Into the Med and the Sunshine at last!

We’ve had a very good crossing of the Bay of Biscay with “light airs and a slight sea” as the ship’s log tells us. Life goes on brilliantly aboard “QM2” as the weather is getting warmer and warmer.

On sea days we are often up on deck playing Quoits or, in this case, Shuffleboard.

Almost as often as deck games we get invited to Champagne parties – in this case it’s the Captain’s Cocktail Party (we had one only last week but someone has to do it!)

We arrived in Malaga on Wednesday morning and, although we love the sea days, it was good to get off for a proper stroll.  We started with a long walk along the beach where Doug took advantage of the free Wi Fi while sheltering from the sun under the palm trees.

Meanwhile James took advantage of the numerous exercise machines along the promenade.

With QM2 in the far distance we took a break at a beach cafe …….

……. where we basked in the wonderful sunshine.

After the beach it was off for a bit of culture with a walk into the old part of the city.  There are some beautiful and impeccably kept gardens under the shadow of the impressive Alcazaba (the Moorish Palace).

Doug is enjoying some of his favourite flowers – this is Bougainvillea, in front of the Moorish Palace.

The stonework of the 11th Century Moorish Palace is very impressive …….

……… and, from the terraces of the palace, you get and good view of the fabulous architecture of the Town Hall.

Due to the hazardous road at the front of the Town Hall, we took a pic. of the side of the town hall.   It’s just as interesting as the front ……..

……. with some amazing detail.

Our time ashore was very enjoyable but we had to return to the ship by 4:30 for a 5 o’ clock leaving.  However, maintenance work to the ship overran and delayed us leaving until 8 in the evening - so we could have spent more time ashore but never mind.

However, all was not lost as we entered a deck quoits competition (which James won!!!!).

We are busy taking advantage of all the entertainment on offer – there have been some really good lectures so far and, on sea days especially, we make good use of the fantastic spa on board the ship.  Apart from an enormous spa pool with water jets and bubble beds there are many different saunas, steam rooms and foot spas and, when you’ve finished with all those, you can relax with refreshments in the lounge area.

James is also back in action with a new camera.  Although the temporary Samsung we bought in Las Vegas is ok we’ve now got a new Lumix TZ60 to replace the broken TZ40. With a better zoom and other bits and pieces it’s a bit “cleverer” than the old one and James had better not bust this one!