Day 33: From Rascanya to Malvarrosa
On day 33, which happened to be 22–9–22, we started to move into our Awesome Flat in Malvarrosa*.
The combination of our successful packing the day before and my propensity for early rising meant we had *just* enough time to visit Dream Coffee before we met our cab at the door to the Hobbit House. Our original total of 7 bags (including the guitar) has already expanded a bit thanks to bike helmets and food, and it’s still amazing to me that this is all we own.
The Awesome Flat is, in a word, Awesome. We got everything in and Bill dove right into his work day while I dove into house-making. I did laundry (because we have a washer again) and hung it out on our terrace to dry (because we have a terrace). I made the beds in both rooms (because we have two rooms, and 3 beds) and set up my teaching gear in the second room. I put bathroom things in the bathroom and bedroom things in the bedroom and had to walk back and forth to do so. I put kitchen things in the kitchen for Bill to organize (since we have a kitchen with cabinets and drawers and a full-size refrigerator with an actual freezer). We tested out the wifi and determined that yes, it is accessible from the living room, terrace, and bedrooms. We even tried both of us doing data-intensive tasks at the same time AND IT WORKED! We unplugged the AC and opened all the windows and turned on the ceiling fans in the bedrooms (because we have windows that open and fans that turn on). I held my first Yoga Therapy practice client meeting behind a closed door in the 2nd bedroom while Bill was on calls in the living room. By the time I headed out for my first IWC luncheon (I’d gone to a coffee meetup of theirs a couple of weeks ago) things were starting to look and feel like home. I made a running list of things we need/want to finish the transition and will get things fully settled over the next couple of weeks.
When you move within 3 blocks of the water (the Mediterranean Sea) and you ask your transit app for directions to a restaurant on the beach, you expect it to guide you along the boulevard next to said beach…and you’d be wrong. Banking on our newfound navigational prowess of the day before, I chose to keep the water in my sights and thoroughly enjoyed my walk from Malvarrosa to Cabanyal.
(Here’s a sliver of my walk: https://youtube.com/shorts/k1R5809Dhfs?feature=share)
The weather was just about perfect and I’d left with time to spare so I could stop and appreciate the view as needed. Adding a bonus 15-minute round-trip to find an atm that included an extra 5 minutes (that felt like a lifetime) spent figuring out how to make the atm work with a virtual card was a bit less idyllic. I managed, though, and lunch at La Divina Comedia Playa was tasty once I got to it.
Timing meant I opted to take a bus back instead of retracing my steps which also meant I got to see a different part of our new environs. Our new neighborhood has hints of Rascanya in that, for all that it’s blocks from the beach, has a decidedly local, non-touristy feel. I love that there are barbers and schools nearby, for example, and that we have both a Mercadona and a little-bit-of-everything shop within walking distance. This feels like home.
* According to a google search, Malvarrosa is the name of this area in Valenciano while the official name is Malva-rosa. I’m choosing to use the Valenciano spelling though may include links that take you to sights with the official spelling. Welcome to the confusion of moving to a city with two official languages!
