With the cruise ship alongside the pier in Lisbon, Laetitia and her group went off by bus to an ancient fortified town called Óbidos. The area where the town is today was formerly home to communities of Paleolithic people, Celts, Romans, and in the eighth century, Moors, who began constructing the walls of the fortified city.
Óbidos, Portuguese walled town,
Is for tourists a place of renown,
Ancients called its hill home
Long before there was Rome
For it offered strategic high ground.
Cadiz is an Atlantic naval and commercial port near Gibraltar. After 1492, it was a major port of entry for goods from the new world. Dozens of watchtowers sit atop buildings near the waterfront. Signals exchanged between the towers and incoming ships facilitated meetings for trade with local merchants. Cadiz is the birthplace of Spanish composer, Manuel de Falla.
In south Spain, Cadiz is a port
Of both naval and merchant import
Whose rooftops embower
Many a watchtower
That aided import and export.
Malaga is a lovely port city on Spain’sCosta del Sol. On a hilltop overlooking the city are two Moorish fortresses, Alcazaba and Gibralfaro. Beneath the hill is what remains of a Roman theater. Pablo Picasso was born here. The Mueso Picasso Malaga exhibits some of his artworks that were donated by his family.
Alcazaba and Gibralfaro,
Moorish forts from a long time ago,
From a hilltop look down
On Malaga town
The birthplace of Pablo Picasso.
The cruise ship pier in Cartagena overlooks a marina. The city tour that was led by a local guide focused on what remains of a Roman theater that was unearthed and made into a museum in the recent past. Laetitia chose the theater as the subject of her limerick.
The city now called Cartagena
Once was home to a Roman arena
And its “Teatro Romano”
Is a place you’ll want to go
In this “Mare Nostrum” port with marina.