Ships taking leave and the tale of the rio Segura

Another quiet Monday of routine tasks. With lots of time on my hands, getting going on preparing my next Sunday sermon seems to have become part of this. I haven't needed to contribute anything to preparing the Ascension Day Confirmation service this week, as others have taken charge of it. I can just be there, relax and enjoy the experience, a pleasant change.

My afternoon paseo revealed a 200 metre long super luxury cruise ship moored alongside Palmeria de las Sorpresas, the Bahamas registered Seabourn Odessy launched in 2009. It takes 450 passengers and 350 crew. with the largest spa on board of any cruise ship in the world. The high ratio of crew to passengers seems indicative of its elite status, whether it's a big ship or a relatively small one.

Next to it on the quay, and somewhat overshadowed by it, at 73 metres, was a Guardia Civil coastal patrol vessel, the Rio Segura, named after a river, which rises in the sierras in Jaen Province, flows across Murcia Province and reaches the sea in Alicante Province. At the turn of the century, the rio Segura was one of the most polluted in Spain. Public outcry about this evoked a response from the government of Murcia, which led to better water management and cleaned up the river, to the extent that the biosphere along its length now flourishes healthily once more. Regenerated, just like the river Taff back home, over the past twenty years.

Learning about this later took me back to my first visit to Murcia province last autumn and being shown the Sierra Espuña Parque Regional, reforested and transformed during a lifetime of labour by a 19th century by Ricardo Cordoniu 'El Apostol del Arbol'.

Anyway, I noticed the ship's passenger bridge to the cruise terminal centre weren't attached, as if it was making ready to depart, so I hung around for twenty minutes to watch.  At six, the ship's siren hooted three times, and vehicles belonging to port security officials and workers appeared on the quay, and one by one the half a dozen or so cables attaching ship to land were quietly loosened and hauled in by noiseless machines on board. The series of propellers embedded in the port side of the ship's full powered up and churned the water briefly, as the vessel moved away sideways, until it had sufficient clearance for the bows to take the lead. In fifteen minutes she was on her way out of port to Barcelona.

A man my age standing next to me asked if I spoke French, I don't know why, except that seemed to want to share his pleasure at this brief moment. We chatted for a while and he told me he was Swiss, from the Canton of Vaud, but his real passion was sailing ships. He said that the ships's docking, he'd seen earlier in the day, was assisted by a tug, perhaps for safety sake, perhaps to ensure avoiding a collisions with the smaller, lower profile Sio Segura moored further up the quay. i can't remember when I last saw so big a ship cast off and leave part. I thought of standing, watching with my father, on the quay in Cardiff Docks back in the fifties, and thought how much he'd enjoy seeing this.
    

Surprise comings and goings

Nobody came to share the midweek Eucharist at St George's this morning. I prayed the Ministry of the Word quietly alone, while a few tourists entered, looked around signed the visitors book and left. Sadly, it's rare for anyone to come in, sit and pray. Perhaps some do, out in the quiet corners of the churchyard. It's beautiful, and full of birdsong. The high wall flanking Avenida de Pries down the hill shields the churchyard traffic noise.

After praying, I stocked up on food at Mercadona, returned to cook lunch, as spent time working on my Sunday sermon. With St George's Day on Monday, I have to weave this extra golden thread into the Paschaltide celebration, which takes pride of place on an Eastertide Sunday, even over a Feast of Title. Having a weekday Patronal Festival celebration, however desirable isn't practicable with such a scattered congregation. I'm just hoping people will make the effort to turn out for the Confirmation on the evening of Ascension Day, other than candidates' families, both to welcome the Bishop and support new members. 

Late afternoon, on my way to stock up on bottled water, I walked to Playa Malagueta and saw over in the port one of the very large cruise ships was docked, Panama registered MSC Fantasia catering for 4,000 passengers, and a third of a kilometre long. Unfortunately, I wasn't carrying a camera. The ship's siren gave several hoots. I wondered if it had just arrived. I completed my errand, and then one more to collect a package from church, then returned to the port with a camera, only to discover that the siren had been a departure signal. The ship had departed for Valencia according to the Marine Traffic Website, and was nowhere to be seen. In a couple of hours that had passed she was already heading past Motril to the Costa Almeria. Life's like that in a busy port city, and full of surprises.

  

How the other half lives

It promised to stop raining at the end of the morning, yesterday and slowed to a drizzle, so I went out wearing a raincoat for the first time since I've been here. I went to the local shops, then walked around the Old Town, but it continued drizzling for as long as I was out. I got soaked, and needed a change of clothes. At least I got my daily exercise, though I hate walking in the rain in any climate. 

Then the toilet cistern came out in sympathy, as the valve that controls containment and release of water stuck in the open position. It's not for the first time this has happened to me in Spain as the water deposits large amounts of calcium in kettles, tanks and waterpipes. It's necessary to keep a supply of white vinegar and/or agua fuerte - dilute hydrocholoric acid I believe, and make tank descaling part of one's home maintenance routine. A build-up of limescale causes lightweight modern plastic valve mechanisms to stop working, as on this unlucky day. Still there's a second toilet in the bathroom so I've nothing to complain about. 

Earlier, Clare had bought some white vinegar. I used once I'd got the tank to stop emptying, and the filled it with vinegar and hot water. No result. I tried again with the remains of a bottle of agua fuerte found under the sink. Again no result. So Rosella has been alerted, and the cistern water supply turned off. It's an old toilet, and the mechanism I can't get at to inspect may be broken, so a visit from an expert fontanero is needed after the weekend.

This morning, I awoke to blue skies and a mild fresh breeze. Under the trees on the other side of the Paseo de Reding the monthly Bio-Mercado stall holders were setting up. It seems to me there were more stalls than last time, and more stalls than last summer too. The organic growers' association that organises these Saturday events, takes it to different locations around the greater Malaga area in the intervening weeks. Malaga is notable for the number of shops that sell organic food products, herbal remedies, cosmetics and other health products. I don't think it's simply a reflection of the diversity demand in this cosmopolitan city, but rather a continuing regional tradition of cultivating healing herbs and using traditional 'organic' agricultural methods which have retained as well as gained in market share.

It was such a pleasure to walk out without a jacket or pullover. Just in the course of twenty four hours, there's been a turn around of both cruise ships at the terminals one and two, and at the quay on the Palmeria de las Sorpresas. And talk about surprises, yesterday's MV Corinthian 100 passenger elite luxury vessel was replaced by MV The World. Twice as tall, overshadowing the quayside. This accommodates between a hundred and two hundred permanent residents, I later discovered. Instead of a millionaire having their own exclusive yacht, this ship is a floating village for high net worth residents who enjoy a life on the move, making the World in both senses their home. 

I wonder what kind of millionaires they are, what nationalities they are, whether they are retired, doing no more than oversee the market value of their assets, and what deters them from settling in any given place? I remember reading an article about a wealthy elderly widow with no family who had sold up and vowed to spent her last years cruising the world. 

She reckoned it was the most cost effective way of coping with age and infirmity, as cruise ships alway have plenty of staff, and cater well for people with mobility issues. Plus, there's always company, entertainment, never any worry about meals, and the continuing stimulus of the different ports of call, balanced by the contemplative tranquility of life at sea. Was this her kind of ship? Or would this be possible on a vessel that wasn't quite so opulent? How the other half lives. Intriguing questions.

   

Mad dogs and ship spotters

This morning we drove to Velez-Malaga for the celebration of the Eucharist with a congregation of seventeen people. I was please to have an opportunity for Clare to meet the congregation here, in such a different environment from Malaga, yet with the same open, warm welcoming spirit. After, we joined the majority of worshippers for coffee and churros at Cafe el Tomate just along the street, before driving back to Malaga for lunch at the apartment.

On the last stretch of the drive along the Paseo Maritime, I noticed three large cruise ships docked in the port, as well as the usual Malaga-Melilla ferry. While Clare had a siesta, I walked out along the eastern quay to take photos. TUI Discovery 2 was docked at Terminal One, she's visited Malaga several times during my stay so far. At Terminal Two, Celebrity Reflection was docked - nearly a quarter of a mile long with 2300 passengers and 1200 crew. It's one of the giants of Mediterranean cruise ships.The area was a hive of activity with shuttle buses plying to and fro, taking visitors into the city.  

Moored at the quay further away from the terminals, in isolation and apparent inactivity behind locked security gates was Europa 2. I think it may be in between cruises, changing crew, re-stocking for its next voyage. This is one of the newest, most luxurious vessels of German Hapag Lloyd Line, taking just over five hundred passengers, all over the world. I think I may have seen it docked here before.

I got back to the apartment just as Clare was waking from her siesta, so then we went down to the beach for her afternoon swim. By suppertime, I was beginning to feel a little over-cooked. Although I am quite used to being outdoors in a hot and sunny climate, I have to be very careful, and avoid as much direct sun as possible. Already, I have an embarrassingly well tanned face, for someone who always wears a sun hat and stays in the shadows as much as possible.