Arrival in Malaga

Our ship docked in Malaga on a cold, windy, rainy day.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast since we were one of the last groups to depart; not having a flight to catch or other deadline.  Finally, our group was called and we wound our way down the gangway and into the baggage claim area.

Three of our bags were waiting for us and we stood watching the carousel for the final bag until all bags had arrived.  Ours was nowhere to be found, great!  Looking around we spotted a small group of bags attended, disinterestedly, by two uniformed gentlemen.  Sure enough, our other bag was there with the other bags that had been randomly searched and nobody called out or complained when we collected the bag and left the area so we assumed everything checked out.

Following the crowd and the signs we thought we were headed for customs and immigration but suddenly found ourselves outside, in the rain, with four heavy bags, two backpacks and two hundred uncovered yards away from the cab stand.  Welcome to Spain!

It took 10 rain-soaked minutes to find a taxi large enough to swallow our baggage for the ride to our hotel.  After a short 5 minute ride we arrived at our hotel and sure enough, there was a staircase to an entrance which consisted of a revolving door.  Traveling heavy like this is a real pain in the …….!

We were too early to check into the hotel so we checked our bags and wandered to the nearest café which turned out to be a business breakfast and lunch coffee shop that was just what we were looking for.  There was free WIFI and we spent an hour or two checking our email and updating ourselves on the news.  Our room was still not available when we returned a couple of hours later but the rain had lifted so we decided to find the bus station and perhaps buy our tickets for the following day.

The bus station was half a mile away across several intersections, roundabouts, a shopping mall parking lot and café lined streets; not a possibility for walking with the amount of luggage we had.  After waiting a few minutes in the ticket line at the bus station we asked the clerk, in our very, very limited Spanish for two tickets to Cadiz.  When we finally understood that she was asking when we wanted to go we told her “tomorrow” and she waived us away telling us to come back tomorrow.  This seemed very strange to us but we did as she asked and left.

Realizing again that we were strangers in a different place we wandered off to find something to eat in the shopping mall.  At this point, we didn’t know how to order wine or food or even what things were so there were some interesting and laughable situations that occurred and we figured it was all part of the learning process we had to go through.  Marilyn ordered what she thought was a red wine and ended up tasting her first tinto de verrano (summer wine) while I proudly ordered Cerveza and stumbled over myself when the waitress asked me “draft or bottle” in Spanish which I did not understand in the least.

We finally managed to get a couple of sandwiches with an order of home-made potato chips which we wolfed down hungrily and then we returned to our hotel to find that our room was ready at last.  Once we had checked in, crammed our baggage into a very small elevator and found our room we noticed that the rain had stopped for the moment.  Perfect; it was time to go wander the old town and get our first tapa in eighteen months so we headed back outside.

For this trip we only planned to spend an afternoon, evening and a morning in Malaga and chose to stay at a hotel that was near the bus station because we were going to catch a bus to Cadiz the following day.  This meant that we were far from old town Malaga and its castle or fortress.  No problem, we’re intrepid walkers and sure enough, it took only about 20 minutes to find the “old” part of town with restaurants, cafes and tapas bars. 

Stopping at a likely looking joint we settled in and ordered our beverages and tapas.  Unlike in Granada, tapas are not free in Malaga but we simply wanted a drink, a snack and to settle in and enjoy mainland Spain for a moment.  Almost immediately a group of ten or so Americans walked up and started rearranging chairs and tables against the waiter’s wishes in a manner that disturbed several other patrons.

The waiter rolled his eyes and let them settle in while bringing us our drinks and tapas.  Meanwhile the Americans had been consulting a street map of Malaga in addition to the menu and as soon as the waiter turned in their direction, pad in hand to take their order they asked in English, pointing to the map, “Where are we?”  The waiter did not even bat an eye as he answered to the annoyance of the Americans, “We’re in Malaga”. 

Yep.  We were back in Spain.

Following this we set off on an exploration walk, map-less and trusting our judgment and after about an hour we noticed that the neighborhood had degraded and was not improving.  We had no idea where we were and since it was a cloudy day, which direction was which and although we knew that we needed to go south, we couldn’t agree on which way was south.

Hmmmm.  Another two hours of walking and we had worked our way back to our hotel both of us urgently needing to use the services by this time.  We barely beat the rain which returned with a vengeance and continued throughout the remainder of our stay in Malaga.  

The following morning, we decided to head to Cadiz on the early bus because it was still pouring rain.  We caught a cab in front of our hotel for the embarrassingly short ride to the bus station and found that amazingly enough, there were tickets available for the bus to Cadiz.  The bus system in Spain between cities is absolutely amazing: in most cases you do not need your tickets in advance, with the exception of a few special heavily traveled routes.  The buses are clean and spacious with a restroom on board and on long trips they will have a scheduled stop at a station where you can stretch your legs, find restrooms, coffee shops, newspapers, books or maps, and souvenirs if you are feeling the need.  The bus was less than half full and we boarded after loading our baggage in the compartment below and settled in for our four and one-half hour ride along the coast.

The rain stayed with us for the first hour and then it gradually faded away and we were treated to beautiful vistas along the Mediterranean coast, the wide fabulous beaches of Tarifa, with glimpses of Marbella, Estepona, Algeciras and of course, Gibraltar as we transitioned to the Atlantic coast of Spain.

Another Irish Pub

Okay, I guess I need to be a little more specific about our search for Irish Pubs around the world..  We are not writing about Irish pubs in the US or the UK.  We’re beginning to find that this is harder than it sounds; when you are in a city for only a day or two it could be easy to miss a gem so; if we’ve missed one that you know about please let us know or send us your own review.

Next up: old town San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Well, this was a total failure.  While we really loved the old town there wasn’t an Irish pub to be found.  Even the locals couldn’t point out any.  San Juan is a big city though so I’m sure there may be one or two but on our visit in April we stayed exclusively in the old town.  We’ll explore the rest of the city on another visit.

After San Juan we visited St. Thomas and St. Maarten.  Guess what?  No Irish pubs to be found in the half day we had in each of these places.  Six full days at sea followed by a quick stop in Tenerife (you guessed it; we found no Irish pubs) we finally arrived in Lanzarote (Canary Islands) and after passing an Irish themed nightclub (not open while we were there) called The Dubliner; we settled in at O’Reilleys. 

O’Reilleys is located on the boardwalk across the road from the black sand beaches in Puerta del Carmen right on the tourist route.  It is a large place with both indoor and outdoor seating.  We noticed a man; we assumed was a drunk, sleeping on an out of the way bench inside this pub.  As it turned out, this was the owner and I’m going to give the place a point for ambiance because of this.

The wait staff was wonderful and provided great, friendly service but they were all Spanish, not Irish.  The bar had Guinness and Magners on tap, but no Irish beers or ales.  We enjoyed a delicious bacon sandwich from the menu which also included a breakfast fry-up but we did not see a shepherd’s pie.  Entertainment consisted of people watching (not to be underrated) and well, the owner.  If we’d had more time, or been there for an evening it might have become interesting.

O’Reilleys ranking:  2 out of 3 for ambience.  There was definitely an Irish pub atmosphere with wood floors, paneling and name.  This pub receives 0 of 3 points for their lack of Irish bartenders but qualifies for 2 of 3 possible points for having Guinness and Magners on tap.  The kitchen gets 3 of 4 points for the breakfast fry-up, the bacon sandwich and the quality of the food which was excellent.  Finally, we award 2 of 3 points for entertainment because there was futbol and other sports on the several televisions scattered around the bar and well, the owner looked like he might be fun in the evenings.  All told; 9 points out of 16 possible for a second place showing.

Rankings thus far:

            Hannigans, Granada, Spain                                 16

            O’Reilleys, Lanzarote, Canary Islands                 9

The most beautiful island in the world.

Our tour of Madeira began in a misty rain in the port city of Funchal and within ten minutes our bus was climbing, climbing and climbing. 

The guide explained that Madeira had very few beaches because the island was of volcanic origin and had very steep slopes and cliffs on all sides that continued several hundred and even thousands of meters below the surface of the ocean.

  Agriculture on the island is tropical, conducted on very steep slopes or on a seemingly endless series of terraces; consists mostly of papaya, bananas and flowers below an altitude of three thousand feet and above that, one finds the vineyards of Madeira.

The narrow road wound up and up with steep drops on one side and rock walls on the other.  Being somewhat uncomfortable with heights, I was a glad I was not sitting in a window seat!  After forty five minutes we stopped at a lookout point above Funchal that provided 360 degree vistas for photo opportunities and of course, your choice of cafes for an espresso or cappuccino (café solo or con leche).  The clouds had lifted just enough that the sun was starting to burn through, it was spectacular!

After this quick pit stop we returned to the bus to continue our climb to the far side of the island.  This part of the trip was even more harrowing as we climbed ever steeper and steeper terrain on the winding narrow roads.  Needless to say, my knuckles were white for the next hour or so.  We finally arrived at Cabo Girau which, we were told, is the second highest vertical drop to the ocean in the world at 580 meters.  Great!

Marilyn of course, loves this and I cringe as she leans over the edge of a frail looking railing to take pictures.  The clouds here are actually below us clearing only from time to time allowing one to take dizzying pictures.

  I’m uncomfortable getting within ten meters of the edge as the walkway also slopes steeply to the edge.  Thank God that finally ended and we got back on the bus to continue what for me, was becoming the bus ride from hell!

Down, down, down the inland switchbacks we went until, you guessed it we stopped at another viewpoint where you could see the nearly endless series of terraces dropping down to the sea.

  By now the clouds were clearing and we stopped again at the lovely seaside town of Camera de Lobos where Winston Churchill liked to sit and paint during his vacations in the 1950’s.

Back to the bus; next stop, Funchal.

The May sun shone brilliantly as we dismounted the bus in Funchal for our visit to a local bodega to sample the wine named after this lovely island.  You may recognize the name Madeira as a type of wine.  Madeira is a very sweet wine that has accompanied European sailors for hundreds of years.  While neither of us particularly enjoyed the cloying sweetness of the wine many of our fellow tourists sampled and sampled again; you get the picture.

After our visit to the bodega we had some free time to wander the picturesque city of Funchal and view the remains of the flower festival, do a little shopping or just enjoy the suddenly beautiful weather. 

We chose to wander a little, eschewing the short bus ride to the ship, stopping at a local café in a small park for a beverage and to sit underneath the flowering trees.  Our wandering path down to the port took us through a beautiful park with a statue of Christopher Columbus (Cristovau Colombo) overlooking the entire harbor area.

  Lizards that the island is also famous for were sunning themselves on the rock walls, the flowering plants and trees were a riot of color and fragrance, this was altogether a very pleasant finish to our visit to Madeira.

This small, charming island had, in one day, become one of our favorite islands in the world and we can’t wait for a return visit.

The Canary Islands

Well, have to admit we were lazy when the ship ported at Tenerife.  It was a rainy, cool day and we had not scheduled a tour so when we realized that the port was a good distance from the city, and transfers were expensive we decided to skip the shore trip for this day.

 

We spent the day eating and drinking onboard the ship in the bars that were open early, taking a siesta (practicing now that we were in Spain), and watching movies in our cabin.  We had a nice leisurely dinner in our cabin (complete with a good bottle of wine) and promised ourselves that tomorrow we would go ashore and explore in Lanzarote.

It was a sunny day that dawned while we were arriving in Lanzarote and we could see the island very clearly.  Unfortunately, Lanzarote is a volcanic island desert.  It looks like the surface of the moon!

  As we caught our tour bus to Puerta del Carmen the clouds started rolling in.  As we began walking down the boardwalk , we realized that there were beautiful beaches here (although it was still a little chilly for us to use the beaches) and the town out turned out to be a quaint little village although quite a bit tourist oriented.

After a few hours of walking we settled in at O’Reilley’s, (yes an Irish pub) for a bacon sandwich and an Irish cider.  The bacon sandwich was wonderful and the Magners was authentic both of which we enjoyed while watching the tourists wander the street between the bar and the beach.  We’ll talk about O’Reilley’s more in a future “Irish pubs abroad” post.  Then it was back to the ship for a two-day sail to the island of Madeira.

Our day at sea included, as was becoming normal, a formal night in the dining room.  This was the final formal night because the night before reaching Malaga would be filled with packing and preparing everybody’s luggage for departure in Malaga.  The dining room chefs and staff always try to outdo themselves on this evening and we weren’t disappointed.  The food was special and all of the dining room kitchen staff members were introduced as they formed what can only be described as a Conga line carrying the final dessert (Baked Alaska) for the cruise. 

This was also the evening for tipping the servers all over the ship for taking care of us.  Normally, a cruise line suggests that tips be calculated at $11 or $12 per person per day allocated in a certain way among the dining room staff, the room stewards, etc. although some cruise lines include tipping in the cost of the cruise.  Since we didn’t use the dining room every night we wished to allocate our tips differently than that suggested by the ship (and which RCCL allows) and we were happy to hand out our envelopes to our favorite servers.  What a nice way to say “thanks” and “see you later”.

We awoke the next day in time to see the port of Funchal in Madeira as the ship arrived.  Unfortunately, there were very low hanging clouds over this incredibly beautiful town as we slowly cruised into port.  

Going across the pond.....

The cabin is beautiful with recliners and a coffee table on the sheltered balcony.  We decide to familiarize ourselves with the ship and have lunch while we wait for our luggage to be sent up and for the rest of the passengers to board.  The ship will be leaving in a couple of hours but the bars and the buffet are open during embarkation.  After a sandwich and a couple of drinks we return to find half our luggage in our cabin.  Now it’s time to grab our life vests and attend the mandatory lifeboat drill. 

The ship is ready to leave when we returned to our cabin and received a message from security requesting our presence on a lower deck.  As it turns out, the scissors we brought to trim our hair are a little too large and they are going to hold them for the duration of the cruise.  Ditto for the utility knife our friend Guy had given us as a present which we had buried in our checked bags and promptly forgot about; oops!  This is fine with us and now that we have the remainder of our luggage in our cabin we remove ourselves to an upper deck bar to watch the ship leave the harbor.

Since we had already spent quite a bit of time in the Caribbean during our years together, we admittedly had very little interest in the ship’s itinerary through St. Thomas

and St. Maarten. 

We did get off the ship in both places, had a couple of drinks and lunch in the convenient but touristy bars.  We did hunt half-heartedly for an Irish pub in both places but were, unsurprisingly, unsuccessful.  The weather was beautiful as is normal for the Caribbean before hurricane season and we enjoyed the pool, the workout facilities, buffet and of course, the bars as the ship pointed east to the open sea.

Six days at sea diary:  Day one.  Sleep in.  Order room service or stroll to the restaurant for a casual breakfast?  Afterwards, do we relax by the pool, read on our cabin’s balcony while enjoying the cool ocean breezes or workout?  Should we have lunch at the buffet or the dining room?  Certainly a nap is in order now?  Its late afternoon now and before dinner cocktails are certainly in order.

  Shall we dress for dinner since the dining room is scheduled to be formal tonight or revisit the buffet for a casual meal or should we stay in and watch a movie and order room service?  This is as complicated as it gets (most of the time the dining room isn’t formal).  After dinner a cigar with a cognac is certainly a nice way to end an evening.  Day two through six ….. the same.

The RCCL ship Adventure of the Seas features many types of activities from rock climbing or ice skating to shopping and fine dining.  There are several bars around the ship of course and a large mall area in the center with shops, pubs and a cafeteria.  The ship has a discotheque that is open all night for the young and young at heart.  While the room service menu is limited, it is available 24 hours and is included in the cost of the cruise.  RCCL, like Holland America provides wonderful room stewards who really take care of your every need.  One of the most outstanding features of our ship, surprising to us, was the buffet which had a wide variety of high quality, reasonably tasty offerings.

We have to admit that we took quite a few naps, read quite a bit and enjoyed more than one cocktail with some of our fellow passengers and new found friends while sailing across the seemingly endless Atlantic.  It didn’t hurt that the bartenders were internationally diverse, interesting, friendly and sometimes downright entertaining.

  Like on most cruise ships, the internet was expensive and slow so we were forced to reduce our ongoing communications with the few connections to our previous life we had been maintaining.

The main dining room aboard the ship proved to be comfortable and although the food was of good quality and the service nearly impeccable we found ourselves splitting time between it and the buffet for our meals.  The dining room was pleasant and our table mates a diverse and enjoyable group, but heavy and long meals just don’t work for us on an everyday basis.  It was very nice to have options!  We had purchased a wine package in advance, for a discount and we were pleased with the quality of the wines the ship provided.  The wine could be served in the dining room, the buffet or in our cabin with room service, they made it very easy.

Every fourth or fifth evening was designated a formal evening and we quickly found that we looked forward to dressing up for dinner.

  Formal can be anything from a sport jacket to a tuxedo for men and dresses to ball gowns for the women.

  At a table near us in the dining area were two Spanish gentlemen who had been on the ship for six months and who, it became obvious, had brought quite a wardrobe.  They always made a late entrance down the grand staircase (unusual) and would come dressed as anything from red and silver sequined Spanish cowboys (with hats) to Indian rajahs complete with turbans.  Many fellow diners requested photo opportunities with these two, very different, but delightful gentlemen.

Toward the end of our crossing we made a reservation at the small premium restaurant where Marilyn had an excellent filet while I enjoyed an amazing crab risotto with sauteed prawns both with a wonderful bottle of wine.  It was certainly worth the small upgrade price.

It seemed sudden, but it was almost day nine of our cruise and in the morning we would be stopping and Tenerife in the Canary Islands with most of the Atlantic already at our backs.