Nerja

When Kent and I were in Spain in 2000, we took a day trip to Nerja, a city about an hour up the coast from Benalmadena.  There are some super cool underground caves there, and I knew the children would really like them.  In addition, there is a restaurant right on the beach that specializes in paella.  They make it over an open fire in a huge cast iron pan and you can watch as they cook it.  We decided that we would make a day trip, with the plan being to go to the cave, have lunch, then play on the beach, and today was that day.

The caves were discovered in 1959 by five young brothers.  There are stalactites, stalagmites, and hanging cornices.  There are stairs and paths with railings throughout the cave, and places where you can stop and overlook the different rooms.  They are large caves, with big, open caverns.  We had a good time identifying shapes and watching water drip from the ceiling.  My pictures aren't great, but the camera doesn't have a "cave" setting.

Blythe was moving around--as usual.

I thought this sign was funny on two counts.

First, there is a little "no flip flops" sign.

Can you really prevent people from wearing flip flops?  

They are coming in whatever footwear they have on, aren't they?

I wondered if the ticket taker looks at everyone's feet and makes flip flop wearers either remove them

or put something else on their feet.

Second, there is a "no dogs" sign.

Now really.  

Who is going to bring their dog with them on their cave visit?

None of these pictures really turned out very well.

After visiting the cave, we drove down to the beach for paella.  I think the last time I had paella was at the same restaurant thirteen years ago.  I'm fairly confident I haven't made it myself, and I don't recall eating it anywhere else.  It really is quite delicious, and I ate two plates full.  Yum!  Kent had paella, and although I ordered chicken, fries, and salad for the children to eat, they essentially had french fries and bread for lunch, as well as drinking their lovely fresh squeezed orange juice.  Many of the things they normally eat at home they have not been eating because it hasn't been exactly like it is at home.  Like salad.  Neither of them will eat salad because we can't get the kind of dressing they like.  Rather than eat it without dressing, they just don't eat it.  I hope they survive.  Quite frankly, I think I ate enough for all of us.

The outdoor restaurant, with vines overhead and the sandy ground.

The large pan of paella.

The cook beginning a new batch of paella.

Blythe thinks it stinks.

After lunch, we had planned to play on the beach.  Thing was, it was windy again today and rather chilly, so there was no beach playing.  Well, there was equipment on the beach, so the kids did run and climb around and chatted with other children, most non-English speaking, but that didn't seem to matter.  There was nothing we could do about the weather, so we made the most of it, enjoyed what could be enjoyed and tried not to think about what might have been.  

These two pictures are proof of how much the wind was blowing.

These are the biggest waves we saw our whole trip. 

Following our return trip (the kids played on their Kindle's the whole time), we picked up Andree to come be with us.  She stayed for dinner and I'm happy to report, the children actually ate.  We had ham and salad and bread, and Brandt and Blythe both exhibited hearty appetites.  French fries will only carry you so far before you wind up famished.  I do love to watch the kids eat.  We spent the rest of the evening reading.  So although we didn't actually get to play on the beach (in the sand and water, digging and scooping), we had a great day trip.