Kissing Cousins…

Malaga, Spain

Day 14/16 Viking Vesta ‘Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean’ cruise

March 26, 2027

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Ah yes! Malaga, Spain! The birthplace of Pablo Ruiz Picasso known for co-founding the Cubist movement. But more about Picasso shortly.

We arrived bright and early into Malaga, Spain this morning - early enough to catch the sunrise off our balcony overlooking the cruise terminal of Malaga.

Our tour this morning was a combination of bus and walking tour with our guide in the old city of Malaga, Spain. We had an early start as we had to be at our bus on the pier at 8:20am. Of course we had people that showed up at 8:30am for our tour. By now you would think that people know the drill on how long it takes to exit the ship, and get to the waiting buses, especially if they watched the port talk for Malaga!

The first stop on our included tour was to visit the grounds of Castillo de Gibralfaro for a sweeping view of the entire city and surrounding area of Malaga. Our bus climbed up quite a few very narrow streets until we were at the highest point in the city. We walked to the overlook point for the city of Malaga.

The Viking Vesta in the distance (right) in the port of Malaga. We were the only cruise ship in port today. We love it when there are no other cruise ships in port!

Mountains to the West of Malaga.

La Malagueta bullring

La Malagueta is a bullring located in Malaga with a seating capacity of 9,032. The bullring was constructed in 1876. Two fights are held in Holy Week, a fight is held in June for the party saints of Ciriaco and Paula who were martyred in Malaga in 303AD and the final bullfight of the season is held in September to honour Our Lady of Victory the patron saint of the Catholic Diocese in Malaga. Bullfighting remains a controversial topic in Spain with areas such as Catalonia and the Canary Islands now banning bullfighting. Andalusia, where Malaga lies, still honours the tradition of bullfighting, although our guide suggested that younger people are not in favour of the tradition and therefore the custom of continuing bullfighting may die out with the older generation passing on in the next decade or two.

Malaga enjoys over 300 days of sunshine annually and it is known for its mild winters and hot summers. The Montes de Malaga, Sierra de las Nieves (west) Sierra de Tejeda (east) and Sierra Blanca (above) are all mountains that surround Malaga. As a result of the mountains surrounding Malaga and Malaga’s position on the Costa del Sol which is protected from large climate swings, Malaga enjoys average annual temperatures around 18-19C or 65F. Rainfall is quite low as well with most rain falling between March and November. Malaga is known as the happiest city in Spain for 2026 with a score of 91.36 out of 100 due to the sunshine, healthcare, airport connectivity and access to education. Malaga is also about 14% cheaper to live in than Madrid. In practical terms a meal in an inexpensive restaurant costs around 15 euros. A beer is roughly 3.50 euros, a coffee is 2-3 euros. English is widely spoken in Malaga and many expats have settled in the area of Malaga due to the lower cost of living, and mild winters.

Orange blossoms on the bitter orange trees in Malaga.

Orange trees in Malaga, Spain

Our tour then brought us down to the old walled city of Malaga to commence our walking tour with our guide. The smell of orange blossoms as we exited the bus was so pungent. Our guide explained that the oranges that were growing were bitter oranges. Bitter oranges are primarily used for marmalade, and their peels for making liquors like Cointreau, orange wine and the oils from the peels are used for perfumes and cleaning products.

Fortified wall of the city of Malaga. A bit over processed and not the best photograph but you get the point.

Malaga was a strongly fortified walled city during the occupied Moorish period (8th-15th centuries). The Medina (city centre) was fully enclosed and connected by high defensive walls to the Alcazaba fortress and the Gibralfaro Castle (where we had just visited on the hill above the city).

Alcazaba fortress

The Alcazaba fortress is a palatial fortification in the Medina of Malaga. Built in the 11th century during the period of Muslim ruler Al-Andalus, it was modified or rebuilt multiple times up the the 14th century. It is one of the best preserved citadels in Spain. Our tour did not take us inside the fortress but for 7 euros we could have entered and taken a tour.

There were a lot of school aged children visiting the fortress today on a field trip.

Malaga’s Roman Theatre which is at the foot of the Alcazaba fortress. The Roman Theatre was buried underground and not discovered until 1951. The fortress was built during the Empire of Augustus in the 1st century and used up until the 3rd century.

Roman columns incorporated into the Alcazaba fortress built centuries after the Roman theatre!

The Arabs used parts of the theatre for their own building purposes and took capitals and columns shafts to build the Alcazaba fortress above the theatre. It was really neat to see different centuries of history on top of each other in one place in Malaga!

Picasso grew up on the first floor of this building in Malaga, Spain.

Across from his building is this lovely square filled with pigeons which became a central theme of Picasso’s works.

Our guide walked us through the narrow cobblestone streets of Malaga and I was on the lookout for a washroom! The worst thing about an early morning walking tour is not knowing where the next washroom is! Luckily, just as I was getting desperate, our guide pointed out the location of where Pablo Picasso had grown up. At this point our guide gave us 15 minutes to have a coffee or buy something at a local cafe so we could use the toilets.

Richard trying his sugar test on the espresso. He hopes that the sugar will float on top of the espresso for a second. The sugar did not float on this espresso, but he said it was a tasty coffee regardless.

I asked for an orange juice, but not this size! It seems a bit ridiculous to use the toilet and then have to buy a large drink, which then incurs needing to use the toilet again soon!

After 15 minutes we could hear our guide in our earpiece so we gathered in the square across from Picasso’s home and started walking down the narrow touristy streets of Malaga.

Everywhere we looked tourist souvenirs had the images of Picasso on them

Picasso tea towels anyone?

How about a Picasso fridge magnet?

The line to get into the Picasso museum in Malaga started here.

and continued here…..

and continued here. It was obvious we were not going to go to the Picasso Museum in Malaga today!

We walked with our guide to the beautiful Cathedral Basilica of the Virgin of Incarnation. Built in the Renaissance architectural style with Baroque additions it was built into a portion of the medieval Moorish walls. Constructed between 1528 and 1782.

Cathedral Basilica of the Incarnation, Malaga, Spain.

Looking at the Cathedral. The entire square where the Cathedral was located was absolutely gorgeous and the architecture and colours on the surrounding buildings were amazing!

We continued walking through the narrow, intriguing streets of Malaga with our guide until she brought us to the Centro market area. We really wanted our guide to show us where the Viking shuttle bus would pick us up in the port area, so after she pointed out where that location was, we tipped her and went off on our own to explore Malaga.

The pedestrian streets of Malaga were a dream to explore and meander through. Malaga is a really beautiful city to explore on foot! I could definitely spend more time here!

Our guide had mentioned there was a local market a few blocks over, so after using the Bank machines inside Santander Bank (which also had an Internet cafe and nice clean washrooms), we headed towards the Mercado de Salamanca.

Mercado de Salamanca built in 1920

I love a good food market in any place we visit!

Passionfruit I purchased from a vendor in the market. We really got hooked on passionfruit in Cambodia and Vietnam when we visited both places last year with Avalon on the Avalon Saigon.

The fruits were lined up so orderly!

A coronet of white strawberries?

Colourful dragon fruit for sale in the market. Good marketing too! Sell the fruit with a spoon for easy eating!

Look at the size of these asparagus!

Messy Sardines

Orderly sardines!

We had a great time in the market trying cheeses, breads, olive oils and of course the passionfruit. I bought a small container of olive oil from Malaga to bring home with us.

So unbeknownst to me at 7:40am this morning before we left the Viking Vesta on our tour today Richard had reached out to his cousin Martin who lives part of the year in Spain. Richard inquired if Martin would have time to have a coffee with us after our walking tour was finished in Malaga today. Martin responded that he and his wife Claudia would love to meet up with us and they would take the 12 minute train ride from Benalmadina where they live in the winter, to come and visit us. We were to meet up with them at 12:30pm at the top of Constitution Square.

Richard mentioned to me while we were on our tour that he would like to meet up with his cousin Martin. What a nice surprise! I did not even know Richard had a cousin close by in Spain! Richard had not seen his cousin Martin in over 40 years, having both grown up in Buckingham, Quebec, the cousins had taken different career paths and lived in different places all over the world. What a nice treat to be able to meet up in Malaga today!

Martin and Claudia have a very favorite restaurant “Meson Mariano” established in 1988 by Mariano who is also the restaurant owner. We purposefully had to lineup outside before 1pm otherwise we wouldn’t get into the restaurant with the short amount of free time we had before we had to get back to our ship.

When we arrived at 12:50pm there were already 4 or 5 people in line in front of us. Locals know of this little hole in the wall spot, which is a few blocks away from Constitution Square in Malaga.

Richard catching up on 40 years of history with his cousin Martin Landry in Malaga, Spain. Martin was an Executive with IBM and VIA Rail Canada and lived all over the world before retiring in Montreal and Spain.

We had to have a photo taken with the owner Mariano and Martin and his wife Claudia (who hails from Chile). Claudia of course speaks fluent Spanish so it makes it easier for Martin to live in Spain!

Tomatoes, beans, cucumbers in a dill olive oil sauce. Every table got a plate of this dish and some rustic bread and crackers to spread the tapas on. It was delightful!

Artichoke hearts and prosciutto. The restaurant is famous for its artichoke dishes. This was a delicious tapas!

Sizzling gambas (shrimp) in a garlicky olive oil sauce. I cannot eat shrimp but Richard said this dish was delicious!

Meatballs and potatoes. Delicious! I loved the albondigas (meatballs).

Chicken cordon bleu!

We also had tempura fried thinly sliced eggplant on which we poured a date molasses on top of the eggplant. I forgot to take a photo of that dish, but it was especially warm, sweet and tasty!

What a nice time we had for about 1.5 hours catching up with Martin and Claudia and how they enjoy living in Spain for the winter. They are now EU residents so it makes it easier for them to stay for the entire winter. Non EU residents can only visit for 90/180 days and then must leave. We have an open invitation to come and stay in their two bedroom, two bathroom condo overlooking the Mediterranean anytime we are in the neighbourhood and we may just take them up on that offer another time!

We walked back to the shuttle bus pick up area and caught the 3:30pm shuttle to the Viking Vesta. We had to be back for our 4pm meeting with the Future Cruise Consultant as we were booking another Viking cruise for October 2027 (Venice to Istanbul) and wanted to get make sure we took advantage of the additional onboard savings of $200 US applied to our onboard account while we were still onboard.

We were able to book the same PV1, 6073 cabin starboard side (Ray our consultant advised was the best side for this cruise for the itinerary, on the brand new Viking Astrea which will not be launched until June of 2027!). We have really enjoyed this cabin on the Vesta, which includes free pressing and liquor in our cabin refrigerator. I had considered upgrading to the PV Suite, but the additional $6,000 US for free laundry in addition to our current benefits, just did not add up for me.

I was starting to feel like I was coming down with a cold so I decided instead of going to dinner in the World Cafe, I would use the spa area. I spent time in the steam room, the sauna and the cold plunge pool, and showered in the spa.

Feeling a bit better after the spa, we watched the Captain’s farewell on the tv in our cabin while we ate our room service of salad, and chicken soup for me; lasagne, soup and salad for Richard with a bread basket from Manfredi’s.

Tomorrow is a sea day and we have time to pack and relax while we sail to Barcelona for disembarkation the day after tomorrow. It has been a fantastic cruise and a very interesting itinerary. We still have about 3 weeks left on our vacation though so there is lots more to explore and discover as we continue our long vacation. I’m looking forward to having no itinerary and tours as we head to Paris next week after spending a few days on our own in Barcelona.

It was super nice to meet up with Richard’s long lost ‘kissing’ cousin Martin and his wife today. Now that the cousins have reconnected we will be staying in touch and we even have a place to visit in Montreal and Spain too! Martin was going to give us some good local spots to dine at in Paris and we appreciate his recommendations which are better than trying to figure things out on our own. Today’s restaurant was definitely somewhere you have to visit if you are ever in Malaga, Spain but make sure you get there before it opens at 1pm as it is very small inside and the tables fill up very quickly!