CroisiEurope River Cruise in the Provence Region of France

[Host Jazzbeau]

Great spirit, Terry & Mike.  Prayers for a safe and happy trip, and a home to come home to.

[Daisi]

Glad you made it out, and hope you can enjoy your trip. Not nice when you are thinking of not only what you will come home to, but also your friends & neighbours who are there. Hope you don't have much damage.

 

[terry&mike]

We arrived in Malaga, Spain on Thursday around noon, 24 hours later than we were originally scheduled to be here. When we landed in Madrid on American Airlines at 6am, we made our way from Terminal 4 to Terminal 2, and located a Service Desk for Air Europa. We purchased inexpensive tickets for the 10:35a direct flight to Malaga. Then we checked in, passed through security, and relaxed in the lounge for a couple of hours. When we arrived in Malaga, we took the local train from the airport to the city center, and then walked about 15 minutes to our Airbnb. Our Airbnb is very nice, clean, quiet, and located behind the Atarazanas market. We settled in, and bought a few grocery basics. 
 

Our first full day, we took the local train to Fuengirola and went to the annual fair, Féria del Rosario, which was a wonderful celebration of the cowboy culture and food and drink products of the area. 
 

Our second day, we took the bus to Nerja, and then took a second bus up to the popular Puebla Blanca (white town) of Frigiliana. We roamed the stone streets, shopped, had a fabulous lunch, and returned home. 
 

Today, it is raining this morning, and we are having a relaxing start. When it clears, we will wander in Malaga. 
 

A word on our home in Bradenton, Florida, after Hurricane Milton. We lost several of our roof tiles along the ridgeline, but we are hopeful the membrane layer under them held. We lost a small tree and some other landscaping. Power and internet were out for about 42 hours. We feel incredibly fortunate. We know that several of our neighbors in our community and nearby did not fare as well, and we are saddened by this. It was a tough one. 

[Daisi]

Glad to hear you are enjoying yourselves, and hopefully your house will be OK. I was glad to hear that the hurricane dropped down to a 3 by the time it hit, after Helene, Florida deserved a break.

 

[terry&mike]

We have had a lovely last few days in Malaga. 
 

We visited the Alcazaba, like a smaller version of the Alhambra in Grenada. We took a long walk in the beach promenade and stopped for a meal of fresh grilled fish. We visited the Atarazanas market and purchased local snacks of olives, cured meats, cheeses. We shopped and bought hubby 2 lovely linen shirts. 
 

Yesterday, we did an amazing hike on the Caminito del Rey, sometimes referred to as the ‘walkway of death’. 
 

Today we fly to Valencia, Spain, and will stay there for 8 days. 

[terry&mike]

[terry&mike]

We’ve been in Valencia, Spain, for 6 days now, and have a couple more days here. We’ve been in a lovely 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath apartment with a rooftop deck in the old town, sharing with some friends. They will move on to Barcelona today, and we will move to a smaller apartment in the City of Arts and Sciences area. 
 

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Valencia, and it remains my favorite city in Spain. 
 

We did a bike tour with Bike Guy VLC. We enjoyed a lunch of paella and traditional foods in a local’s home, an EatWith experience. We climbed a bell tower, and took a long walk in the Turia park that used to be a river, all the way to the modern City of Arts and Sciences complex. We ate great food. We visited the amazing Central Market. We enjoyed Agua de Valencia, vermouth in a garden, horchata, churros and chocolate, all the things. We visited the Museum of Ceramics, and the Bombas Gens factory now exhibit space. Today will be a laundry day. 

Edited Monday at 04:46 AM by terry&mike
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[terry&mike]

Flying from Valencia, Spain to Marseille, France tonight at 10:30pm. It is a direct flight on RyanAir, and should arrive at 11:55pm.

Normally, we would make our way from the airport to the hotel via public transportation, but by the time we exit the airport this will not be possible, nor would it have been a positive experience at this late hour.  We have pre-booked a transfer through the hotel.