Port Power

The Moorish castle was completed in 1333. The Tower of Homage gives a beautiful view from the top. I did not climb up there, so no additional photos from me.

On arrival at the caves, we were greeted by a local female monkey. We had seen just a few as we drove up through the nature reserve. The monkeys are free roaming in six family groups. Each year the authorities somehow manage to get hold of the infant monkeys for a health check, immunisation and microchipping. St Michael’s Caves were discovered in 843AD. They now have creative lighting, including a “show” in the main cave. Music concerts are held here. Along the way was a fallen stalactite that had been dawn across the bas3 to expose the age rings.

Monday, 20 November, 2023. Gibraltar. The ship was only here until 2:00pm, so all tours were in the morning. I had chosen “Castle, Caves and Wine Pairing”. Gibraltar is on Jurassic limestone and is considered a country. The locals are said to be more English than the English! We had a wonderful guide, a mature aged lady who knew the country very well. We were 15 passengers on a mini driver, with an excellent driver, Steven. There were five minibuses doing this tour, all with their own guides. The roads around the island are narrow. Some of the old tunnels were barely wide enough for the minibus to get through! Steven had do do more than one 3-point turn along the way. We did circle the entire isthmus and had an excellent day out. Once again Silversea excelled in their shore excursions and guides. That is Spain across the Bay of Gibraltar. Below is Morocco appearing from the clouds.

The butler was incorrect and could easily have changed the champagne. While in port in Spain, passengers have to pay VAT on any purchases made on the ship, but that doesn’t apply to any included wines, drinks or food. I wasn’t buying the bottle. The wine storage areas were definitely open because goods were was coming aboard for restocking! 😀

Sunday 19 November 2023. Malaga, Spain. Today was sunny and warm. There was a shuttle from the ship to the main street, which is where we started our walking tour of the old city and Picasso Museum. I’ll add those photos later. Being Sunday, and warm and sunny, the Portside bars and cafés were doing great business. This included locals: there were plenty of dogs on leads and children about. I am writing this at 6:00pm from the Observation Lounge, “Twinkle” by my side. I arrived back on board just in time to join another team for trivia while my team members were out for a long day. We came second, which I take no credit for. I also saw the Future Cruise Manager for a quote on Silver Ray from Fort Lauderdale to Lisbon in 2026. I might not stop cruising just yet!

Saturday and Sunday. Malaga, Spain. This was an overnight port, arriving late morning. It was a cool day, overcast but still pleasant. This was the view from the deck outside La Terrazza. I took a day off and remained aboard.

Some interesting traditions. Only stallions have their full tails, manes and forelocks. The nares have their manes and forelocks trimmed off entirely. Their tails are shaved near the rump to keep the area clean and hair free. Foals also have their tails shaved until one year of age. Then the colts can grow their hair. Just tradition, and the reason for it has been lost in history.

Carmen then danced with a partner. His performance was delightful.

After the “stampede” of mares and young horses, the guests were served coffee, Spanish omelette, farm grown olives and some other nibbles. Then the main event. A flamenco dancer entertained us. She started just walking by and playing the castanets. Well, I have never heard castanets like that before. Incredibly musical! Carmen (real name) followed up with some lovely and graceful dancing. But wait! There’s more!

Today’s excursion was to see Andalusian horses, but oh, what an underselling description that was! Four buses arrived at the orchard and farm, so about 120 passengers. There was a lovely gassed outdoor area, with plenty of chairs under the loggia and more on the grass. One of the guides was the host for the visit. The ranch, with the brand name MAIPE, was initially bought as an orchard, with a family interest in horses. That interest grew to become the main income. (They breed Jack Russels, too. A couple of mother dogs visited us.) There were two mares in the adjoining ing paddock with their colts, 5 weeks and 7 weeks old respectively. The trainer brought out one of the stallions and we were told the history of the pure Spanish breed. This is the base breed of the Lippizaner horses in Vienna, although they mixed in a couple of other breeds. The Spanish breed horses live 21-24 years. This farm has 8 stallions and 40 brood mares. Roughly 40 3-year olds are sold each year. The mares are never ridden. They have the run of the paddocks with their offspring. The stallions undergo dressage training. This is the major draw for this breed and they well represented in the Olympics and other major dressage events. If not sold, the mature horses remain on the ranch to live out their lifespan.

Friday 17 November 2023. Cartagena, Spain Another warm and sunny day, warmer than it should be at this time of year, but no one is complaining. Cartagena was founded 3,000 years ago and has the usual city walls. In my photo, the building behind the walls used to be a naval hospital. Ships dock only a short walk into the town centre. There were people strolling along the foreshore path enjoying the sunshine.

Viking Jupiter is docked behind us. Today started off sunny and cool, but reached 20C. The sky is clouding over now and it is distinctly cool. What better place to enjoy a warming coffee that the Arts Cafe.

I was looking down from my balcony and noticed movement in the water. There are dozens of huge fish at surface level. They look like carp from here. I will have to ask someone with local knowledge of Malaga.

Jumping ahead, our neighbour again today, Saturday, in Malaga. I saw it from La Terrazza last night as it sailed alongside. Too big for most of us here on Silver Dawn!

Friday 18 November 2023. Cartagena, Spain. Our neighbour at the port.

The tour ended with a visit to a small production local winery, Pago de Tharsys. We went through the cellar and then tasted their cava, a rosé type wine, and full flavoured red. The rosé was savoury and rather weird, but not horrible. The other two were very nice. Wine production started in this area 2,500 years ago with the Phoenicians. At that time the wine produced was a clear, light coloured wine.

The above was just the walk to the main event. Underneath this old city there are 1200 sq metres of caves, dug out by hand in the 14th-16th centuries. They fell into disuse in the 17th century and were only discovered by accident in the 1970s during a renovation project. These caves were all private, reached from stairs with each house. At a consistent 16 degrees centigrade, the caves were used to store wine, water and olive oil. Grain was also stored, wheat for making bread, because it was also dry down there. It was a totally unexpected and incredible excursion! There was also an ossuary, reached by stairs underneath the church. No bones remain there today.

My photos are still not transferring from iPhone to iPad, so I am writing the text on one and then editing on my phone to add photos. I can see another help session with my trivia team member coming up. He happens to work for Apple! Our trivia team has been very successful. There is the family of three from eastern Australia and myself from the west, and a couple from Belgium. Roy asks hard questions, but we keep managing to place. We can second with 13/20, which reflect the standard of questions he sets.

Big ship?! Will you like Silver Dawn or Silver Muse then? I quite like this size ship, but I have certainly met others who prefer less than 200 passengers. Actually, preferably 100 pax!

We walked up into the Old Town of Requena, past the old Arab walls. It was an Arabian walled city from the 8th-11th centuries. Santa Maria gothic church was built in the 14th century and is now still used for concerts. It has been a national monument since 1931. An interesting moment was seeing this silk museum. Silk cloth was a major industry back in the day. A street view in the old town.

Thursday 16 November 2023. Valencia, Spain. My excursion was to the pretty town of Requena, an hour’s drive from the port. Valencia is very proud of its Arts and Science buildings, and many people enjoyed the tour of the opera house. I only managed a picture of the aquarium on the way past, which we were told is the largest in Europe. There are two white whales there. The guide did not specify what type of whales though! Right next to are warehouses where oranges used to be stored for shipping overseas. More recently these lovely buildings were used as pit stops and to house cars competing in the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

I wouldn’t expect so. A class in the morning and another at 3:00pm, so two classes every day are a lot already.

As the dishes on this trip are all based around the ports we visit, I guess, like @canderson, that the first classes will be Portuguese inspired. There will be a list in the Lab on embarkation day. Sign up was between 3:00-5:00pm. One class guaranteed, two others can be waitlisted.

Close enough to one hour. It was thoroughly enjoyable. I hope that I have the opportunity to participate in another class on this cruise leg.

Oops! There’s had been so much talk about the next port that I mixed them up. This is Cartagena. 😬