Iberian Peninsula Delivers Sun, Sites and Leisurely Days Ashore

Days 78-80, 2025 European Odyssey

Sunday to Tuesday, Sept. 14-16, 2025; Lisbon, Portugal, and Màlaga, Spain

While the quick pace of ports continues, with the odd sea day here and there, my pace seems to have slowed a bit. Perhaps because the days are hot and sunny, or because I have hit the midpoint of this odyssey and settled into a different routine.

Actually, it may be that the Mediterranean pace of life has infected me. I’m fine with that.

I’m not keen to tour more castles or cathedrals, content to photograph them from outside. Give me charming streets to walk, shops with interesting merch to browse and shaded seats in cafés to enjoy coffee, beer or wine, and I’m happy.

One frustration is that I can’t seem to lose the five pounds or so I put on before this cruise. Too many bagel-and-cream-cheese breakfasts or pizza lunches at the NY Deli, and too many glasses of sauvignon blanc or gin and tonic, I’m sure. Now that I don’t have the all-inclusive beverage package, my refreshing afternoon drinks are becoming ice water. And I’ve discovered a healthier avocado toast for breakfast. I just have to remember to request a half order.

It was still dawn on Sunday in Lisbon when I arrived in the Crow’s Nest and watched a spectacular sunrise light up the old buildings on the hill by our dock.

With no particular plans beyond walking around the center of town, I stayed at my table and sketched the hillside. Despite the simplicity of the scene, I get lost in the proportions, even when I leave out half the buildings. Finally satisfied, I set the sketch aside to add watercolor later and headed ashore.

I was last here in late April on the fateful day when the power went out throughout the Iberian Peninsula. I was in town with my sisters (whose ship also was in Lisbon), and the reality of no power spread. No coffee, no pasteis de nata, no paella, no credit card transactions, no ATMs. Transit stopped, and gridlock immediately took over as traffic lights went out. It was the lack of toilets that eventually sent us back to our ships, with their own electrical supplies.

This visit, after sketching I headed out to repeat my path, to have a pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard) and wander the lower levels of the Alfama. This old town, about the only part of Lisbon that survived the 1755 earthquake, is a maze of narrow cobblestone streets. I considered jumping on the iconic yellow Tram 28 through the area, but each one that passed me already was packed with tourists.

After sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar on Wednesday, we arrived today to another beautiful and warm day in Màlaga, Spain. Many passengers headed for Granada to tour the Alhambra, a long day but worth it. I repeated what is becoming a pattern — enjoying morning coffee and writing time in the Crow’s Nest, then leaving the ship an hour or so before noon. After a short port shuttle ride, I headed into the historical quarter, a mixture of broad plazas, narrow lanes and a beautiful garden outside the Cathedral Basilica of the Virgin of Incarnation.

Two lines formed outside the nearby Picasso Museum – one for those with tickets and another for those without. Not wanting to join either, I walked on to a wide plaza with a statue of a sitting Picasso, past one of many vendors selling almonds.

My wanderings led me to La Alcazaba, a Moorish fortress overlooking the Roman Theater.

A table opened up at a conveniently placed café with a good view of the fortress. While sketching and enjoying a white wine and a paella tapa, I chatted with the locals at the next table. They politely admired my sketch, noted that a few of them are artists and showed me photos of their work. It was just the kind of local connection that makes a port special.

For most passengers, this cruise is coming to an end Saturday, and as it is our last sea day, tomorrow will be full of end-of-cruise presentations, such as the On Deck for a Cause charity walk, the City on the Sea behind-the scenes look and the captain’s Q&A session.