On Saturday April 15, we arrived to our first Spanish port, Huelva, just 90 kms from Seville. After all the walking in Lisbon, Miriam stayed on board, and I took the free shuttle to downtown Huelva. Although at sunrise, the weather and sky was beautiful, by 10AM it was cloudy, a little rain and even a little foggy. Being Sunday, just about everything was closed in town, so there was not much to see!
This was one of the most emotional momemts for me. Shortly after midnight. Monday April 16, we started our journey through the Strait of Gibraltar, on our way to the Mediterranean Sea. I could not fall asleep as I wanted to see if one could see both Europe and Africa coasts. Was I rewarded! We first saw the lights on the coast of Tangiers to the south. As we continued entering the strait, we kept seeing more of the coast of Morocco. Then the coast of Spain was visible. What a moment to be in the middle of 2 continents! A passage where many sailors ventured as they traveled to the new Americas. According to Google Maps, at their closest the 2 continents are only approximately 9 miles apart!
Malaga is most famous during the summer, when many europeans come down to enjoy the warm sunny beaches. It has grown immensively since I was last here in 1970. Beautiful.
Our last stop before our cruise ends is Cartagena, a Spanish city located in the region of Murcia. As you can see in some photos, Cartagena has a Naval and Submarine port. This stop was only half a day and we chose not to get off the boat, so all the photos are taken from the MS Oosterdam.