November 20-28, 2023.

Yes, I went back to Spain. Spain will always have a special place in my heart. It was my first European country, my first taste of independence at 16 and my home for two years during university. I speak the language and understand the culture. I’ve lived with three different host mothers and draw inspiration from them in most of my cooking. I’m slowly visiting the whole country and would love to live there again someday. So yes, I had to come back to Spain after visiting Morocco.

I would stay in the south this time. Andalucia. I had not visited Málaga previously so I would start there. Málaga is a cruise ship port and I was worried it would be too touristy. It was perfect in late November. Not crowded, sunny mild days, gorgeous promenades and tasty food. Lots of expats spend the winter here I could see myself being one of them. The city is such a unique mix of cultures. In the center of town, there is a Roman theater with a Moorish fortress above it. It has what I enjoyed most about Morocco with European conveniences and less gender harassment.

I wanted to visit another city and picked Granada to visit the Alhambra. My mother took my sister and I as teenagers in the middle of the summer. I remember being impressed but not much else. Granada is such a beautiful city. There is a large university presence so it feels young and lively. The Sierra Nevadas are visible from the city.

Granada and the Alhambra

After the Alhambra, I treated myself to porras con chocolate. Porras are a fatter version of churros. Delicious.

Next it was time to travel back to Málaga and catch my cruise ship! I love a good deal and have been considering a repositioning cruise from Europe to the North America for a while now. Cruise companies spend the summer in Europe and the winter in the Caribbean. Since the ships have to sail across the Atlantic anyways, they offer discounted fares to recuperate some of the cost. I went through a sailor/ pirate phase and always thought crossing an ocean in a ship would be cool. However, after I booked the cruise I decided 21 days on a ship probably was not the best use of my time and as a young solo traveler I might get lonely. Thankfully, I was able to change my cruise to only sail the first four days. The itinerary was Málaga, sea-day, Marseilles, Genoa/Milan.

I am glad I switched to the shorter cruise. It was relaxing but I was tired of the people after 4 days. The cruise assigned dinner partners and having to make polite conversation for 3 nights in a row with the same people was exhausting. I would have preferred the option to eat in the dining rooms without forced dining partners. Sometimes I just want to look out the window and enjoy my meal. This is probably an introvert problem.

The ship was not too crowded and I enjoyed lounging on the deck watching the Mediterranean go by. It was very windy but so sunny.

The first port was Marseilles, France. Sadly, disembarking and taking the shuttle to town was a huge hassle and put me in a bad mood for exploring the city. There were multiple ships docking at once and the poor port was overwhelmed. My highlight was this beautiful church with stripes.

I went back to the ship early and had delicious pizza and pasta. The cruise line was Italian and they always had handmade pizza and pasta at the buffet.

The final port was Genoa, Italy. The warm weather ended here and it rain throughout the day. Genoa had a port city feel. Grungy and lived in. Surprisingly, the church in Genoa had a similar striped partner to the one in Marseilles.

In the evening I took the train from Genoa to Milan, Italy. It was shocking to be off the ship and have to plan my own travel again! Not having to research restaurants and local dishes to try is such a benefit of cruising. Milan was so cold after the warmth of Spain and Morocco.

The cathedral in Milan, Italy was impressive. I also enjoyed visiting a chapel where skulls had been used as decoration. This was because the hospital graveyard was full and they needed somewhere to put the bones! Very unique!

That ended my time in Southern Europe. It was almost December and I decided to embrace the cold before heading home for Christmas.