Day 17

Today was our earliest start so far, so when the alarm went off at 3:30am, we didn’t exactly jump out of bed with excitement! Fortunately we were well prepared last night, so we only needed to get dressed, brush our teeth, grab our bags and walk slightly down the street to wait for our pre-booked Uber driver.

Ted had been concerned about the number of seats available on his KLM flight back to Amsterdam but he didn’t need to worry because he got a ticket without any trouble. He did however need to check a bag in, but he will still have time in Amsterdam to collect it before his next flight.

We had breakfast together at Le Pain Quotidien in the airport before we sadly had to separate before continuing on our individual itineraries. As Ted didn’t have as much holiday leave as myself, he is heading to Bali to meet our friend Josh before returning home, whilst I am going to Málaga to see my longtime pen pal Heddi and her family, followed by family and friends in Berlin. Fortunately there is wifi on Singapore Airlines, so I was able to communicate with him throughout his journey.

I stayed behind in the cafe to continue typing this blog and, by the time Ted landed in Amsterdam, it was only just time for me to check into my RyanAir flight. Fortunately the process was very quick, as RyanAir seems to have gotten some things right! The security process at Brussels airport was very thorough, which I assume could be a result of the terrorist attack a few years ago. Since my flight wasn’t until after 9, I bought myself a water and chocolate croissant before waiting in the boarding lounge until it was time to board our flight.

Unsurprisingly, the flight was very mediocre, and slightly worse than I’d anticipated. This was mainly due to there being no vegetarian option available, meaning I could only have a bottle of water and Pringles for the 3.5 hour flight. I was hoping for a crewfie with the RyanAir crew to add to my collection but they weren’t particularly friendly or outgoing.

When we arrived in Málaga, we were greeted with warm weather and fortunately, the quick arrival of my bag. It was a long walk to the airport train station and I wondered what the long queue was for. It turned out it was for the train ticket machine, so I joined the line. After nearly taking the wrong platform, I was finally on my way to the accommodation.

The 12 minute walk from the nearest station to my apartment wasn’t all that fun due to the broken wheel on my bag and even though the weather wasn’t that warm, I was a sweaty mess by the time I arrived! The check in process was odd - I never actually met anyone, I just had to send a copy of my passport to the owner via WhatsApp to verify my identity, then they sent me the code for the front door including instructions on how to retrieve the room key from the lockbox.

The apartment is absolutely beautiful and very well equipped, so I definitely made the right choice with this place. After having a shower, I discovered that a moisturiser had leaked in my suitcase, so I used the washing machine to wash some clothes before heading out to meet Heddi, Penntti and Freja at their apartment.

It was so great seeing Heddi again! I haven’t seen her since I was living in Valencia doing my language exchange in 2017. She took me up to their apartment where I met up with Pentti and Freja. I gave them my presents from Australia (koala socks and a notepad) which I bought from a koala hospital in Port Macquarie, and they gave me a cartoon book about Finnish people.

Since I had barely eaten since this morning, I was extremely grateful they had set out a lunch in their apartment of cheese, bread and fruits. After lunch, we went to look at Málaga Cathedral which included an audio walking tour. By the end of the tour, I was really struggling to stay awake after our 3:30am start to the day, so I went back to the apartment for a quick nap before we went out for dinner that night.

When I returned to the apartment, I was shocked to see that the handle on the washing machine door had broken…and I couldn’t retrieve my clothes! I sent a quick message to the owner of the apartment about my dilemma before going out for dinner. Pentti had been recommended a tapas restaurant where we had a very good meal, which included salmon, mushroom and vegetarian options. I paid for dinner as Heddi had paid for my ticket to the Alhambra on Friday.

Heddi and Pentti offered to come back to my apartment to help open the washing machine but upon my return, saw that it was now open! I think the owner may have come into the apartment to try and fix it. I was just so grateful to be able to retrieve my clothes! The owner also advised they’d send a handyman over tomorrow.

We will be having an easier day tomorrow as I will probably still be a bit tired, but it’s cool being here for the first time in Málaga!Okumaya devam et