Sarah & Earla's Visit to Nerja

Earla and Sarah arrived May 6th to the 20th. We had the most wonderful time together. I gave them 2 days to get over their jet lag ahaha, and then we were off ....... exploring Nerja, meeting my new friends, visiting mucho tapas bars, dancing until dawn a few nights, stopping for café con leches or cervezas often, eating awesome meals, enjoying San Isidro Fiesta, walking all Nerja's beaches, listening to me practice my Spanish with the locals and friends, shopping until we dropped one day in Velez-Málaga, re-arranging the furniture in my flat, listening to Spanish music, many long heart to heart talks, tons of laughs and trying not to mention their departing date. I feel so lucky that my two favourite women could come and see me in my new life. Thank you Sarah and Earla. I love you both to pieces and miss you terribly.

First hugs at Málaga Airport

Earla and Sarah's Arrival

Sarah and Lucy walking Burianna Beach
near my home

Kids still at heart

Groving to authentic Spanish music

Early morning yoga on the beach

Sarah & I on a hike through
a bamboo grove

Ready to
taste homade pizza - Spanish style

Lucy and I met the cutest little girl on our
walk to the Fiesta in Maro, Spain

Earla writes: Leigh-Ann has asked us to be 'guest bloggers'. There is just so much to say. Our two week vacation was packed full of activities plus plenty of R & R. Here are some of the highlights or lessons learned for our next trip!

Nerja Highlights

• Stopping on the way from Málaga airport to sit at an outdoor restaurant which overlooked the Mediterranean Sea.
• Seeing Leigh-Ann’s cute 'casa’ and all its Spanish – colourful tile and dark carved wood.
• Having tapas and San Miguel beer overlooking the sea with its crashing waves
• Lazing on beach loungers for 4€ (Euros) and listening to the crashing waves
• Going for hill hike through bamboo and wild nastursuims to over look Playa Burriana and the sea and then stopping to do yoga on the pebbled beach in the early morning
  
• Arriving at Narixa disco 10pm to find we are the only customers. Ended up visiting six other bars, then going back to Narixa where we had the most fun and Spanish music galore…until 5 am!!
• Sleeping in until 2:30 pm then going on a two hour horseback ride on riverbed and up the mountains. We had olive trees to the left, avocado to the right, with lemon trees growing along the river bed. http://www.horsinaround4u.com/
• Watched the San Isidro (pronounced San E-seed-row) parade and walked with 20,000 people to the Fiesta, ate, drank and danced until 1am then walked back home.
• Dancing to Spanish ‘rave’ music under a canopy of huge trees with lights, celebrating San Isidro with the locals
  

Spanish Language comes in handy….

• Pequeña – small, comes in handy when you are ordering the size of cerveza you want
• Café con leche – thee coffee to drink, sometimes served in a water glass!
• Chupa porus – bad swear word, do not use this around Spanish children

New Spanish friends – furry and otherwise

• While on our wanderings we met local fishermen, a truck driver and chef that were friendly. Meeting the locals was easy once we realized that Lucy is the ‘connector’.
• We met most of Leigh-Ann’s friends- Ian and Jane (Hotel Miguel owners), their daughter Hannah (whom we must karaoke with next visit), June (L-A's hairdresser/artist), Adelle (owner of the Crazy Cow), Mark (from all that Jazz), Juliet & Basal (good friends who L-A met at Spanish school), Stewart & Ann (owner's of the Blud Med), Maggie, and Andrea and of course Basal's Andalusian dog, Foxy
  
• Who we met at Maro - Antonio Moreno Lorez & Maria and her identical Momma

Shopping 101

• Visit our favourite Spanish lady, Nielda (Nicolas’s Momma) who sells local jewelry, 2 for 10€ (euros)
  
• Hold off going to the mall in Velez-Málaga. Instead, plan a trip to downtown Malaga to shop instead, as expressed by Sarah when Earla said, ‘Take a look at these shoes Sarah!!’ “Auntie, I can’t!!” (but we were in a hurry to see the Picasso Museum)
• Hold off on shopping for pottery until Tuesday which is market day or
• Shop at local ‘dollar stores’ - they have great little Spanish pottery too
• If you don’t have time to shop, just borrow earring indefinitely from sister

Cool things about Spain

• Pink toilet paper (okay we left Leigh-Ann a little short, but we only brought 1 roll each back with us)
• Speaking of colour it is everywhere – the flowers, the tiles, the flamenco dresses.
• Ancient rock walled terraces for growing trees along the hillside from Málaga – amazing!

Some of the funny things we did/said/learnt…. and there were a few….

• Dancing for hours one night Sarah says to me, “Auntie, do you want to go home and rest now?”
• Decided to hurry up to go shopping but it took us so long, the stores where closed for siesta by the time we got our act together, so we went bar hopping in the afternoon instead. (Auntie needed to rest after that day.)

Favourite foods in Spain

• Indian tapas – served on our first night at Playa Burriana
• Basal Sandwich – avocado, tomotoe, cheese, pine nut sandwich drizzled with olive oil & balsamic vinegar
• Freshly squeezed OJ in the morning while lounging on Leigh-Ann's patio
  
• Tapas sardines at the ol’ bar where ol’ Spanish men shoot the breeze
  
• Mojitos – Sorry CitycousinChris but La Tetería we visited had you beat!

Must dos when in Nerja

• Go for a Spanish pedicure first off so your toes looked good all holidays
• Walk along the beach to Jul’s Gym - 45 minutes of beach and breeze
• When walking back, visit the Donkey Sanctuary http://www.nerjadonkeysanctuary.com/
• Visit the oldest bar in Nerja, Rodondo Bar - they have the best tapas with the most variety
• Relax at our favourite beach Playa Calahonda - dog and fisherman friendly

When planning a trip to Nerja

• Plan to experience a fiesta – there is almost one every month; definitely worth it and the whole town gets involved
  
• Take only one bag, travel light and buy clothes if you need to.
• You don’t need a heavy sweater - just borrow one of Leigh-Ann's
  
• Pack your hiking sandals for the daytime and your dancing shoes for a night at Tutti Frutti Square.
• Plan to save places to see on your next visit: Maro Caves, Frigiliana, “12 Walks of Nerja”, Las Alpujarras Mountains, the surfing beach etc....
  

Traveling to and fro

• Frankfurt was great to fly through. Connecting flight was easy - English everywhere. Being able to speak the two words of German - "Gesundheit!” when Sarah sneezed and “Auf Wiedersehen” when saying goodbye to the Lufthansa flight attendants.
• By leaving things unplanned for our overnight connection (didn't book a hotel), we were able to secure a great hotel accommodation by visiting the www.franford.com desk near the info counter in the airport. The staff found us Hotel Post within a shuttle ride away. http://www.airporthotel-post.de/index-en.html . Having this overnight connecting flight we had a bit of time in Germany to drink a few more cervezas.

Things to bring Leigh-Ann:

• Wrigley's Extra gum (the light blue package)
• Lays BBQ chips (which might get crushed but L-A doesn't mind)
  
• Photos from home
  
• Music from home
• Hugs from friends and family

Accompanying Photos:

Bienviendo (Welcome) to Lucy and Leigh-Ann’s Casa

The only 3 Canadian Gals at San Isidro

19th century aqueduct as seen from the coastal road to Maro. The aqueduct, decorated with Moorish style horseshoe arches, was built to supply water to the local sugar factory. It is still used today to irrigate local farms.

Balcon de Europa is seen here on top of the rocky outcrop. Once the site of a 9th century fortress, this wide promenade has palm trees, exotic plants and a magnificent view. “Africa is that-a way!” - 80 miles on a clear day.

There are any walkways throughout Nerja are made from local beach rock collecting with beautiful designs.

Shopping on our last day in Nerja.

Supper time in paradise or rather at Playa Burriana

Leigh-Ann and Sarah horseback riding through paradise.

It was a wonderful trip to Nerja, Spain and looking forward to the next visit to Spanish soil.

Sarah writes:

Mom thought it would be neat, and I quite agree, to have auntie and I guest write on her blog...so from one traveler to all of you... here is what my first Spanish visit was like and could be similar for you if lucky enough to go to Spain!

So Auntie and I are off...and we couldn’t have been more excited...that is once we figured out which line to be in at the Vancouver International Airport check in lineups (with the assistance of about 4 staff)! Lufthansa = great flight service!! Nonstop snacks and drinks, movies, 2 full meals and 10 bathrooms found downstairs made the 10 hour flight to Malaga a piece of cake!

Earla waiting in the Vancouver Airport

One hour after arriving I found myself sipping a tinto de verano beside the blue Mediterranean Sea...not too shabby, and just the perfect way to figure out, that indeed...I am in SPAIN!!! Arriving at Momma’s casa and seeing the beautiful/colourful Spanish tiles with dark wood and the cute/private patio I knew I couldn’t have found better accommodations. YES! No mom of mine is living in a dingy basement suite! Being a 5 minute walk to Burianna Beach was such an added bonus.

Spanish flowers must be the inspiration for all the colorful clothes.

In the following days...I found out that the red bellied Germans I saw have their own lingo... instead of “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse”, they say “I’m so hungry I could eat ½ a pig with toast”, and instead of “kiss my ass” it’s “lick my ass”. We also spent some time arranging Mom’s furniture with Auntie’s ever helpful artsy eye and of course a girls reunion wouldn’t be complete without our first big cry! Although chasing it with some San Miguel beer lightened the mood!

We met some of Mom’s wonderful friends that she has met on her journey there. Basel (which only took us about 3 or 4 days on how to pronounce his name, hint...Baaa-cell) who is a fun Iranian man with a beautiful/smart dog Foxie . Us girls referred to him as “the man with a good tan who seldom plans!” Meaning, a fun loving warm-hearted guy. Juliet, a warm British lady who has opened her own ladies only gym and on the side practices Reiki (energy healing = very cool)! Ian, Jane and their daughter Hannah, who are owners of the extremely lovely Hostel Miguel. Realtor Katie, who did good in regards to Mom’s flat! Adele, owner of the Crazy Cow (Loco Varco) restaurant and insight into Nerja life as she’s a non-born but presently local lady to Nerja. Jason is Mom’s handy computer dude from Dublin (where would we be without those oh-so-handy computer guys these days)? Finally, June, Mom’s wonderfully blunt and insightful hairdresser and on the side artist who does give the best hugs.

Playa Burriana by Spanish Moonlight at night.

Nerja...how to describe it? Picture a city on a hill with oh-so-cute winding hand-laid stone streets with Spanish tiles and gorgeous flowers. I know I did see some fresh blooming Hibiscus flowers and HUGE cacti and palm trees. We strolled around seeing the many cute shops (that close from 2-5 pm for siesta time) and the unique cafes and pubs. Then you take one of the many different walkways covered with vines, trees and rocky ledges down to the blue Sea where the white waves crash. Our motto at the end of each day was “another day in paradise”.

Wonderful tile work like this is practically on every building in Nerja.

Everywhere you walk you hear Spanish being spoken and I often didn’t have to look too far as Mom was right in there with the locals impressing the bejesus out of Auntie and I. It sure was wonderful to have a live in translator to ensure we got the right beer/dinner that we ordered! We joked that even Lucy knows more Spanish then Auntie and I!! Lucy by the way, is quite the little Spaniard...She is learning some Spanish commands and takes siestas with the best of them!

Sarah cuddling Lucy

We enjoyed many nights savouring what Nerja has to offer...club hopping in Tuiti Fruiti Plaza until 5 am listening to Spanish techno or 80’s English music. Who knew that Grease Lightening, YMCA and Michael Jackson were as popular in Europe as in Canada? We made stops at the Teteria (teahouse) where we enjoyed yummy minty mojitos, played pool like the pros we are (eyebrows raised here!) and listened to a talented Spanish man perform with his guitar.

Dancing until dawn

Daytime was normally spent doing one or two of the following activities: getting relaxing pedicures, taking Lucy for tumbles in the waves, beautiful (and even manageable!) hikes overlooking the scenic city through bamboo, and on one occasion, a 2 hour beautiful horseback ride through olive/avocado/lemon trees up the mountain side with views of surrounding areas. We even had a little bit of a canter in there!! And no worries... us ladies made sure we shopped till we dropped! I came back with only ONE pair of heels...so I thought I had done all right! Other times we went for a visit to the Nerja Donkey Sanctuary (which I liken to a Spanish SPCA), watching a festival in honor of the farmers with flamenco dresses everywhere and browsing the many stands at the traveling market where you can find just about anything.

We shopped a whole day in Velez-Málaga

Some things I learned on my trip were that you shouldn’t bring traveler’s cheques as not many places accept them. Iranians say “he passed the spoon up” instead of “he kicked the bucket”, and peppermint tea makes for an excellent hangover cure (wisdom from the Auntie here)! Plus topless tanning and naked penis may be sighted, *partaking is a personal choice!

*Note - what happens in Spain stays in Spain

Our last day together in Málaga

Things my family learned were the following: Auntie “flem is not my friend” and “nothing is funnier than a fart” (as she sneezes so hard a small fluff escapes)! Mom: (note to self) “order a happy meal next time” and the cure for a shopping pick-me up = popcorn!

So to sum up my first Momma Kreager visit/experience is that it is such a wonderful place on earth with a real sense of living life to its fullest (or was that just my mom’s outlook?), and everyone would enjoy themselves if ever lucky to visit. And there was a pack made...if Mom visits Canada, Auntie will make the gravy! Although personally, I’d much rather go gravyless and have a second Spanish visit! So Mom... you just have to stay awhile longer, and way to take one for the team!!

P.S: Does anyone know if the saying goes “I am Board on my Gorge” or is it “I am Board on my Gord”? There is an opportunity for some ridiculing here and assistance in solving the dilemma would be appreciated!