Mijas

The alarm went off at 6:30am so I could work out 🏋️ but damn, it seemed early.  Gotta do what I gotta do.  Bill slept in, just sayin. 

Boarded the coach around 9:30am and headed to Majis; a 45 min ride from Malaga.   It sits high on a mountain and features fantastic views of the sea and the mountains.  I had to take a picture of the donkey but as I learned in Santorini, do not ride the donkey   🫏! They take  great picture but smell like shit.

All of these towns are quaint, friendly and offer breathtaking views.  I realize that I sound like a broken record but it’s true.  The panoramic pics just don’t do it justice.  I do worry about the future of these tourists towns as Spain 🇪🇸 is experiencing a very serious drought.  Last year there were 357 days of sunshine.  

I’ll never be a fan of bullfighting but this small bullring is a nice looking building with beautiful tiles.

Tapas for lunch at a quaint local bar. At least this time, they didn’t serve you enough for a small country!  We had a great conversation with fellow travelers regarding river cruises, boat cruises, owning two homes, flood insurance, etc.   The more the wine flowed, the more animated the conversation was.  Fun lunch!

I felt so bad for one of the tourists (not in our group) who was pick pocketed.  Honestly, we had become lax once we left Barcelona but we were in high alert after hearing this terrible news.  

Before leaving, I dropped a few euros on an adorable sterling silver bracelet and some sweet paprika as well as some hot smoked paprika!

Back to port.  Half the people on the bus were snoring 💤 all the way back to Malaga.  Being awake myself, I heard her say, “you can’t leave Malaga without experiencing the Central Market”.  👍 We’re down for that.  

It took us some time to navigate our Spanish map but Bill,  who had been studying Babbel for months, managed to successfully navigate us to the market.  I do love our Tidal Creek Saturday market but damn, this is insane!

I only took three pics but there were rows and rows of fresh fish, beef, pork, spices and veggies.  It was something I’d never seen.  People would be eating a plate of food with a beer or glass of wine at a counter no longer than 4 feet wide with no chairs.   Everyone happy and jovial in this small stinky space.  Life may be simple but very good here. The term belly up took on a whole new meaning.  I so wish we had something like this near us.  If you like to eat and or cook, this was pure heaven. 

Off to the boat for line dancing lessons.  This turned out to be a hoot.  🦉. Ok, I have to give the guys credit.  Perhaps because they were on a boat in a country where no one knew them but , they tried.  It wasn’t pretty but they tried.  We were asked to join the crew at the barbecue to entertain the rest is the guests.  

Before dinner, we were entertained by local flamenco dancers.   They were very good but the show in Madrid was better.  However, the guitar player was the best I’ve ever seen.  His fingers flew over the strings and it was if he felt what the dancers were feeling and matched their feet and mood. They were totally in sync.  Magic.  

Off to the barbecue!

The weather was spectacular, the food good and the company awesome!

The line dancing was awesome but certainly hokey. What do you expect for a cruise boat?  I will say, the staff had rhythm!  Even the very heavy guys were so very good.   It was fun to see the staff put their groove on.  They work so many hours day after day. 

Off to Latin dancing in the lounge!  It’s amazing how many activities we can fit into a day. I need to take this attitude back home with me!  Life is sort.

Off to see a rock 🪨 tomorrow!  Heading back to the room and couldn’t help but think of Stephen King’s The Shining”. REDRUM!