Cruising Part 4 — Spain, Italy and Monaco

The final destination for our cruise was to the southern Spanish city of Málaga. We only had 5 hours, so our tour was brief … but long enough.
We began with this 16th century cathedral.

Don’t know who took this one…

These images are from the Moorish alcazaba (from the Arabic word for fortress), which was predominantly built in the 11th century




This is a view of Málaga from the fortification.

Two famous sons of Málaga are Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas. We decided to visit the large museum dedicated to Picasso. It was interesting to see so many of his works, but sadly we still do no appreciate his art as much as we are supposed to.
Finally, we walked back past the church and out to the boat.

After Spain, we spent another two days on the ship. Although we had some rough weather coming back to Italy, it was a great way to finish up. We had a great time.
This is the view that greeted us when we woke up the final morning before we disembarked. Savona was quite pretty in its own right.

After we got off the ship, our friends Liz and Ash accompanied us on the next leg of the voyage. We all piled into our little car (with bags stacked to the roof) and headed west.
Next stop was to Monaco, the most densely populated country in the world (and second smallest, after the Vatican City). There are only 32,000 residents, but the size is merely two square kilometers (485 acres).


This is a view of the palace of Prince Albert II. The country has been a constitutional monarchy since 1911. His father, Prince Rainer III was married to Princess Grace Kelly. Prince Albert II ascended to the throne in 2005 after his father passed away.

These guards are from a company of 112 soldiers that patrol the country in addition to guarding the palace. There are only 2 companies in the Monaco military which consists of about 240 people.

The mirror reveals the very famous Monte Carlo Casino.

It was a short visit to the very pretty country, but well worth it.
Next stop was just down the road. We explored several villages on the French Riviera.
–Jim