Cruise has been great! This is first chance I´ve had to send any emails. All the ports have been terrific! The following is a short rundown on my visits until now:
Sunday, 11/7/10 - Palma de Mallorca, Baleric Islands, Spain - Really lovely city/town with charming old town area. Decided to take Hop-On Hop-Off bus around town to visit all the sights. Visited Bellver Castle which overlooks the city. Walked around old city for rest of day before going back to the ship.
Monday, 11/8/10 - Alicante, Spain - Been here before so decided to go to small fishing village recommended to me by another passenger from the ship. Took three trams (Trains) to get to this village (Denia). Took about 2.5 hours to get here & spent an hour before heading back. Train coming back was a bit late and i was worried that I would miss the connection but connection waited for us & I made it on the ship right on the deadline. If I missed connection I probably would have missed the ship. Whew! Got to stop cutting it so close.
Tuesday, 11/9/10 - Malaga, Spain - This is also a very lovely city with a great old town. Visited the Gibralfaro Castle on top of the hill in the morning. Large site but not too many rooms to visit only super view of the city. Was going to visit Mijas, which is a village in the hills about 1.5 hours out of Malaga. You need to take a train then a bus to reach this village. Decided to only take train & survey the situation. I didn´t want to cut it too close for getting back to the ship. Worked out great. Headed back to town & visited the Alcazaba (Arabic fortress) which is a Moorish fortification of the 8th century, was buit on a hill in the center of the city, in the middle of the 11th century for King Badis of Granada. Next I visited Malaga's Cathedral, built in between 1528 and 1782. Influenced by the baroque styles and the renaissance, the interior is richly decorated with the 17th century choir stalls of mahogany and cedar wood. Walked around some of the old streets & explored the Flower Market & Central Market which was super. Got back to the ship in plenty of time today.
Wednesday, 11/10/10 - Day at Sea. Great day to recuperate from rush past few days. Ship is really lovely. Food is great. Public areas elegant. Fellow passengers very cordial & friendly. Cabin is lovely & staff are superb. Have met several wonderful people on board. Really having a great time.
Thursday, 11/11/10 - Funchal, Madeira,Portugal - Had another great day today! Have been here before so decided to just wander around the city. I took the Teleferrico up to Monte where there is a Tropical Garden. It is huge & I spent a couple of hours here. There is so much to see but it is situated down the hill so had to climb back up before I took the Tobagans down to mid level. These are wood chairs, somewhat like a basket & they run down a street with two guys on the back guiding you. Took a public bus back to center of town before exploring the Central Market. Wonderful fruit, interesting fish & an overall lovely, old market. Walked around the Old Town before heading back to the ship. Got back at the deadline again. I was last passenger to board.
Friday, 11/12/10 - Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain - Had an absolutely lovely day here. Was able to join two other passengers for a cab excursion to Teide National Park. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site & is spectacular. It is located in the center of the island & is the only subtropical alpine area in Europe. It consists of an immense caldera 17 km across. It also has an active volcano. The landscape is unique & resembles the moon. It is also know for a it unique 3 m Teide bugloss which displays hundreds of tiny bright red blossoms in springtime.
We also visited a few villages. One of the towns we visited on the way was Puerto de la Cruz & there was a wonderful tropical nature park, Loro Parque, here that was spectacular. It has dolphins, parrots, penguins & other wildlife along with a replica of a Thai village. We didn't have time to visit but did go to entrance & take some pictures. This is a coastal town that has the feel of Palm Springs.
Leaving today for 7 nights at sea aboard ship so will not be able to communicate until I get back to NY.
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