Day 8 - Malaga

Our next port was Malaga, Spain. When we got off the ship, we saw that there was about a mile walk along the dock to shore. There were no car rentals at the cruise ship, so Daddy and Grandpa took a taxi to the train station while the rest of us waited at the dock. After awhile they came back with a car, and we left. We wanted to go to Alhambra, which was a castle and palace of the Moors. As we began driving we took the wrong road, because our GPS was in walking mode and would not let us get on a freeway. The road we were on was through the mountains and was very windy. Here are some pictures of the mountains:



Finally we arrived at Alhambra, which is in the town of Granada. Alhambra was a castle that was built by the Muslims (Moors) when they were ruling Spain. It was captured by the Spanish in 1492 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. It is where Columbus went to ask permission and funding to come to the New World. When he came up to the castle, he said that he saw the Moorish king leaving and the Spanish flag go up the pole. We could not go in the palace because they only let a certain number of people in a day (mostly tour groups), but we walked around the gardens and castle. They would not let you walk on most of the walls and towers, but you could on some. There were good views of the town from the walls.

Part of the gardens

The castle. The little walls were houses added later.

Stephen and I with a cannon

Here are two panoramas that I took here. You can click to enlarge.




After the castle, we drove back to Malaga, but this time we took the highway, which was much quicker and straighter, though a little less scenic.