Diario
de España! - Parte Cinco
ESPAÑA
Monday – The 18th we explore the fishing village and caves of Nerja
Monday
was my sister-in-law’s B-day and we botched it – no gifts; no cordial
greetings. She seems to have awoke with
the demon of relentless passing time smoldering in her heart
– a sure gasoline for our incendiary relationship.
Without effort I easily offended the hell out of her and barely managed
to live out the day to tell about it.
Our destination was the far North-East end of the Costa del Sol, a fishing village called Nerja, home of some caves in the hills just above and east of the village, and the gateway to another Pueblo Blanco. We roamed the village, have lunch and then eventually migrated down to walk along another Paseo Marítimo which transverses from beach to beach. We were on the Mediterranean, the temporary home of European sun worshipers - even though we did not visit the nearby "swim wear totally optional" beach, my brother-in-law and I found the views along the beach particularly captivating; use of the camera was carefully monitored, limited to family rated scenes. Eventually we stopped at a beach café for drinks before moving on to the caves. The show piece of Nerja is the Balcón de Europa, a lookout high above the beach just off the town's central plaza.
Again, we kept running into siesta time and Monday was no exception – we arrived to find that the caves had just closed and would not reopen for two hours. It would be nice if there was a nationally scheduled siesta time but there isn't – shop owners are at liberty to do as they wish, so in the afternoon, you can never be sure whether or not your target will be open when you arrive. We had more time to kill so we ventured up to a Pueblo Blanco by the name of Frigiliana – it was nice but not as interesting as the other Pueblos we had visited the day before. Reportedly one of the last minor battles between the Christians and the Moors was fought here in 1567. After a short visit, we return in order to be ready when the caves re-open.
One of the guide books described the caves as having the best collection of stalagmites and stalactites that the author had ever seen – we were not disappointed. In fact, one stalactite measures in at 200 ft in length - the world's longest. The caves were discovered in 1959 by children playing in the hills.
After completing our tour of the village and the cave, we return to the area of the resort for supper. After a great deal of debate and agonizing, we finally decide to try one of the two nearby pizza joints. Those of us who know her generally agree that my sister-in-law is not bashful, in fact, at times she can be downright aggressive while being friendly. One of those times occurred at supper when she spotted a couple of ladies drinking Sangria. She just had to find out if it was any good and she ended up making friends with the two Brits, who shared a small amount of their Sangria with her. The girls from Manchester are nearly look-alikes except for an apparent difference in years, and Monday was their first day on holiday this season. But they are frequent visitors to the Costa Del Sol and were happy to provide us with recommendations for two restaurants and a beach. Unfortunately, they also struggle with the local lingo and with their accents, the instruction were less than clear. We end the day promising ourselves to find the recommended beach and restaurants.