Malaga is the largest city on the Costa del Sol , another new city for us.
One disadvantage of a mystery cruise is that you have no opportunity to research the destinations. Usually I have an idea of at least the most important things to see where we are going. This time we had to rely on the dockside tourist information offices for guidance on what to see. Have to say this was a patchy experience to say the least, sometimes we didn’t even get a good map. Also wi fi is too expensive to use on a cruise ship so in each port we had to search for this too. Love McDonald’s abroad!
Malaga is famous for its many museums but in the short time we had we only managed one, the house where Picasso was born. Its in the Plaza Merced in the historic centre and has lots of information about Picasso’s life showing personal objects as well as prints and ceramics. The small shop had some great things. Then we took a short boat ride around the bustling harbour before we went back for another huge meal on board.
Cartegena
Next day we arrived at Cartagena, another place with lots to do. We looked through the windows of the ship shaped museum of underwater archaeology but decided the roman amphitheatre was more interesting. Unfortunately the Ascensor Panoramico which takes you 45 metres up for 2 euros was closed. We had a steep climb up to the concepcion castle with amazing views over the town and the port. Then down a little to see the roman theatre.
Later we walked around the town and along the Calle Mayor. This pedestrianised main shopping street has amazing architecture with designer shops and great cafes. Although there are obviously shops aimed at tourists it was mostly full of locals having a good time which made it much nicer to wander around.
There was lots more to see but we didn’t have time so back on board for yet more food.
