Laura is up with the larks {or which ever birds are equivalent in Spain} I
made coffee in new cafetiere, it works. Got a grunt from the darling man of my
life, had a shower, did some washing, tidied up, moved the patio table and
chairs outside as it isn't raining, weeded some of the garden {obvious weeds
only!} and
settled to watch crap on TV myself, as I had run out of stuff to do. The Kraken woke at lunch time, whinging about hunger, so we went out.
We parked underground and decided to try the rather nice looking Panoramic
Bar under the Paseo Balcon de Europa which has circular glass walls and stunning
views over the sea. That is the sole stunning thing I'm afraid, the food was
edible, the bread, wine and beer were not, won't go there again.
Onward, a wander around the shops, plenty of good shops here to browse
around. A good beer, wine and crepe at Albi, then off to the caves.
Cueva de Nerja is one of the main tourist attractions in Spain, and right on
our doorstep, on the lower slopes of the Sierra Almjara. The cave was discovered
on 11th January1959, apparently by accident by some local youngsters who were
catching bats for fun, in a place used as a rubbish tip! They tried to get in an
opening they had found without success, defeated apparently by a solid mass of stalagmites.
The following day they tried again and succeeded, but found human remains
just inside, which understandably put them off exploring further. They related their
discovery, but no one paid any attention for a few days, then a doctor and a
photographer decided to have a look - and the rest as they say is history. The
caves were opened to the public, and in 1961 were declared an Artistic Historical Monument. The
youngsters were awarded with a stone sculpture created to commemorate
their discovery, which is placed outside the entrance to the caves. The Upper
Galleries were discovered in 1959 and sometime in the 1970's the New Galleries
were found.
These caves are well worth visiting, we found them fascinating, we've never
seen such incredible stalagmites and stalactites. They are spectacular, amazingly
high, huge organic rocks with the sort of hushed atmosphere one can feel in a
Cathedral. We cannot believe how vast they are, so much more than we expected!
Andrew took photo's till his batteries ran out. The steps and paths around the
caves are really well designed and don't detract at all from the views, the
lighting is subtle, everything lit to advantage, can you tell that we are
impressed?
We drove back calling in at a shop for more wine, then settled on the terrace
with ham, cheese, salad and crusty bread and the wine. This evening is warm
enough for eating Al Fresco. Andrew is reading and I am typing, diary done it's time
for more coffee and Bailey's, so goodnight from the Intrepid Explorers.
