MSP ➤ JÁVEA

The Trip

Alitalia First Class

Total travel time from MSP to when we were dropped off at our apartment in Jávea was about 28 hours. The kids carry-ons were well stocked with activity books, card games, little wrapped gifts, and kindles. They did beautifully on the journey and even got some sleep on the overnight flight from Detroit to Rome. Our flight from Rome to Valencia was delayed and it was a long, hot, tired wait in the que for our flight. Somehow, though, when we got our tickets we were placed in first class! This made the last leg of the trip much more enjoyable. Because we had 8 bags and a bike, we had hired a private shuttle to take us from Valencia to Jávea.

Valencia to Jávea

 It felt a little ridiculous to have this whole bus to ourselves but it did the job. The driver was really friendly and let me practice my “Indian” spanish as he called it (where you miss all of the language in between key vocabulary because you are learning).

View from kitchen: Montgo

There was a bit of drama getting the keys to our apartment. Because it was Sunday, our property management company had left the keys in a lock box for us to pick up at their office.  But when we tried to open the gate, it didn’t work. So without a phone to call anyone this was going to be a challenge. Luckily an employee from the company happens be a regular at the restaurant/bar below our apartment and was there having a drink. He helped us get in. The kids enjoyed exploring our apartment and it was a relief to confirm that the pictures we’d seen online were accurate (since we had signed an eleven month lease without ever having seen the apartment in order to get our visas).

El Puerto

Next we we threw our bags down and headed to the ocean to get something to eat. We live three blocks from “The Port” side of town- a line of restaurants and bars near a marina.  It was great to enjoy a drink while the kids played on the rocks. We watched the sailboats, windsurfers, and even someone on a jetpack. Eventually we made our way back to our apartment and decided to give Bar Titanic a try (the one below our apartment). Turns out they have some of the best tapas in town. The kids tried octopus, patatas bravas, verduras a la plancha and the most shocking favorite for Declan: anchovies.  

Anchovies! 

At about 10pm we decided that we’d forced ourselves to stay awake long enough and went upstairs to get ready for bed. At this point the kids are a hot, tired mess, and we are using every last ounce of parental patience to get everyone in bed. This is when we realized that we were missing one of our duffel bags. Neither of us can figure out if we lost it at the airport or if it was left on the bus. It is dark. It is hot. We are tired. We can’t even remember what all was packed in that bag except the Advil PM that we were counting on to help us get a good night’s sleep. Stress ensues and we have one of the most uncomfortable, sleepless nights ever. Lying awake with all the doubts of bringing our family to a foreign country and not knowing what the hell we were doing. It was miserable.

Luckily the sun eventually rose and helped us grasp a more optimistic focus. We were OK. We can live without that bag. We can do this. Everything is perfect.

From our terrace: sunrise over the Mediterranean