Note to anyone who might actually read this: This is a picture heavy post. After two days of taking almost no pictures, I made up for it in spades.
We had a fun Friday. The resort where we stayed in Benalmadena was quite close to a place where they have a bi-weekly market. Fridays are the new stuff/fruit and veg market. We went, primarly to buy fruit and veg the children would eat over the next week, but also to see if there was anything else we couldn't do without. We found lovely food, as well as treasures for the children. Brandt bought a set of small binoculars which he then carried around the rest of our trip, and Blythe bought four darling bracelets, all matching, one for her and three for her besties. I love the opportunity to shop at an outdoor, and have access to truly fresh food. Andalusia (the are of Spain where we were) is known for its citrus and we bought the sweetest, juiciest oranges from a nearby orchard. Delish!
A fountain we walked past near the market.
The market
After our purchases, we took a short drive up the mountain to a charming little town called Mijas (mir-as). The coastline along where we stayed was fairly steep--land rising sharply from the beach to the tops of the mountain. Mijas has a beautiful view of the coast, perched as it is on the mountain, above everything. We drove on a very windy, twisty road to the lovely white-washed town. When we went to Spain in 2000, we went to Mijas for churros and burros, and wanted to return for a repeat. Mijas is known for having donkey rides around the town, and we knew the children would really like that, and there is a little cafe that specializes in churros and chocolate, and we knew we would really like that too. Remarkably, I drove right to the donkeys, passing by the churro cafe on the way. I couldn't have driven more directly there if I'd actually known where I was going.
The view from Mijas.
That's the Mediterranean in the background.
Here is the donkey cart we rode in.
I thought the children would probably have preferred to be on a burro each,
but the little cart was certainly fun.
And our ride was surprisingly long.
We went all around the town.
All of us in the cart.
This was our view as we had our ride around Mijas. As the man leading the burro was attaching the sack to the animal's hind quarters, the children asked, "What is that for?" "Poop," was my reply. This elicited squeals of laughter. While I can see the practicality of having a sack to catch poop so there isn't a lot along the streets, I must say I am glad our donkey didn't have to "go" as the sack and the bum it was attached to was not far from us. It would have been unpleasantly aromatic, I'm sure. The burro also had a bell attached to his halter which tinkled as we rode along. The whole ride was just delightful. As we were riding, I said, "Isn't it charming?" Blythe immediately replied, "How do you know his name?" I found this charming--a burro named Charming.
Other burros, brightly festooned.
A small church above the town, perched on the mountain.
Quaint.
After our burro ride, we went immediately to the churro cafe for, as the sign says, churros y choclate. This is no ordinary hot chocolate, oh no. It is so thick it sticks to the inside of your mouth, coating it with a layer of rich, dark deliciousness. Initially the children sort of turned their noses up at it, saying it wasn't like chocolate at home, but after dipping their churros into the stuff, they changed their minds. The churros were yummy too, hot and liberally sprinkled with sugar. The children declared one plate was not enough. There was still chocolate needing something to be dunked into after the churros were inhaled.
The view of the town from the churro cafe.
Chocolate and churros.
What a delectable combination.
On our way to see the town church and bull fighting ring (strategically placed next to one another--does this say something about the Spanish mentality? Do they worship God with the same gusto as their bull fighters? Is bull fighting nigh unto a religion for them? Is watching a bull fight a spiritual experience? Am I making too much of this?) we came upon a park. With strains of Simon and Garfunkel wafting from a nearby cafe, the children played, I took pictures, Kent sat and watched the action. Brandt played The Lone Ranger, riding various pieces of equipment and shooting bad guys with a stick. Blythe swung and climbed and sang Taylor Swift's "We are never, ever, ever getting back together" while simultaneously talking to another little girl who talked and swung and climbed around next to her, but I don't both of them were speaking English. Blythe was, but I'm pretty sure the other little girl wasn't. Didn't seem to matter at all.
The park was situated near the edge of the town with a breathtaking view to the sea. There was a trail along the edge, landscaped with interesting flowering plants and small ponds, and we walked all along it, essentially around the church. We looked out and down and up, searched for frogs in the ponds, and tried not to pick the flowers (so hard to resist!)
I wouldn't mind being the owner of the house with the large yard (palm tree in the center), pool, and beautiful view.
Life is tough for some of us.
The bull fighting ring.
And a stray cat.
A Medieval wall.
The park is the fenced in part.
Looking down into a small chasm.
I spy with my little eye a frog.
He and his pondmates were very noisy.
They are spying with their little eyes more frogs.
We probably saw close to ten.
Can you see him hiding in the reeds?
Along this steep wall were many little crevices with pigeons in them.
It was a pigeon apartment complex.
A typical Mijas street with a typical Mijas waiter.
We returned home, had some lunch, then suited up and headed for the beach. It was still overcast, but no one really cared. We were going to the beach! It turned out that we were pretty much the only ones going to the beach. The clouds were enough to keep almost everyone else away and we had the beach nearly to ourselves. Here is proof.
Looking left, looking forward, looking right.
Apart from the four of us, there was another family way down the beach and that's it.
We dug in the sand, dug some more, waded, skipped rocks, dug in the sand, and looked for shells.
Then we dug in the sand some more.
The sun was unnecessary to all of it.
A bit of a jelly fish.
Brandt poked it with his shovel then buried it with sand.
The water was very cold.
We didn't swim, but we did wade.
Well, we got our feet wet anyway.
Afte their purchase, the market binoculars went everywhere with us.
Some of the digging.
He looks like he's going to throw that sand at me.
Blythe did a bit of sand art.
Here she is with her creation.
I sure love these faces.
Each child built a sand castle (a mound really) and then we had a competition to see whose would last the longest.
Blythe won, but mostly because she started slightly further up the beach.
Location! Location! Location!
The winner was the one whose shovel stayed up the longest.
Brandt buried his shovel so that it wouldn't fall down.
Looking at this picture, I think I have a smudge mark on the camera lens.
"Man overboard!"
Brandt in the Mediterranean Sea.
Blythe was there as well.
At this point, reader, I know you must be thinking,
"Pick a couple of your favorite pictures and be done with it."
Sorry.
Can't seem to edit very well.
This picture reminds me of how much fun we had together as a family, just the four of us.
Brandt and Blythe were happy together, played well, and hardly fought.
It was nice to be just us.
Ever the artist, Blythe decorated her sand castle with shells.
That looks very much like swimming.
Kent is teaching Blythe how to skip rocks.
Kent spied with his little eye something orange floating pretty far out.
It gradually made its way to shore on the waves.
It was an orange.
The children fought over who got to have it, because that is certainly worth fighting over.
What a wonderful day we had!
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