The Empire State VI arrived at its first port, Malaga, on the morning of Friday May 21.
(Excerpts from the Ship's Librarian, May 21-23)
Friday May 21, Liberty in Malaga: After coming into Malaga, the inspection went well and liberty was granted starting at around 10:30 a.m. One needs a liberty card to leave and exit the vessel. I´m very happy to have my ticket to freedom right here in my pocket. Students have been let out in waves, and no matter where I went today, I kept bumping into some. I did a random walk through the town (very windy and warrenlike) and decided to go to the Alcazaba and the Castille de Gibrafalo. Both of these are Moorish ruins that provide excellent views of the town. I have already been back and forth to the ship, the ship is moored perhaps a mile and a half away from the main city but once you are in the city, everything is in close proximity to each other. That´s it for now. I have to decide what to do for tomorrow. I think I might be doing an outing to one of the towns nearby.
Walk up to the Castille de Gibrafalo.
Saturday May 22, A Day Trip to Ronda: If you ever get a chance to go to Spain, go to Ronda. The scenery alone is gorgeous. Ronda is the largest in a series of fortified towns in the mountains and probably the most awesome in its location being set upon a gorge that is crossed by a cliff. The town itself was about an hour and a half bus ride out of Malaga and it goes straight up into the winding hills. This town is known as the birthplace of modern bullfighting, an inspiration for Hemmingway, and also where Orson Welles had his ashes scattered.
Ronda´s Gates
Ronda, a town on a cliff
Ronda´s ¨New Bridge¨ spans a deep gorge.
Sunday May 23, A day at the Alhambra: Our destination was the fabled Alhambra, the citadel of the last Moorish kingdom of Spain. Our tour guide was a man named Frederico who was fluent in about four languages. His erudition really impressed the cadets and crew that were on the tour, but even more impressive was the Alhambra itself.
The Alhambra
Frederico our tour guide with rapt cadets and crew
A ceiling of the Alhambra
No comments:
Post a Comment