After seven really fun filled days at sea Beth opened the curtains early in the morning and proclaimed "there's land out there"! For as much as we loved the days at sea, we were excited to do some exploring on land at our first port of call, Funchal. Funchal is the capital city of a four-island autonomous region of Portugal. It is located on the island of Madeira, which with a population of around 250,000 is the most populated of the four islands. The island of Madeira is located approximately 560 miles from the mainland of Portugal and 370 miles from Morocco. The island is known for it's wine, colorful flowers and pre-historic forest. It has earned the distinction of being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This was my second visit (Beth's third) to the colorful island and it was great to be back. We typically don't purchase shore excursions (although we have several on the next cruise), preferring to roam around at our on pace, going where we want to go and finding plenty of time for sitting and enjoying the scenery. The Enchanted Princess docked close to the city center. We enjoyed a leisurely walk from the ship through the Parque de Santa Catarina (City Park and Gardens) which overlooks both the harbor and the city center. The park was full of benches and while we didn't try them all we found several good ones to enjoy before exploring the narrow streets which were now coming to life. One area of Funchal that we had enjoyed on our last visit was "Old Funchal". This area is located just a short walk on the opposite side of the city center to where we were docked. The main attraction of this area is the "street art" which consists of numerous painted doors on both businesses and residences.
After several hours of roaming and sitting we stopped at the Barreirinha Bar Cafe. This cozy cafe with outdoor seating sits high up on a cliff overlooking the sea and the city. Our intentions were to just have something to drink until one of the servers walked by with the most amazing looking grilled cheese sandwich. Temptation got the best of us and we enjoyed sharing one (one was plenty for both of us) of the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever, while taking in the incredible scenery of Funchal and the Atlantic Ocean.
After lunch we slowly made our way back to the ship. It was a wonderful day and it really felt good to be "international travelers" once again!
Between Funchal and our next port of call was our final "sea day". We were again very fortunate with great weather and plenty of shipboard activities.
Our next port of call was Cadiz, Spain which is located on the southwestern coast. Cadiz is a relatively small city but one with a long history. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and is often regarded as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. For cruisers it is often considered the Gateway to Seville, which is located just over an hours drive inland. We felt very fortunate that we didn't have to make a choice between exploring Cadiz or Seville. Our next cruise will also be stopping in Cadiz so we'll be able to see both of them before getting back to the US. Seville will have to wait a few weeks. We opted to spend this day in Cadiz.
We stopped at the tourist information booth which was located just off the ship to pick up a map and a few suggestions. We told the young lady working the booth that we liked to explore by foot. She highlighted a map for us that took us by all the main sights of the historic section of Cadiz. She said that non-stop it would be about a two hour walk. Since we tend to roam a bit, then sit a bit, we figured that was the perfect amount and that it would fill our day.
Our first three points of interest along the way were a small plaza, the cathedral and the outdoor market. They were all very nice but we couldn't help but notice that there was a lack of activity even though it was now around 10:00 in the morning. Most shops were closed and only a few of the numerous outdoor cafes were open. Even the outdoor market was closed! We didn't think too much of it since we're not shoppers and we had eaten breakfast on the ship. Besides, the city was really very scenic.
We probably won't have much time to see Cadiz on our next visit. We'll be heading off to explore Seville. If we do have a bit of time we'll certainly enjoy roaming around a while. If not, there's a pretty good chance that the city will still be there for a few more years...........it seems to have longevity on it's side!
Next up was Malaga, the birthplace of the world-famous artist Pablo Picasso. Malaga is a place that we have visited twice previously and really enjoyed. Malaga was our first port of call on the Mediterranean Sea. To reach it we passed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean by way of the Straits of Gibraltar. Stepping off the ship and walking into the historic section of the city, we quickly remembered why we had enjoyed Malaga so much in the past. It was somewhat of a walk down memory lane as we passed familiar sites including the hotel where we stayed a few years back before taking a trans-Atlantic cruise back to the US.
Once we finished exploring in the city we made the climb up past Alcazaba, a fortress high on a hilltop that was originally built in the 10th century and modified several times over the next five hundred years. We made it as far as the castle (Castillo de Gibralfaro), but we opted not to go in. The viewpoints at the top made the climb (it can also be reached by bus or taxi) well worth it. After enjoying the views, we made our way down by taking a different route. One that brought us down to Playa la Malagueta, the closest of many beautiful beaches near the city of Malaga. We rewarded our efforts for making the climb to the top with a nice casual lunch at one of the seaside cafes. We made our way back to the ship by passing through the historic city center to once again appreciate this wonderful city.
When we woke up the next morning we were docking in the city of Cartagena. This was our first visit to this city of over 220,000 that is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like so many places along the coast of Spain, Cartagena has a long history. It was founded by the Carthaginians in 228 BC. Between it's founding and the 15th century it was under the rule of not only the Carthaginians but also by the Romans, Christians and Muslims. Thankfully no battles for ruling the city have taken place for centuries and we were able to enjoy a peaceful, sunny day of exploring the city, as well as some of the historic ruins that are intermingled.
The highlights of Cartagena included the Calle Mayor which is the city's main pedestrian shopping street that is lined with shops and cafes. Near the Calle Mayor are the ruins of the Roman Theater where we enjoyed watching archeologists continue to carefully excavate the area for artifacts that have been buried for centuries. There is also a great promenade along the port with plenty of benches to sit and soak up the sun and surrounding scenery.
One of the things we enjoyed the most in Cartagena was the school children. With all the historical sites we can only imagine that it is a popular destination for school field trips. There were groups of children ranging from pre-school through high school. While we were sitting on a bench a group of what looked like 3rd or 4th graders walked by. One of the first in line offered me up a "high five" which I couldn't resist. From then on every student had to have a high five or fist pump from both Beth and I as they passed by. They also offered up in their best english "what's up bro" as they passed by smiling on their way back to their bus.
Our final port of call before disembarking in Barcelona was the city of Palma on the island of Mallorca. Mallorca is the most populous of the four Spanish islands (known as the Balearic Islands) that lie off the east coast of Spain. The island has a population of close to 900,000 of which around 50% live in the city of Palma.
Like Funchal and Malaga, we had visited Palma previously and really enjoyed it. Also like Funchal and Malaga, this visit did not disappoint.
The ship docks about two miles from the city center but it's a great, flat easy and scenic walk from the port to the city. Along the way there are numerous marinas with more boats, sailboats and multi-million dollar yachts than you can imagine. Like many Spanish cities the most prominent landmark in Palma is the cathedral (Le Seu Cathedral). There is a small entrance fee to go inside the cathedral. Sometimes we go inside and other times we just enjoy the exterior. This time we opted to go in and were really glad we did. The cathedral's main stained glass window contains 1236 pieces of glass. On a sunny day (Palma has an average of 300 sunny days per year) the sunlight coming through the glass creates a rainbow of color on the floor and pillars of the interior that is well worth seeing.
After roaming the town a bit and enjoying a lunch of tapas we headed back to the ship for our final evening on the Enchanted Princess. It had been a memorable fourteen day crossing. As we disembarked in Barcelona and went through passport control I couldn't help but smile a bit when I heard the familiar sound of our passports being stamped..........I missed that sound!
