Today the ship arrived back in Valencia, Spain and I travelled back to Los Alcazares.
Valencia and home.
I woke up around 6:30 am and first checked that my suitcase had been collected last night. On my last cruise, they didn't collect my bag, and I had to chase the staff around to get my bag. It had been collected, and I decided to go to the buffet for breakfast. I was not too fond of the buffet-style breakfast but decided I had better have something to eat as I was expecting a long day of travelling and waiting around today.
I went to the buffet at around 8:30 am and had an omelette, bacon, sausage, beans and potatoes. It was an abysmal breakfast, but at least I would have something inside me for my journey home. After breakfast, I went to the Atrium bar and sat there having a coffee and watching people leaving the ship. While I sat there, Gail saw me and came for a chat to say goodbye. She then went to see if she could get something to eat, and I had a second coffee. At around 9:30 am, I decided to leave and made my way off the ship to collect my luggage.
Leaving the ship and collecting my luggage was very easy, and people were there to point me in the right direction, unlike my first cruise from here, where I was sent all over the place looking for my luggage. After collecting my luggage, I decided to jump in a taxi directly off the ship rather than get on a bus to the terminal and catch another bus to the train station. This was easy as there was a line of taxis waiting.
The taxi was bright, clean, smelled lovely, and pleasant to travel in. My driver certainly wasn't hanging about in the traffic, but he didn't scare the bejeezus out of me as some cabbies have done in the past. The fare from the ship to the train station in Valencia was €16, but I didn't mind paying this for such a comfortable journey. When I got to the train station at about 10 am, I looked to see if I could get an earlier train as mine wasn't due to leave until 3:30 pm. Unfortunately, every train was fully booked, so I found a seat outside the station, got some water, and settled down to read my Kindle.
At about 2: 45 pm I noticed that my train was now delayed so I went into a cafe inside the station to get myself something to eat and some more water. The chicken sandwich was very nice and not a bad price for a station cafe. My train eventually turned up, and I boarded the train. We left at about 4:45 pm. I wasn't worried about catching my connecting train at Murcia because I would have had a long wait there for my connection. It just meant a shorter delay waiting at Murcia. Unfortunately, the train I was on was delayed at several points on the way down to Murcia, and when I arrived, my train to Balsicas was already there and about to leave. I quickly crossed to the correct platform, and as the train was about to leave, I jumped on the first coach. I started to walk through the coaches to my seat at the other end of the train, but halfway along, I found that there was no connecting door and that I was stuck on this half of the train. I just hoped that when it stopped at Balsicas, I could descend to the platform.
When the train finally pulled into the station, I could get off, and to my relief, my friend June was waiting there to take me home. It was now around 8:45 pm, and after all the travelling, I was absolutely shattered. I didn't feel too good, and I was starving and needed a drink. On the way home, June stopped to let me get something to eat at the Massala Cottage restaurant in Los Alcazares. I got a takeaway and shortly afterwards, June dropped me off at home.
When I got in, I dumped my suitcase on the floor, got myself some water to drink and ate about half of my meal before I had had enough. I put what was left of the meal in the fridge and went to bed.