Monday, June 22, 2009

Nerja - our favorite Costa del Sol town

On our last full day in Andalucia, we headed east along the coast to Nerja, a little under an hour's drive away from us. The eastern Costa del Sol coastline becomes more beautiful as it approaches Nerja, with cliffs and small secluded beaches that somewhat preclude the massive overdevelopment of the western side of the area.
Nerja is a small pretty town notable for a beautiful promenade overlooking little beaches hundreds of feet below - this is known as the Balcon de Europa, or the Balcony of Europe. There was a wedding taking place while we were there - the groom in a kilt and the bride resplendent in a big poofy dress. It added to the atmosphere as they clambered onto a horse drawn carriage for a photo op.
We found a quiet restaurant with a ringside seat to the views, La Punta del Mar. And it was surprisingly good. I finally had my paella al marisco - a huge dish full of mussels, prawns, squid, lobster and scallops - and it was delicious! During lunch, we could see the ocean fog drift slowly in, imbuing the coast with a mysterious air.

After wandering around town and down to the beach, we drove 3 km out of town to visit the famous Caves of Nerja, where their stalactite known as the Column of the Cataclysm is certified as the world's biggest stalactite by the Guinness Book of World Records. The caves were much bigger than I had expected - one of the caverns was so large that they have seats set up for concerts and recitals. We were there at the end of the day, so the caves were virtually deserted except for our party - this definitely added to the slightly eerie atmosphere.Finally, back to the villa for our final dinner and our last evening in Andalucia. Once again, the discussion turned to where we should go in 2011!

1 comment:

Leslie M said...

Tory went with the Kupers yesterday. They loved the caves and went to the beach, too.