Nerja
SPAIN
Three Days on the Costa del Sol
By AARON
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
At this point in our trip we had been moving at a pretty good clip. Only 10 days in Spain while traversing through 5 cities can easily feel like more of a chore and less like a relaxing vacation if you’re averaging 2 days with travel for each city. Which is why we decided to spend a little more time in the Costa del Sol of southern Spain, allowing ourselves 3 full nights and a chance to unpack our bags for a bit.
Known for its pristine beaches, quaint whitewashed villages and great weather, it’s no surprise that the southern coast of Spain didn’t last long before becoming a major destination for Europeans and world-wide travelers alike.
Like the great migration across the Serengeti to Masai Mara, travelers started arriving in droves and with this summertime influx came hotels, restaurants and what some might say the overall loss of identity to what was once a string of quiet, beautiful coastal towns. Even in the off-season, countries known for their absolutely dismal winter weather (see: England) snowbird it down here, bringing with them their pet dogs as well as entrepreneurial locals opening “rascal scooter rental” shops dotting the streets alongside jamonerias and trinket shops.
After an easy 1.5 hour bus ride through the Sierra Nevadas to the Mediterranean coast, we arrived at one of the smaller coastal towns of Nerja, and what was to be the coolest hotel of our trip.
The MB Eco Hostel is exactly as its namesake suggests, an eco-friendly hostel that features simplistic but stylish rooms, where the walls are pressed plywood, and miniature plastic bottles of shampoo are a thing of the past. With an all recyclable breakfast included we enjoyed three days of amazing rooftop views as well as a 3 story slide. Yep, they have a slide.
Day one was spent relaxing and walking around town, the Mediterranean coast to our left and blue-haired British retirees walking their dogs to our right. I know I mentioned this earlier, but it’s true, in those winter months apparently this area is the Arizona/Florida of Europe, with retirees easily outnumbering other tourists 4-1. It was along these windy streets that we found what was to be my favorite wine stop: La Jamoneria. A small shop, it features Jamon Iberico, cheese and a great wine list where for 4 euro I found my favorite Tempranillo to date.
After a glass of said Tempranillo and a small tapas plate, we headed for dinner where Lyndi was finally able to feed our unborn child vegetables – something I’m sure it didn’t appreciate after all of that yummy bread and cheese.
The next morning we caught a bus to one of the more popular towns of Frigiliana, just 15 minutes north of Nerja and clearly a magnet for day-trippers. Even in the off-season, we boarded a full bus and were off.
In order to avoid the crowds as well as get in some exercise, we found a beautiful 5km hike along Rio Chillar that at the top rewarded us with views of the sea from a distance.
Back in town most of the shops were closed (off-season) so the entire round-trip walk they suggest through town took us about 20 minutes. All in all worth the visit as you roam through small, cobblestone streets passing immaculately whitewashed houses with bright blue doors and planter boxes above boasting colorful flowers of the season.
Once back in Nerja, we took a quick 10 minute walk down to the beach where Lyndi treated herself to a foot massage from some creepy passerby who just came up offering. Just kidding, it was a very nice Asian man who offers these daily for tourists.
Next morning, the inevitable happened – Lyndi woke up with a cough courtesy of yours truly. While we knew this was coming, it was still unfortunate as no one wants to be sick on vacation…
Today took us to the Nerja caves, an underground cave system on the outskirts of Nerja and one of the main attractions of Spain.
Spanning 5km, the natural caves feature massive stalactite and stalagmites and is home to a naturally formed amphitheater that houses concerts year-round. We took a nice group tour and finished with a beer at the balcony restaurant followed by Aaron getting to play translator between the Spanish bus driver and a German family of four.
For dinner that evening, we had heard about “the best paella in town”, cooked up by Papa Ajo at his restaurant aptly named “Ajo’s”. Apparently this place runs on the “get it while it’s here” philosophy, with Papa Ajo cooking a couple of grandiose paella portions in those giant rounded pans, while locals and tourists alike come by to enjoy all-you-can-eat portions. Once the paella is gone, that’s it, and “that’s it” can occur anywhere from early afternoon to early evening.
We caught the tail end of the day there and got to enjoy a rare blend of “local and tourist”, watching as Ajo and his friends sat down for the evening to play dominos two tables over, sipping beer and enjoying the same food that brings flocks of tourists to his destination.
Being our last night in Nerja, Lyndi and I capped off our relaxing coastal visit with a visit to La Jamoneria again for some wine with a gelato stop for Lyndi on the way back to the hotel.
