Malaga, Spain

Today's port of call was Malaga, Spain, the second-most populous city with around 579,000 people. It is located in the Southern Iberia on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) in the Mediterranean.

Malaga is about 2800 years old, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Western world. It was founded about 770 BC by the Phoenicians. Much like Cartegena, Malaga has had changes of rulers - Carthage, the Punic Wars, and then Romans. The most important business sectors are tourism, construction, and technology services.

Our first stop on our tour was to the botanical gardens, La Concepcion. The gardens were created in 1855 when 2 members of Malaga's high society families married. They brought and ordered plants and trees from all around the world and created a tropical oasis. We could not go inside the home, but we're able to see the courtyard and the wisteria arbor along side of the home.

We then did a panoramic drive and stopped at a viewpoint, which gave us a view of the Harbor and a bullring. The bullying is still used for bull fights and also concerts throughout the year.

Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, and we were able to see the home he was born in. There is a statue of him in the park across his home. You can tour the first floor of the apartment, but time would not allow us to do so. The actor, Antonio Banderas, has a home (apartment) in Malaga, which we walked by.

The next stop was to visit the Roman theater, which dates from the 1st century BC, and was rediscovered in 1951.

We were then given a short free time to shop and then headed back to our ship.Read more