Spring Break in Spain–Day 3: Malaga & Nerja

Church in Malaga

We got ready for church and drove the hour into Malaga.  I snapped a fuzzy shot of the ocean as we drove parallel to it for most of our drive to church.   We were able to go to a ward that Jared had served in as a missionary, so that was neat.  He recognized and talked to the man who was the Bishop when he had served and a few other members.  I bet it was neat for him to come back with a wife and five kids.

The church building was C O L D so Chris went back to the car to get sweatshirts for everyone. Spanish buildings are built to stay nice and cool during the hot summer months.   A Spanish lady across the isle from us came prepared with a blanket which she laid over her lap and hung to the floor.  I looked over and nodded at her blanket acting out that I thought it was a good idea.  She nodded back and smiled.  I love that you can still non verbally communicate with others and that a genuine smile really says a lot in any culture.    In most of the European countries we’ve visited, people have spoken English to us as they immediately recognize that we are American.  Not so in Spain… so we were especially glad we had Jared there to communicate for us when we needed it.  Geneva filled in for the piano player last minute and we enjoyed trying to sing in Spanish. We didn’t have a translator for this Sacrament meeting so we just listened reverently to the speedy Spanish,  and drew pictures with the kids. 

From church we drove another 25 minutes along the coast to  Nerja – (pronounced ‘NEHR-hah’) to check out the ‘Balcony of Europe’ and to eat famous ‘paella’ on the beach. 

 

Paella Feast on Burriana Beach

Ayo’s is famous for it’s 6 Euro all-you-can-eat paella feast at lunchtime.  For 30 years, Ayo – a “loveable ponytailed bohemian who promises to be here until he dies” has been feeding locals.  The paella fires get stoked up at about noon everyday in the rustic open fire cooking zone right next to a hundred tables under big canopies.  Amazingly enough they found us a table for 15 in the shade.

Paella is a traditional Spanish dish of rice, sea food and sometimes vegetables cooked in   L A R G E   flat pans and served with a lemon.  We ordered paella for everyone.  It was fun to watch the kids experience it…

 

… especially because the shrimps were cooked but fully intact… heads, eyes, tails.  Pretty scary for some of the kids. 

  

We taught the kids how to rip the heads off, take the outer shell out and the tail.  They made a big pile of shrimp heads and once, when Katie left the table everyone decided to put all the shrimp heads on her plate.  She screamed when she came back… it was pretty funny. 

   

Megan liked the lemon…. and the Fanta…

 

The paella was good and the whole shrimp experience will not be forgotten soon.  One of the highlights of the trip, for sure!

Burriana Beach in Nerja

After lunch we walked to the water and sat down on the sand while the kids played by the water.

Emily and Megan found handfuls of great rocks. I liked the smooth round white ones that were everywhere.

    

On the way back to the cars we headed to the Balcony of Europe… a bluff jutting into the sea with a great view of miles of coastland and the beautiful blue Mediterranean.  A castle and fort used to occupy this spot until an earthquake in 1884.  Now it’s a great outdoor plaza right out over the ocean.

I thought this was Interesting, in the Rick Steves SPAIN book:   “Until recently, this was a favored landing spot for illegal immigrants and drug runners coming in from Africa.  Many Moroccan teens try to sneak into Europe here, as local laws prohibit turning away undocumented children (the police use DNA tests to determine the age of recent arrivals – if they’re under 18, they stay. )  Laws also grant automatic EU citizenship to anyone born in Europe, so many pregnant women try to slip in (once the baby’s born, the mother’s legal, too).  However, illegal immigration is down: With the help of a new high-tech satellite-scanning system, the Guairá Civil can now detect floating objects as small as makeshift rafts and intercept them before they reach land.” 

The Caves of Nerja

We decided to stop in and see the caves of Nerja before we headed back to the house.  We figured the kids would enjoy themselves but we weren’t prepared to be so impressed.  The Caves were massive and we wandered for 30 minutes up and down and around the world’s largest stalactite column (actually certified by Guinness Book of World Records).  It was quite something – we were pleasantly surprised.  Apparently the caves were discovered by five kids – one of who was Ayo – who now owns the paella restaurant at the beach.  Cool.

You can see some stadium style seats in the distance that they use for concerts. That’d be fun.