3 november 2026 Torreblanca: A Walk to Fuengirola

 

I needed to get the results of a blood test that I took the week previously.  Since the 2nd was a holiday in Andalucia, the clinic was closed and I had to wait for the third of November.  I decided to walk and it only took 40 minutes of so to do the walk.  The sunny day was perfect for a stroll.  Getting back was a bit trickier.  There had been a series of train incidents in Spain with a major accident with over 60 fatalities on the 28th of October followed by a less catastrophic but still fatal incident much closer to home.  Since the local investigation was still processing the scene, our C1 train was not running.  So I tried to take a bus.  As I got to the bus stop, I could see the #1 bus pulling away.  So I decided to walk to the next bus stop.  That one showed the next bus would be there in 23 minutes so I kept walking.   I kept going and passed four more bus stops when I arrived at a plant shop that we had seen days earlier.  The owner had told us that more plants would be available on Tuesday and it was Tuesday all day long.  I sent pictures to Leslie to see what plants to buy and we ended up with more herbs!  As I finished paying I saw another bus drive by.  Oh well I'll keep on walking.  By the time I was tired of walking I found a bus stop with a bench so I sat there and waited.  The bus finally arrived and as I was trying to squeeze onto the bus the driver told me to take the next bus.  I did not heed her command and got on anyway.  I stood for two more stops and them moved back into the center of the bus where I grabbed a seat as soon as one opened up.  I rode the bus all the way to Carvajal stop where I was able to come in the back way to our Casa.  I had a rough idea of where to go and I was following a couple also carrying bags of goodies.  As luck would have it they were also going to the Sun Ray building and I followed them through a maze like series of doors and hallways right to our area of coomplex!

The part of the walk where there is no beach

No bull!

Always looking  for sushi places

The lone beach goer

A stature for the Rotary Club

Rotations!

Very futuristic

Palms and a statue

Fishing boat with a seagull export

Beach maintenance 

Trach can maintenance 

A beach scene in bronze

Very international

The fact that art is everywhere makes me so happy

Got the test results and I was suffering from cannabinoid deficiency, time to fix that 

Heading to the bus stop

There goes the bus!

Flowers or herbs?

https://youtube.com/shorts/fMgYmhKCriE

Herbs win out

Cilantro, mint and a four leaf clover 

We know where to go for a Christmas tree

Finally on a bus!  Hopefully my deodorant was working

   It has been 4 years and 150 days since we began our Migration

2 November 2026 Torreblanca: Back to Fuengirola to Shop and Return the Car

 

We woke up in our new place rather pleased with ourselves.  We got the move completed, cleaned the AirBnB so we did not need to return for cleaning and dropping off the keys. We got a decent nights sleep, the first night is always hard.  We did take advantage of having the car and had a productive shopping run at Carfour and a stop at the Social Club.  Once we unloaded the food at our casa, I drove back to Fuengirola to return the car, stopped off at the Social club for a top off and then took the train back to Torreblanca.  The Carvajal station is actually closer and I got off at that stop to check it out one more time.  We had been using the Torreblanca station because the Carvajal station has so many stairs.  I counted them and it is over 120 steps to get from the train to the beach level.   That is settled, no more Carvajal station for us.  It was close to 4 when I got back so we had a nip and watched the water for a couple of hours.  If this view ever gets old...

Folks fishing and paddling

Shopping for beach chairs

#5 and 45 Euros...we will hold off for now

The car is returned, time to stop off at the Social Club

Back on the balcony

Parasailing!

Folks pouring off the beach

A fancy four master sailing ship

Fuengirola off in the distance

The iridescent blue of the water is fantastic

https://youtube.com/shorts/9sUb1K65rWk

Reflecting the setting sun's rays

The four master in the distance

Soon to be riding in the dark

   It has been 4 years and 149 days since we began our Migration

1 November 2026 Torreblanca: Moving On Up to a Deluxe Apartment in the Sky

 

We headed out of the AirBnB around 10 AM.  We had to pick up the keys for the new place from a lockbox on our way at the realtor's office.  Once we got to the apartment we were super lucky to snag a parking space right in front of the building.  Near as we can tell, there is no garage for the building and so we were extra lucky to be able to park right in front.  There are a set of six steps to get to the main gate and then there is a ramp to roll the bags up to the pool level.  From there we wheeled them over to the entrance to the building where another four steps were in the way.  We split up the work in the following way.  I would get something out of the car, get it into the building waving up at Leslie along the way.  Then I would load everything into the elevator and send it up five stories where Leslie would grab everything and bring it into the apartment.  Each time I took a roller bag, I hung as many bags off of it as possible.  In this manner we unloaded in only five loads.  Then we drove the 15 minutes back to the AirBnB where we loaded the last bits of stuff.  This load included the plants, hanging clothes, food from the fridge and food from the cabinets.  We brought the empty granny carts back the AirBnB and used them to load the food into.  We also emptied one of the big blue bags so we could stuff things into it and then roll them into the apartment.   While I was loading the car for the second time, Leslie was staging things by the door and cleaning up as she went.  This time the loading process went much faster and we were able to get all the plants and other items loaded into the car in an hour or so.  We exited the building via the elevator, drove to the apartment and repeated the unloading process.  I took the first load up while Leslie sat with the car because there were no spaces open.  By the time I returned, she had manifested a parking spot right up front right between a couple of long term travel vans.  We noticed that the vans that liked to park in this area.  We finished up by 3 or so and had a great evening looking out over the Mediterranean sea.

Before I knew it we were finishing the second load and were almost done, too busy for photos

The pool was looking inviting

A big roomy diniong area

Surveying the poolscape

It was chilly so I decided to go in from the side.  It was 7 feet deep here

Refreshing!

Gotta get out and dry off, it was too cold

Folks like this little jetty especially at sunset

Getting the last rays of the day

https://youtube.com/shorts/Gpv1LYr3Gmo

Lots to see at sunset

Our slice of the pie

   It has been 4 years and 148 days since we began our Migration

31 October 2026 Fuengirola:Lets Get Moving!

 

Since we get the keys on 1 November, a Sunday, we rented a car one day earlier and parked it downstairs in the underground parking lot.  The car rental places are not open on Sundays and this was a very smart way to spread out the manual work.  I was apprehensive as the car had to be driven into an elevator, lowered one floor and then parked inside.  To leave, one must also use the elevator and space was very tight both in the elevator and in the garage.  However this time it was much easier than the last time.  We were able to load the car in about 2 hours, taking it nice and slow and getting as much inside as possible.  Moving day is tomorrow!  We left the car downstairs for the morning and we did some cleaning of the AirBnB.  We watched the folks from our balcony but Halloween must not be much of a thing and we only saw two kids dressed up in costumes.  This was a small sample and we may find that it is mush more popular as there was no end of costumes in the local hyperfu market.

We put stuff in the luggage to muve it

We also finned the granny-carts

When I started loading I noticed this full bottle of wine! 

It was still chilled

The loading was an exercise in spatial awareness

Using the bags to fill in the open spaces

Getting close

Closer

Full!

Forget the rear view mirror!

   It has been 4 years and 148 days since we began our Migration