Wednesday September 10, 2025
Hi All! We’re back in Spain and this time in the sunny, hot Costa Del Sol (Sun Coast) region. We are specifically docked in the town of Malaga. And when I say hot I mean 88 degrees and not a cloud in the sky! Whew!
Malaga has a population of almost 600,000 and lies in Southern Iberia on the Mediterranean. Malaga’s history spans about 2,800 years making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. According to most scholars, it was founded about 770 BC by the Phoenicians.
It is a tapestry of Roman, Moorish and Spanish influences visible in its prominent landmark of the Alcazaba, a beautifully preserved Moorish fortress. Malaga is also celebrated as the birthplace of Picasso.
Given the long excursion we had yesterday and given that neither of us had been to Malaga, we decided to just explore the city on our own. What was nice was we were docked right in the city center so we just walked off the ship and right into town.
We saw the Alcazaba, the beautiful Cathedral and the old Roman Amphitheater. After exploring, we did a little shopping and while we’re walking along the boardwalk next to the ship who do we run into but our all time favorite Regent Cruise Director, Ray Solare! What a coincidence!
We had hoped Ray would be on our voyage but he is joining the ship this Sat in Barcelona. He said he has a place in Malaga and he’ll stay here for a few days and take the train to Barcelona on Sat to join the ship.
We were so happy to see him (most likely for the last time) and wish him a happy retirement since he retires when they sell the Navigator next year. Wish we would have thought to take a picture with him! Oh well, we hope to cross paths with him some day in the future.
We then got back onboard and chilled for a little and snuck in an afternoon tea and snacks. After that we got ready for dinner. I’ll do another update later tonight. Happy Hump Day to all!
The Wandering Italian 