Malaga,Spain

Now that we have the hang of breakfast at 10am, lunch at 3:30 and dinner at 9:30 we can hang out like the locals!

Malaga was beautiful today! The sun was shining and it was a balmy 60+ degrees with a light breeze blowing off the water. Plus, it is Saturday and so there are lots of locals out enjoying the day.

We started by hiking up the mountain (way to big to be a mere hill) to the Castle De Gibralfaro and Alcazaba. The very same one that we can see from our room. It was excellent exercise after a delicious breakfast of very strong coffee, fresh OJ, flaky croissants, fresh pineapple, eggs and local jambon (ham).

The castles have Moorish architecture and offer a fabulous view of the city, harbor, and surrounding hills.

In the afternoon we strolled along the waterfront and out along the breakwater to check out all the fancy yachts. We topped it off with a visit to the roof deck of the hotel which offers a spectacular 360 degree view of the city.

I figure we've done about 5 miles today, so that makes up for sitting all day yesterday and will justify the dinner we had at the Taberna casa del Volapie. The English spoken there was extremely limited, so the white wine we ordered was red, and the tapas were a complete surprise--we had a tomato gazpacho topped with chopped egg and bacon, octopus salad with tomatoes and peppers, chunks of fresh parmesan cheese drizzled with olive oil and served with crunchy bread, and a potato salad with (we think) some sort of fish. Top that off with a visit to the bakery for cake with coffee frosting and nuts--for me, and surprise, surprise, a chocolate filled, chocolate topped pastry for Fritz. The coffee that accompanied it will probably throw off our attempts to re-set our body clocks, but it sure was good (and they have no idea what "decaffeinated" is here!

The town is festooned with light displays and festive poinsettia trees and bands are playing in the squares. We are certainly tempted to take up residence here, but tomorrow we board the Azamara Quest to start the next part of our adventure.