AND A KIOSK WITHOUT A KEY!!!

I guess that we've been gone long enough that I am confused about where I am! We were to be in Malaga, Spain and surrounding places today.... NOT Casablanca! And what a day it has been! We were in Malaga a couple of years ago and we toured the city and also visited the Alcazaba, so we decided to do something different on this visit.

An alcazaba is a Moorish fortification in Spain. The word derives from the Arabic word Al- casbah, a walled-fortification in a city.

We arrived bright and early and watched as they put the gangway in place. They had a lot of trouble so I think they finally got a supervisor, or at least someone who knew what he was doing, and we were finally able to get off the ship.

They had a HUGE terminal and we were not forewarned about how far we were going to have to walk to board our bus.

We ended up walking what was the full length of our ship 6 times before we got to the parking lot.

After we left Malaga, we headed for Marbella which was a lovely town situated on the ocean with a beautiful park.

I am always impressed with the walkways in these European towns. They are usually made of either granite or marble and have been there for hundreds of years.
If you walk along the Avenida Del Mar, you will come to Marbella's "Central Park". It really is an amazing place, with its fountains, sculptures, tropical flowers like jasmines and bouganvilleas and gardens, exotic flora and fauna.

We all had to make a "pit stop" when we first got there since we had been on the bus well over an hour. Our guide sent us off with his "girlfriend" to find our toilets but she didn't know where to go. We followed her to this kiosk outside of the park to find that the bathrooms were locked and the person with the key wasn't to arrive for another half hour :-(

Frank made a couple of inquiries and we started off on our own. Sometimes it really helps to speak Spanish, especially when you're in Spain!

We walked through this lovely park which was located across the street from the Kiosk.

This park is called Parque de la Alameda or Poplar Grove Park , and it had marble sidewalks and hand painted ceramic benches with scenes from the city on them.

After our stroll through the park, we opted to stop for coffee rather than take the walking tour of the old town as we were short on time. I felt like I had already had my walk of the day just getting to the bus!
We found this little sidewalk cafe and sat down and waited for our waiter to appear.

This little restaurant had a lovely courtyard and we had the place to ourselves.

When we had finished our coffee, we went to the main plaza and Frank took a brief walk around old town before we went back to the bus while I waited for him on this bench at the bus stop. There was a lovely fountain there so I watched the tourists as well as locals passing by.

Since the streets are very narrow, the buses can't park and wait for us. Therefore, we are given an assigned spot and certain time to meet so we can go on our way and not hold up traffic.

The patterns and designs on these small pedestrian streets are amazing.

Here you can see a close up of the workers repairing this one.

There were flowering trees lining all the streets in the city and they were beautiful.

We re-boarded our bus and were on our way to Puerto Banas. Our guide seemed to be more interested in talking to the bus driver than he did in giving us any information. Oh well, you win some and you lose some! For the most part our guides have been terrific.

Marbella and the nearby Puerto Banús are important beach resorts of the Costa del Sol. The town is famous for being a playground for the rich and famous. Marbella is famed as an exclusive destination for wealthy tourists from Northern Europe, as well as the well-heeled from the UK, Ireland and Germany.
Antonio Banderas lives in Marbella where he has a house in Los Monteros.

He and Melanie Griffith have a daughter who was born in Marbella in 1999. He owns several businesses there as well as his home.

We drove past this exclusive club on the outskirts of Marbella where I'm sure that the Banderases must have a membership.

Once our bus arrived in Puerto Banas, we went immediately to the dock to look at the yachts. On our way there I spotted these two little girls walking with their father.

There are hundreds of condos around the bay and I'm sure that they are occupied by the owners of these fabulous yachts.

Here are several of these magnificent boats. I was hoping that I would see someone who would ask me to come aboard! Possibly Antonio??? Well ... I can dream, can't I? Plus, I understand that he speaks fluent Spanish!

As we walked along the street there, people were walking their dogs and enjoying the day. We also ran into the Dad and his little daughters again.
It was a great place to go for an afternoon outing.

Even the lighthouse was unique! Ah ... to be able to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous!

As you can see, there were literally hundreds of these wonderful and very expensive boats.

This kitty was even enjoying looking at them from his special perch. She was like us as she dreamed of a condo or at least a yacht there where she could visit from time to time.

We passed this restaurant and Frank invited me in. It looked as though it would have been a wonderful place to eat, but as it was a little early for dinner we continued on our way.

We passed by Cartier but fortunately for Papa, it wasn't open as it was siesta time.

I had wanted to purchase these unmentionables but they didn't have any in my size. Frank lucked out again. Trust me , if they had fit, it would not have been a pretty sight!

We stopped for a glass of beer as we had some time before the bus returned to pick us up. Stopping for a little liabation seems to be our foremost talent!

After another ride through the countryside, we finally arrived back at the port. We saw many more condos and large homes nestled in the hills along the way.

I was not looking forward to the long walk back to the ship, but I survived. The line just to get inside the terminal was backed up outside. All the busses always seem to arrive back at the ship at the same time after the yours and it's not easy to clear nearly 2,000 people through security!

When we finally had the gangway in our sights it was a pleasant feeling. Home at last!!!

We rested a while, got cleaned up and went to the show before dinner. Our entertainment is a young man whose name is Johnathan Johnston.

He is from County Down in Ireland and was born in 1978. He began to play the flute at the age of 12 and he was excellent. He performs all over the world but still gives concerts and recitals on the UK mainland and in his native Northern Ireland. Jonathan also enjoys a cabaret career entertaining audiences all over the world playing on many of the world’s major cruise lines.
His playing brought back many bittersweet memories of our son, Jim, who also played the flute.

All in all it has been a long but wonderful day. Believe it or not, we really will be in Casablanca tomorrow, so I'd better get my beauty rest.

XOXO, Pcasso