Apparently the southern coast of Spain is famous for sun – and very popular with British tourists looking to get away from the perpetual grey weather (we know something about that). We wanted to see where our new British neighbors would be vacationing, so we drove down to the Costa Azul after our time in the Andalucian mountains.
On our drive from Ronda, we detoured so we could see Marbella (famous, fancy beach resort town). We had some pretty good and authentic Italian pizza at a beachfront cafe, then wandered the old town:
. . . and Malaga, which happens to have a Birkenstock outlet. I have HATED Birkenstocks ever since my friends wore them with wool socks in high school. But I finally broke down last summer and got a fashion pair because they are just so comfortable and great for walking. And I loved them. But they’re a bit big to pack, and it was cold and rainy when we left London, so my beautiful rose gold Birkenstocks are sitting in our London storage unit. Meanwhile, it had gotten significantly warmer in southern Spain, so we decided to see if we could pick some up at their outlet store in Malaga. Turns out, we were all able to find something! Expect to see these in a lot of our photos over the coming months, once we finally find consistent warmer weather:
We stayed in a town called Nerja that’s known for an area called the Balcony of Europe, which is a plaza overlooking the ocean that is quite pretty – we had drinks at the hotel patio here one afternoon. There’s also a very cute pedestrian area – we’re finding these are common in many European cities, and we love them. Lots of little shops, restaurants, cafes – and you don’t have to worry about being hit by a car or scooter! The neighborhood our apartment was in was rundown and a little dive-y feeling, but it was close to the other areas and worked as a base for us for a few days. And it had laundry. (As an aside, it’s interesting to note how much the weather and the place that we are staying has impacted our impression of a place.)
While we were there, we met up with a Seattle family that moved to the area. Somewhere around a year ago, Penny (Ryan’s mom) had connected me to Matt, who is the son of one of her friends back in Seattle and had moved to Spain with his family (with 2 kids about our kids’ ages) to the coast of Spain for 2 years. It had been super helpful to talk with him when we were first starting to plan our big move, and now that we had pulled it off and made the move, it was fun to connect in person and hear more about their experience. Their town is just one town up the coast from Nerja, so we drove up and met them for drinks and dinner. They walked us through the narrow, twisty streets of the old town to an adorable plaza where we camped out at a local bar for dinner. So fun to hear about their experience living in Spain and traveling through Europe! And the kids spent most of the time playing in the plaza and the nearby streets. It was the first time our kids have interacted with other kids since we left home, so I think they really enjoyed it (and needed it).
The next morning, Em and I had a reservation to go horseback riding. Emma B has recently been fascinated by horses and really wanted to ride one – and where better to do it than Andalucia? They have a long tradition of horseback riding, so we went for it. The only problem is that just a few weeks before we left home, I had gone on a horseback riding adventure that went a little sideways. My horse basically went nuts and started racing down the beach out of control – with me on its back. So I wasn’t super excited to ride again. Suffice it to say that Emma B had a blast and loved it (her horse, Catalina, was sweet and wonderful) and I did not (my horse, Esmerelda, was a salty old b….). I will no longer be riding horses. The horses had leather strips on their bridle that swung back and forth as they walked to brush away the flies from their eyes.
While Em and I were on horseback, Ryan and Lincoln went and checked out a little town up in the hills that actually was wonderful and lovely – what we thought we’d experience from Ronda. Here are some pictures:
On the way out of town the next day, we visited the Nerja Caves, which were actually pretty cool. It’s this massive network of huge caves in the hills behind Nerja. There are lots of formations (stalactites? Stalagmites? I don’t know). There are also apparently some ancient cave drawings, but they’re so rare that they are not viewable by the public. We were way, way underground, so we’re glad there was not an earthquake while we were there. The restaurant at the entrance (above ground) was perched on the edge of the hills and had an amazing view of the ocean – perfect place to stop for a quick coffee before returning the car and hopping a train to Madrid!
