Friday 13 March 2015 & Saturday 14 March 2015
We have until today enjoyed warm sunshine but the sky is overcast today and there is a strong wind blowing. Luckily we have planned to spend the morning visiting the famous Caves of Nerja which were discovered in 1959 by some local teenagers. Today there is a rather more formal entrance and descent using stairs and a tour around a small number of caves. There are a further number which are not publically accessible where research and study is undertaken.
The caves contain many fantastic examples of stalactites and stalagmites many formed into columns which have taken millenina to come together. Indeed in the fifty years since discovery the shape and extent of them has probably hardly changed to the visible eye.
The accompanying audio tour gives a good explanation of the discovery but also of the history. The caves were occupied from about 40,000 years ago until about 4,000 years ago and are now known to contain some of the oldest cave paintings in the world.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caves_of_Nerja
http://www.thenerjacaves.com
I find the caves to be drier and warmer than I had expected, indeed on emerging I feel a greater need for a coat than I had experienced underground.
Getting good photos in the Caves is not easy – so the number here are limited.
And it is now colder although it would be even chillier at home. So that puts paid to the sunbathing and getting browner and also kills off any idea of more sugar free ice cream!
So we head over to the other beach at Burriana – all good going and near the end there is a massive long downhill zig zag to sea level. On the edge of the beach are numerous restaurants and all are doing some form of barbecue. “Ayo” is recommended and is famous in that the owner is one of the five boys who nearly 60 years ago discovered the caves we visited earlier. We take a look at the others but decide to eat in Ayo. As we wander past it they are cooking the most enormous paella – the pan is so large that it takes two people to lift it off the fire (which is being fed broken down wooden pallets!). And it is clearly hot and well liked as we see numerous portions being delivered from the pan.
We are always contrary – I wanted some prawns and I receive five of the largest prawns I have ever seen. A plate of the paella was €6.75; my prawns were €15 which was about the most expensive item on the menu. But plenty for lunch as we have dinner booked.
Going back to our hotel seemed a lot harder – that nice zig zag down is a much harder crawl back up the hill.
Come Saturday night it is time for our last restaurant outing, this time to Bakus in Calle Caballero. This is about half way to Burriana without the descent to sea level. Indeed most of Nerja is fairly flat, but way above sea level.
It does not open at lunchtime and not all evenings – so checking in advance and booking is essential – particularly as it was full on the evening we were there. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the steak which was just right and a good piece of meat. The lowlight was my head! I stood up to go to the gents and my head collided with a low flying lampshade. Which my wife then noticed was missing a piece of the glass of the lampshade. I spent several moments looking for the missing piece and finding nothing before going on my original errand.
On my return my wife advised that in fact the piece had been broken some months ago with a wine bottle and not with my head that evening. I think they need to be a little higher!
The wine list had a range of wines from about €10 to €30 – very different to UK prices. Not really recognising any of the listed offers we asked the waiter for a suitable red to go with the steaks we had ordered and he pointed at us at a Tempranillo for €15. Bear in mind this is about £12 at present. Tell me of a restaurant that even sells a wine at that price in the UK.
Having had a good week on the food and drink we also enjoyed this final meal and the total bill was around €90 including the tip. This maybe expensive for Nerja, but is exceedingly good value for money in most parts of the world. We enjoyed our meal and it was noticeable that even at this relatively quiet time of the year the restaurant was full by the time we left (we always eat early).
On the way back into town we stopped off at a little bar my wife had been eyeing up all week. Basic – but a good Rioja is €2 for a glass. They also cook flaming sausages at the barrel top in front of you. We did not partake have already eaten well, but I think it will force my wife to return to this part of the world.
Great food, great wine and good value prices. Must be time to go home.
More soon.