Spain via cruise - days 7 to 8

Formal dinner with our table mates. LtoR me, Karen, Mark, Tom, B and Jackie. This was the table to be on, great conversations and we were regularly last out, often missing the start of the show. Thanks guys, you were great! 

We had our second formal night, dressed in our finest and followed dinner with the show in the theatre. The scheduled singer, who we'd seen before, was out of action, he'd lost his voice apparently, so Corey, the entertainments director stepped in to do a one man show. We were very dubious about this, thinking it wouldn't be very good and nearly didn't go. So glad we did though as he was fabulous. Full of humour and really good singing, he's definitely a star.

We scrub up reasonably well!

Our last port stops today, Melilla. A Spanish city, but an enclave in Morocco. It's not a common tourist destination as it's not that easy to get to. They are trying their hardest to become a regular cruise port though. This may have been the first time that Fred Olsen has been here so the red carpet was really rolled out. The town was full of people wearing Hi-vis jackets, all there to send us around the town and help with anything we wanted. What was surprising was the number of English, Scottish and Irish accents among them. Apparently there is a big English school here and Fred had approached them to help. Not that we normally get that sort of assistance, but it didn't appear in the Rough Guide, and there were no free walking tours and with only a half day there we were very grateful. 

In Melilla Vieja. The old fort has been beautifully restored 

They had obviously spent a lot of time and money on renovating the various fortifications which all looked very new and fresh. We walked through the old town and up to the lighthouse and the military museum, definitely getting our steps in.

The lighthouse. We walked to it and up it's spiral staircase to the top

The city had also laid on a welcome at the port, a flamenco demonstration, (which we didn't see) and a half hour show at the Bullring. This fortunately wasn't of bullying fighting but of dancing of the many different cultures in the city. Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish. All accompanied by some riders on horseback cantering around the outside. Not quite sure what it was all about but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. That was it, back on the shuttle bus (no walking through the port) and back aboard for lunch and a 13.30 departure.

Walking over a footbridge in the old castle we saw a bunch of snorkellers/divers setting off from a small beach in a gorge

That's them down there. Not sure whether the orange thing is a breather or a float, but they'd dive down from it to look at the underwater rock formations

A couple of glasses of wine with the seafood buffet, well it was the last chance and then to pack. Apart from sleeping this is the longest we spend in a cabin, packing and unpacking, so an inside cabin really isn't a problem. We got done in time to go to the talk by the astronomer about Apollo 13. He may be a very good astronomer and know his stuff, he was an aerospace engineer after all, but he's not the best of lecturers. It was however still very interesting. He overran though so we were a little unpopular arriving late for the quiz, we had to get Abi to repeat the first 6 of 20 clues! 

The old fort walls and, beyond it the harbour and our cruise ship

Walking through the park to the bullring from the show

We were joined by a couple of dancers with whom we commented that it was a shame there was so little dancing on our last night. Really the only opportunity was going to be at the Captain's leaving cocktail party. We are going to both sessions they said, for those on early dinner as well as our late dinner sitting. This seemed very cheeky, but we thought we'd join them, a little more dancing and two lots of fizz and canapes! What's not to like? Not that the Captain could be bothered to turn up to his own leaving do, apparently he had a cold so Corey had to step in and introduce us to a selection of staff from the various departments. It's good to see Kevin the gym guy, along with housekeeping, sanitation and bar staff recognised. It does make everyone feel valued, which leads to a happy crew and then a happy ship.

In our seats in the bullring waiting for the show to start

We weren't sure what was going on, but it was very entertaining

One of the riders galloped round with a hawk on her arm. It seemed to like it as it had its wings out in the breeze

This was continued at dinner as the waiters and chefs were brought round the dining room after dinner for a round of applause. Another reason we like cruising with Fred.

The finale. A really nice show and we were all made to feel very welcome. Well done Melilla!

Not a good final night sleep. We'd put our luggage outside by 02.00, as requested, but then you worry you've somehow not got a pair of pants, or shoes for the morning, or that somehow your luggage will get swept off to the airport with the transfers to Gatwick or Manchester.

None of these happened, though I was fast asleep when the alarm went off at 07.00. Dress, breakfast and vacate the cabin. We finally had to go through immigration into Spain, but actually didn't have to do the whole finger print thing. They must have registered when we left last time, after all.

A brisk 2.5km walk from the ship to the tram station to sadly arrive about 2 minutes after a tram to Benidorm left. That's a shame, we could have saved an hour, but it's ok. Standing at Benidorm station for our connection to Altea though it's much warmer than we've had anywhere else. I might even go in the pool when we get there. Even though it is October!

A tug pulling us out of Melilla port ready for our trip across the Med to our final destination, Alicante

Halfway there! At Benidorm

With our luggage!

Spain via cruise - days 4 to 6

This photo is back in Vigo, taken as we left and after I lost mobile coverage. It's the three outer islands protecting the city and port from the wild Atlantic and is the main tourist draw to the area. The island on the left is uninhabited and a nature reserve but the right two islands are actually linked together by a beach, stretching across with sea either side. By zooming in we could see yachts and many people on the beach. Only trouble is the cold sea temperature

Spain days 4-6

Another sea day, not everyone's favourite, but I love them. I don't know where this one went though. We somehow missed the dance session with the ship band, but it was probably very crowded!

Steaming down the Atlantic on a sea day

We didn't fancy the comedian much as the evening entertainment, so we actually left dinner earlier than usual (still after most others) and went to the top deck for the stargazing session. We really enjoyed it, but we'd managed to get closer to the astronomer than Karen and Mark two of our table mates who didn't enjoy it nearly as much as we did. I don't think there are any photos though, Brian's phone seems to have lots of blackness to look at.

Not very good I know and you may laugh! If you look carefully you may see some stars as squiggles (due to the movement of the ship) and maybe even what looks like a cloud. That's the Milky Way. Others may just see black!

Cadiz was our second port, and our second free tour. According to the blog we have been before, in 2019, didn't manage to pick up a tour but walked 17km. 

A giant fig tree in Cadiz. They are surprisingly young, I guessed 500 years old, in fact they are 120 years.

Neither of us can remember any of it! He was a nice lad, with a very good presentation style, but it was a short tour. 

Our guide telling us about the 4 stages of Cadiz history. It's estimated to have been founded by the Phonecians 3000 years ago. Out of sight to the right is the Roman amphitheatre, the next history chapter, directly above his head is an old mosque, now a church from the days of the Moors and, left, is the cathederal. Another interesting snippet of information was told to use when we were standing by the cathedral on the left there. The James Bond film, Die Another Day, with Pierce Brosnan was filmed here, using Cadiz as Havana in Cuba. Apparently it was cheaper and more accessible then the real thing. Halle Berry walked out of this very sea in one of the scenes

Not helped because it was a Monday so lots of things were shut. This was possibly just as well, we both felt a bit odd. I felt lightheaded and vague (no change there then) and we both felt hungry. We were far too early to try and eat in town so we returned to the shop for lunch. 

The front of the cathedral, built in three stages. At the bottom, it was started with marble, but they ran out of money. The middle part is local oyster stone but work stopped again when they ran out of money during Napoleon's occupation. The top part is soft limestone which apparently erodes very quickly in the salty sea air

We'd also signed up to a 16.00 Baila beats class so we had to be back anyway. As classes go though it was disappointing, only 15 minutes and dominated by a woman who is qualified to teach Zumba and quite took over.

A Camino to Santiago de Compostela starts from this point in Cadiz and continues for over 1000km

The evening show wasn't the advertised male singer we had already seen as he has lost his voice. We didn't consider this much of a loss, but were slightly dubious about the filler by Corey, the cruise director. He was really good, had a great voice, and some very funny chat. Just goes to show you should never judge a book by its cover. 

Cadiz has something like 140 old cannons from the Napoleonic era that are now used to protect the corners of buildings. The one on the right is as it was, but the one on the left has been melted down to create a more ornate street corner

I have been slightly disappointed with the entertainment this week. Not because it has been bad, but because it's a long cruise the entertainment team and their routines get spread out much more than they do on a shorter cruise. Apart from the introduction show on the first night we have only had one other team show, which was very good. The rest of the nights have been people who are flown in to do a show or two before being flown out again.

Jackie is very happy that teddy has been so well looked after by the cabin crew! He's also getting his own chocolate, so we have three between us each night

Málaga was the next stop, and it was raining. We never actually had to put the raincoats on but it was very hot and humid, despite not being as warm as yesterday 

Malaga and Jackie is sitting next to a statue of Hans Christian Andersen. He stayed in Málaga in 1862 and wrote his book 'In Spain' while here

We hadn't booked a tour here as we spent a few days here a few years ago with Jean and Jimmy who we met on our first repositioning cruise back from Panama. That was just before Christmas, so it was cooler than today though I don't remember any rain.

Another city, another cathedral. This one, however was really quite nice, despite still not being finished. You might be able to see the tower on the right stops just before the bell tower, unlike the one on the left that is finished

We went to the cathedral which looked much more impressive than the one in Cadiz and paid the money to go inside. It was very impressive, though I do still have a problem with paying to go into a church. 

Its very impressive inside

We found a watch shop which had become quite important. As a took my day watch off yesterday I noticed the strap had almost gone through. I got my evening watch out to discover that the battery had gone! €10 sorted out both of these things.

Walking up the steep road past the Alcazabar on the left, towards the higher Gibralfaro castle up there in the distance

We didn't go into the Alcazabar as we could both remember it a little, so we walked up and past to the high point of the Gibralfaro castle. That was a good bit of exercise, though we didn't actually go in. We were about to pay at the self-service entrance machine only for the assistant to tell us that the senior or retired discount was for EU citizens only, so therefore we should pay full price. Now I know she is right, but it just seemed a little unnecessary. 

Very nice views of Málaga on the way up

Further round we also had a view of the harbour and bullring. Our ship is partly in view, partly obscured by the yellow building

We took the scenic route down which was a lot steeper, but apart from one dog walker had no other people. It suited us.

The scenic route down on the other side of the castle. No other tourists in sight

It got a bit difficult to follow in places, but the Organic Maps app on my phone showed a walking route all the way down, and it worked out

Glimpses through the trees to Málaga below. The blue roof is the cathedral that looks to be under repair. Perhaps it's as well they charge an entrance fee to cover such repairs.You can see it's single bell tower and the other lower one. I wonder if they'll ever finish it!

Another glimpse through the trees of our ship out in the harbour

To the market then. Unusually for Spain we had to be there early. The market closed at 14.00 so for the two hours before the tapas bars were absolutely rammed. The first one we sat at looked nice, and was a bit quieter, but had no baby squid, which as that was the main aim of the exercise was no good. We left. At one of the very busy places I saw a plate of what I wanted, calimaritos here, as opposed to chopitos elsewhere, but that was what we wanted. Fortunately we didn't have to wait long for a table. A glass of wine, a beer, a plate of calimaritos and a half plate (which was plenty) of boquerones, Brian's favourite fried anchovies bread and aioli and we were both very happy. We know it's not healthy but it's exactly what we wanted, all for €24.50.

Walking through the fish market. Look at those fabulous prawn and mussels! €6 per kilo - now that's a bargain!

Quite a long retrace of our steps, just so I could sit on the bench, next to the statue of Picasso, as I'd done last time, and then back to the ship. Formal night tonight so get the blog published and go and get togged up.

Jackie with the statue of Picasso in the Plaza de la Mercad. As I'd only thought about this at the end, we had to deviate back a long way. Had I thought about it on our walk down from the castle it would only have been a 100m out of our way, as it was it added another couple of kilometres to our walk. Just think of the step count I told her! 10km and 15000 steps today!

Back on the ship looking back at the hill with the Alcazabar and Gibralfaro castle that we'd walked up. It's directly behind that yellow building, the same one that partly obscured the ship in one of the above photos. That's it for now, time to get on our best togs and go and do some ballroom dancing ...